Greg in Switzerland: A Tale of Two Field Sites

Let me preface this by saying WOW!

I just returned from my first big trip to my field site where my research will take place over the next three years. My research is field intensive including at least weekly visits to the site. I wanted to post some thoughts about the two spots where I've had the chance to do field work

My MSc was based in the Mackenzie Delta which was beautiful for it's remoteness and simplicity. I loved going there and I enjoyed my time immensely up north and I hope to perhaps find a job there in the future. The people were great, I loved the pace of life and although the bugs were bad, it was great to get to know somewhere that few people even have the chance to visit. My field site was nice and getting the chance to boat there each week was great! There was lots of wildlife as well. Here are some pictures of my last field site:

My PhD will take place in the Lötschental Valley in the Swiss Alps. It's one of the larger valleys that connects to the Rhone although until the early 20th century (extremely late for Europe) it was still extremely isolated from the rest of Switzerland. The place is teeming with history in the form of extremely old buildings and a very interesting culture. Although the cheese and bread from the valley is delicious. My field site (which is an elevational transect of sites on both the north and south facing slopes) is located in Ferden (I encourage a look on Google Earth). My sites range from 1300 to 2300 m and it's quite a hike to the top. There was still a huge amount of snow yesterday when I went and it is probably going to be a month or so before all of it is gone. Although it's not as remote as the Mackenzie Delta, I think I'll enjoy this place for other reasons. The culture seems very interesting and once I get some more German under my belt we'll see if I can communicate a bit better with the locals. It’s also extremely beautiful.

Here are some early pictures of the area and sites (although these are going to be much prettier once everything begins to green up):

Looking up the valley (east) showing a few buildings in Ferden.

A photo of the Bietschhorn, one of the more prominent peaks in the valley.

Photo of the south slope taken from the north slope. If you look way up at the top where the last few trees are, that’s my highest site at 2300 m.

Photo of the north slope taken from the base of the slope. The trees without needles are larch (a deciduous conifer), so they aren’t dead, just not growing yet.

When going to the site by car, you need to take the car train through the tunnel (which must be at least 15 km long).