Matt - Matthew Singer

Garden Update

August 5, 2012August 11, 2012 Matt Personal Updates

For the past month, we've been able to enjoy some of the produce coming out of the garden. The lettuce has been producing beautiful and tasty leaves. There's nothing like a freshly-picked salad. One of the lettuces has flowered and will soon go to seed. I think we will let it mature in an attempt to collect seeds to plant…

Float Trip 2012

August 4, 2012August 5, 2012 Matt Travel Stories

View Float Trip 2012 in a larger mapEvery year, the graduate students from the University of Idaho's biology department embarks on a float trip on the Snake River. It's an annual tradion that carrys on well before my time. Actually, I'm not sure when the tradition began. In 2010, the float trip was held shortly after I arrived in Idaho.…

East Peak

August 1, 2012August 1, 2012 Matt Hikes

There are many peaks in the Wallowas that top 9000 feet, so East Peak might go unnoticed if it weren't so easily accessible. It turns out that I'm not the only one who thought to use the Wallowa Lake Tramway to cover the first 3700 feet of elevation, reducing the climb to the peak to 1300 feet. This hike is…

Lookout Mountain

July 28, 2012July 28, 2012 Matt Hikes

Everytime I'm up on Grandmother Mountain, I look to the east and see the bald dome of Lookout Mountain rising over the Marble Creek drainage and I long to stand on top and look down from the other side. Finally, with my parents and sister visiting, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try out this trail. There…

Publications

July 21, 2012August 13, 2012 Matt Personal Updates

I don't usually like to gloat about my accomplishments, but sometimes a little self promotion doesn't hurt. I'll start with the announcement of my first publication, which officially rolled off the presses last month. Last year, our lab was contacted to write a book chapter in a methods and protocol book on assessing anxiety behaviors in Zebrafish. So Barrie, Maia,…

Wallowas

July 19, 2012July 19, 2012 Matt Travel Stories

The final chapter in the visit of the in-laws consits of a visit to one of my favorite mountain ranges. There are many spectacular mountain ranges in the country, but I happen to have a fondness for the Wallowas in northeastern Oregon. Perhaps its because they're the closest mountains of their kind, or because they truely are a spectacular gem.…

Return to Freezeout

July 18, 2012July 18, 2012 Matt Travel Stories

Any time someone visits us, their stay would not be complete without a trip to Elk River and Freezeout Saddle. We were limited in our acitivites because one of our guests were not fit for any major hiking, but luckily, we have options for that. So Sunday, we took an easy morning and headed out mid-afternoon for some local adventure.…

Backpacking: Seven Devils’ Lower Cannon Lake

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012 Matt Hikes

My father-in-law and his wife have been visiting us since last Wednesday. Before coming out, he had asked if we could go on a little male bonding trip into the backcountry for a night. So, I set about looking for a short and easy hike to a spectacular place. I figured he had probably never spent the night under the…

Aurora, part II

July 16, 2012 Matt Personal Updates, Photo Blog

Well, I made my last post a bit too soon. After spending the evening on Freezeout Ridge (story and photos to come soon), Erin reminded us that the aurora might still be occuring and that we could possibly see it tonight. Clarkia isn't the best place to test this hypothesis because its surrounded by tall mountains in all directions, so…

Aurora

July 15, 2012July 15, 2012 Matt Personal Updates, Photo Blog

We got alerts that a solar flare could cause an aurora that would be visible into the middle states. So, last night, I checked the sky and luckily it was clear to the north. I saw a faint glow on the horizon and set up the camera. Sure enough, there was an aurora. The excitement didn't last too long. I…