(Guest post by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Luiza Aparecido)

As classes at ASU are about to resume and I am back after nearly 2 months away from an international field campaign, I would like to take some time to acknowledge the brilliant students that assisted Ben and me in compiling our datasets and helping with field logistics this summer.

In summary, from April until August 2019, I was supervising and training six undergraduate students across 4 projects – Miguel Duarte, Nathan Nguyen, Abigail Pezelj, Martha Ryan, Crystal Suazo and Sabrina Woo. All six students come from very diverse backgrounds and contrasting personalities, which when ultimately combined created a very healthy and supportive environment as they executed their respective tasks. In addition to my six ASU students, I also had the pleasure to supervise and learn alongside Ecuadorian PUCE (Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador) undergraduate senior Emily Heredia while conducting my field campaign at the Yasuni Research Station (Ecuador).

Activities consisted of:
– whole-leaf imaging using our novel imaging robot to later extract leaf vein architecture parameters using Matlab and GIMP (which required a lot of vein network hand tracing!). Collection of leaf samples at Desert Botanical Garden and further lab procedures were part of this activity;

• determine canopy temperature through leaf thermal images using complex Matlab codes and weather data from the San Lorenzo crane in Panama;

• gas exchange trials conducted at the ASU campus using a new methodology to simulate leaf herbivory which were later applied successfully in Ecuador;

• leaf trait measurements (leaf area, mass, stomata placement, vein shrinkage, force to tear) and determination of many many leaves from various tropical species using R and Image J;

• presentation of their findings at weekly lab meetings and a collaborative workshop held by our lab. Students also started their own study group sessions that happened or in the common space of the MEL office or at local coffee shops, which motivated one another with their respective projects.

Although I had 7 students working across these projects, I need to highlight the exceptional work lead by students Nathan Nguyen, Abigail Pezelj, Martha Ryan and Emily Heredia that held the fort of all my projects at the Macrosystems Ecology Lab in Arizona and also half the Ecuador field collection workload. My other three students were spending their summers at a study abroad program, REU program and field school. My ASU students worked independently and set their own schedule while meeting the deadlines stipulated by Ben and me. Considering that we had limited access to internet in Ecuador, I was very appreciative and impressed by the progress they made without us being present. In Ecuador, Emily sometimes collected branch samples on her own (along with our field operator) so that I could advance with my gas exchange measurements. While I conducted my measurements (that sometimes took 11 hours of my day), Emily took full responsibility over the leaf presses (pressing, checking on mold, and counting all the leaves), leaf scans (fresh and dry) and handled all the permits necessary for us to leave the station with our samples without hassles.

Overall, I want to say my sincere THANK YOU to all these students! It has been so gratifying to witness and be part of their academic and personal growth. Most of my students are continuing their research experience in other labs, pursuing a non-mandatory thesis, new majors, and I am very happy that our lab served as an outlet for them to recognize research as a potential career and to create standards of what they expect from academic life. It has also been an extremely rewarding experience for me as I develop myself as an academic mentor. I hope that each of them know how much they have contributed to my life as a researcher and person in general. More great science to come in the Fall thanks to these guys!