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Mitch Eaton attempts some fly fishing ultimately to no avail while Austin Alvarado looks on. As with the original 1869 Powell expedition, catching fish in the Green River is not an easily acocmplished endeavor.

Pat Kikut and Graham Lederer move quietly by the beautiful geologic formations along the Green River.

Boatman Ben Capelin viewing the Green River from Three Canyon during the Powell 150 SCREE-USGS expedition, June 2019

Rock art found etched into the rocks of Desert Spring Wash

Three boats make their way around the bend near Dinosaur National Monument while the jagged edges of Split Mountain tower in the background.

While the lavendar color of the Tamarisk plant is nice to see, the plant is actually an invasive species. The Tamarisk Beatle was released in 2005 to combat the spread of the plant and has been quite successful in doing so.

Tom Minckley and Nick Hammond study the shore for plant and animal species and to enjoy the beautiful landscapes as they pass by.

Flat Canyon petroglyph panel in Desolation Canyon, Green River, UT during the Powell 150 SCREE-USGS expedition, June 2019

Anya Metcalf was the insict expert on this trip. We started pointout out and catching bugs for her to identify. This one crawled across camp during our podcast recording. It turned out to be a Golden Stonefly with a small pseudoscoprion attached to the mandlible using the fly for dispersal.

Our first day was full of uncertainty about what we would experience. Many of us did not have experience on the river (although Anya Metcalf, in the photo, did). We left the impressive cliffs and topography of Split mountain wihout knowing what lay ahead, expecting less exciting topography, but we were all proven wrong about the Uinta basin.

Most of our days had this view- looking back on the river and having conversations with the rafter rowing the boat and whomever else we shared space. We were constantly surprised at the beautiful views and the impressive cliffs, which often housed cliff swallows.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz, is preparing honey bee for analysis of the Lake Sinai Virus (LSV).   This type of work is important to society as pollinators are critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems and prosperous human populations.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz is collaborating with Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.  Dr. Clint Otto, who has the lead on a project designed to identify and improve forage for honey bees on USDA Conservation Lands.  Dr.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz, is preparing honey bees for analysis of the Lake Sinai Virus (LSV).  This type of work is important to society as pollinators are critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems and prosperous human populations.

The Green River in the Uinta basin is fairly flat, so it carries a lot of foam. The foam often follows the fastest part of the river, with is ties to the shape of the channel and the curve of the river. From this level, you can sense subltle changes in the plant like, flow speed, temperature, water clarity, and fauna.

One of the topics we frequently talked about was land use. The Green River in the Uinta is different from other segments because it is surrounded by industrial activity, with scattered farms, livestock, oil pumpjacks. It is not known as a recreational destination, although the beauty is overlooked.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz is collaborating with Fort Collins Science Center.  Dr. Scott Cornman who has the lead on a project designed to identify diversity of strains of Lake Sinai Virus (LSV) in bees.  Dr. Iwanowicz is developing primers to more efficiently test for LSV and strain differentiation.

Did you know fossil pollen and spores can help us understand past climate variability?

Tom McKinley was able to answer many of our questions about plant names and ecology in the area. When I shared his boat on the second day, he told me that the orange Globe Mallow flowers close up at night. Solitary bees will hold the stamen and let the flow close around them, using the flower for warmth and protection.