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“I fell in love with field research almost immediately,” says Josh Emrys Payong ’27. “It’s physically a little tougher than what you might do in a lab (after all, I’d be surprised if getting stuck in waist-deep mud was a genuine fear in a sterile workroom), but I think it’s absolutely worth it,”

Payong can’t get enough field research, despite the challenges. He spent summer 2024 studying ecology near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters; he couldn’t wait to get back in the field this summer to continue exploring nature in its rawest form by being there in person. 

For Payong, a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) with Associate Professor of Biology Idelle Cooper ’01 was the perfect way to satisfy that urge for more field research that he developed in 2024. Cooper and four students, including Payong, traveled to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to conduct field research on the evolution of two jewelwing damselfly species and the traits they use to select a mate.

The Joy of Field Research

Payong, a biology and English major from the Philippines, acknowledges that ecological studies, even focused on a single insect as seemingly simple as the damselfly, can be unpredictable. 

When researchers are in the field, they’re working in the midst of countless bugs, trees, birds, and streams, all interacting constantly. It’s not realistic to expect a precise prediction of how the system might shift after changing even a single element, Payong explains.

“Nothing beats how it feels when nature puts you in your place by decisively stomping on all of your preconceived notions, when nature reminds you that your way of seeing things (in our case, perception of sex and sexual availability in damselflies) is far from complete,” Payong says.

The Rustic Life

Although the research station was lacking in some of the modern conveniences (no wi-fi and little access to electricity), Payong enjoyed the opportunity to immerse himself in nature. “There were several occasions when we just knelt in the stream to feel the water flow around our waists, to hear the birds sing and to see the bugs dance in pairs,” he says. 

Payong was in his element. “While you never get used to how a latrine smells or sounds, a rustic lifestyle has its perks,” he says. “The birds are more comfortable without all the pollution and the noise, so as an avid birder, I was ecstatic every morning listening to my little avian friends.”

He also appreciated getting to know other students at the field station. “Something about being stuck in the woods with a bunch of strangers fosters camaraderie in a way that no other social circle I know has ever come close to replicating.”

Finding the Poetry in Science

Payong also loves to write and took advantage of the opportunity to do so while he was in Michigan.

“I’ve found that nature is a powerful source of inspiration for me as a writer, and ecological research is surprisingly conducive to looking closer at the world and its living beauty. There’s so much to describe in nature, much of which can only be done justice by language that is poetic or figurative.”

A grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB-2242987) supports Cooper’s research, which studies the evolution of two jewelwing damselfly species and the traits they use to select a mate.