Featured Scientist


Amey Bailey

One of the most memorable experiences Amey Bailey has had at the HBEF was the day she was walking along the south-facing watersheds collecting data on rainfall and air temperature.

"I walked around a bend in the trail and came face to face with 3 small black bear cubs. Two of the cubs ran up one tree and the third ran up a second tree right in front of me. I was overjoyed by the cubs and then frightened at the thought of their mother just downhill from where I stood. At a very brisk pace, I set off up and over the top of the watershed to avoid encountering the mama and headed back to the trail to finish my work only when I felt I was far enough away from the bears. Phew. I never saw them again but my heart was racing for days."

Working for the US Forest Service as a forest technician, Amey has been walking through these watersheds and collecting data here since 1991. As she tells it, she got her start gardening in a city park that, "had an area for children to garden. I loved working the soil and watching the garden change over time. I also visited the New Hampshire White Mountains and glacial lakes annually where I wandered the lakeside and forests learning plant names and identifying bird songs."

"When I got to Connecticut College I knew immediately that I wanted to study botany and I was lucky enough to do so with the prominent plant ecologist Dr. Bill Niering. After college I held numerous outdoor jobs including...working at the Morris Arboretum in [Pennsylvania]. As a graduate student at the what was then called the Duke University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies I continued my studies in soils and forest ecology." After obtaining a Master's degree, Amey was hired by the Forest Service to work at the HBEF.

Currently Amey helps maintain the long-term database by collecting precipitation, temperature, streamflow, and other types of data, and then organizing them for other scientists. "I enjoy providing the long term...data to scientists and working with them on their projects. I have spent the last year writing a report entitled "The Hydrometeorlogical Database at Hubbard Brook" which describes and presents all the long term data the Forest Service has been collecting at [the HBEF] from 1955 to the present. It has been a huge project because 45 years worth of data is a lot of numbers to organize," Amey said.

When she's not collected meterological data, Amey is also interested in studying the flora of the HBEF. "Probably the best thing I discovered at [the HBEF] is a rattlesnake fern in the lower part of watershed 3. This is a good discovery because rattlesnake ferns are thought to prefer sites that are not too acidic and the soils at [the HBEF] are very acidic. Maybe there's something special happening at the bottom of watershed 3 with hydrology or rocks and soils."

As a forest technician, Amey works both in the lab and in the field, so her workdays are quite variable. "I only work at HB 3 days a week because I have 2 young girls and they require a lot of my time. When I'm at [the HBEF,] I work on updating and maintaining the long term database. I provide scientists and others the data they need to do their work. I try to get out in the field as much as possible and [help] out in the field whenever needed at all times of the year. The most fun part of my work...is hiking through the woods while doing field work, especially on a beautiful day. I also enjoy explaining what Hubbard Brook is all about to the students and the public. The most challenging part is to stick with a project that may require repetitive work day after day, until the job is done," she explained.

A career in science?

When we asked Amey if he had any thoughts about what it takes to have a career in science, she remarked, "Become an observer of your natural surroundings. Ask questions about how things work and try to find the answer. Keep a journal notating your observations. Read what other people observe." If you have questions for Amey, you can reach her at: ameybailey@fs.fed.us


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