I have been sitting on this for a while. But, it's official. I'm a graduate student! I'm easing into it, I'm starting out part time. Mostly to see if this is what I really want to do and if I can deal with the commute, to IUP (it's a 50 minute drive). So we'll see how this goes a couple days a week. I went and talked with faculty and other grad students. It's a small program, everyone is enthusiastic. I was excitedly told about what people think are the best instructors and courses ("The Wildflower Course" and Dendrology were a couple of the favorites). We'll see what happens. One course with a lab. Which, by the way, is Limnology, it's ecology of inland water systems. Given that most of the projects I worked on in the past involved floodplains or wetlands or assemblages associated with or near bodies of water, or rather, mucking about in mud or in streams or treading sphagnum mats, I think this is a rather apropos place to start. DSC_0163