Hello everyone, my name is Emily Camp and I’m a 22 year old junior here at UAF. I am majoring in Wildlife Conservation Biology with a focus in Marine Biology. Even though I plan to work primarily with large mammals, I wanted to take this course because I work as a naturalist for Carnival Cruise Lines during the summers and would like to expand my knowledge of all organisms in Alaska. For the summer I live on the ship, but I am able to get off in each port everyday, so I am looking forward to collecting plants from Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Haines and Sitka for this course! I have always enjoyed plants, but I never got into the naming and classification of them like I have with cetaceans and other marine mammals. I do enjoy collecting berries and edible plants while hiking or backpacking so I do have a few identification books, but I hope to become more knowledgable about plant identification after taking this course. My favorite plant right now is probably the Salmon berry plant, Rubus spectabilis, and I am anxiously waiting for the first berries to appear on the bushes around Juneau and Ketchikan!
Class Introduction- Emily Camp
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This is fascinating to me! I didn’t know Carnival hired naturalists…I wonder if it is specific to the Alaska cruises because of all of the wildlife!
Hey Emily! We already know each other but great post! Your summer job sounds exciting! I’m currently working for Northern Alaska Tour Company here in town. A cruise job sounds really awesome! My favorite plant is White Birch Tree but I don’t know the science name for it. hahahaha
Andrea Vance
Welcome Emily
what a fun job, and what better way to get to know some of the plants in these port cities when you have to make observations for a class. The berries of Alaska are really amazing. I used to collect raspberries and some other berries while growing up in Germany, but the diversity in Alaska has been surprising to me. Small or bog cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccos) are really delicious, and have gorgeous flowers too.
Welcome Emily, this is a wonderful time for berries. I am still hoping to see cloud or salmonberry while I am still in Alaska cause they are just so gorgeous.