By Dr Karen Scott (@DrKarenScott)
Whenever fieldwork is mentioned the first thing that comes to my mind is long summer days walking in t-shirts by lakes or across fields (or Hull council estates as most of my PhD sampling days were spent), maybe even in an exotic location or an overseas field trip. However, it’s no secret this is not always the case, especially in this field where outdoor working is a necessity whatever the weather (much to my parents surprise who thought as soon as the temperature dropped below t-shirt weather, it became slightly chilly or the forecast suggests a bit of drizzle, it would be home time).
Whenever fieldwork is mentioned the first thing that comes to my mind is long summer days walking in t-shirts by lakes or across fields (or Hull council estates as most of my PhD sampling days were spent), maybe even in an exotic location or an overseas field trip. However, it’s no secret this is not always the case, especially in this field where outdoor working is a necessity whatever the weather (much to my parents surprise who thought as soon as the temperature dropped below t-shirt weather, it became slightly chilly or the forecast suggests a bit of drizzle, it would be home time).
In fact I sit writing this having spent 6 hours trudging
across the Yorkshire Moors in freezing rain that came at you sideways (no
matter what direction you faced) and eating my soggy sarnies sheltering in a
gully trying not to fall into a patch of boggy bare peat. And it’s with the recent weather hitting the news, I thought I’d blog about the effects of weather on fieldwork, or
more so, how its put up with (I will try to avoid moaning where possible!).
These pictures were taken within 24 hours of each other
Starting my new job in September (working on a project assessing moorland management on water quality at the University of Leeds, meaning 3-4 field days a week) I was greeted with relatively
warm long days with beautiful views across the moors - which I wasn’t shy in
sharing, after all it beats the office wall! But this soon changed as winter reared its head. The
thing I found most interesting during field work as winter started to set in
was how everything changed so quickly and how I had to change how things were
done. The lack of daylight was the main issue - having to set off early to
squeeze as much daylight into your working day as possible, which is something you don't normally have to think about when you are heading into the office every day. Relatively dry
areas of land turned into huge boggy patches that would swallow your wellies
before you had a chance to work out which piece of heather you could reach to
drag yourself out. You never really find out what kind of land you are safe to
walk on / avoid until you’re shin deep in it – I find frosty/snowy days the
worst, as there will always be that one bog that has thawed a bit more than the
others you have walked across! A lot of the vegetation dies off, which in
theory isn’t a bad thing when walking along the flat, but when steep banks
become involved that’s when it is time to
be cautious as they become quite slippery. I generally approach these with a
foot slide or a bum slide, because let’s face it, I’m probably not going to be
spending much time on my feet!
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| Bleak view for four hours |
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| Chilly day in the field wearing approximately 12 layers! |
As much as bad weather can put a damper on fieldwork (no pun
intended) I still enjoy the variety it gives my job and the sunny days always outweigh the wet and the cold ones. Plus there are always others ways
to brighten up the wet and windy days where it’s impossible to stand upright
and even your waterproofs have given up, such as cake.
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| Perfect end to the day! |
