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Tomorrow’s Yellowstone

Lucy: Preparing for the future

Story by Elise Mahon | Photos by Althea Dotzour | Video by Jason Weiss

“Do we want a sledgehammer or a mallet?”

“Yes.”

Lucy McGuire, a 2023 UW graduate and manager of Monica Turner’s integrative biology lab, makes a check mark on a long list of gear from which she’s reading. Graduate students Arielle Link and Timon Keller flurry around the lab in Birge Hall on UW–Madison’s campus, stacking equipment on the table in front of her.

Long spools of tape measures, clip boards, a locking bucket full of bear spray, bug repellent, a portable tent, twine, a handheld GPS …

As a pile quickly forms on the table, Lucy inspects each piece of gear. She wants to be sure they’ve chosen the most optimal equipment and assess each item for needed repairs before they drive 1,300 miles west for the summer field season. Her job involves a lot of hard organizational work, but after spending the summer of 2022 in Yellowstone as an undergraduate researcher in the Turner lab, Lucy jumped at the opportunity to help further advance the team’s research.

Driven by her passion for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and her endless curiosity, Lucy helps everyone stay organized and conduct their projects smoothly in the field. Whether they need an extra hand, a morale boost or an in-the-weeds debrief on the discoveries of the day, Lucy is there.

Prep, plan and support with Lucy

Two women and a man pack field work equipment in plastic tubs in a research lab

Lucy and the team prepare for five weeks of field work in and around Yellowstone National Park. Lucy is responsible for making sure the scientists have all the gear they need to conduct studies at Yellowstone. With the proper tools, the team can hit the ground running and get straight to collecting data they need to figure out how the landscape and forests are changing.

a close-up of a woman woman's hands as she uses a pen to check items off an equipment list

Field work in Yellowstone can mean no cell service and a very long drive to the nearest store. Equipment checklists help make sure that when they load up, they’ll have everything they need for a successful time in the field.

a woman programs a GPS unit while looking at two computer monitors showing maps and data

Five days before departing for Wyoming, Lucy programs GPS units with the locations of research plots the team will visit. There’s a lot to do when you’re in the field — the researchers often work long days to maximize their time and productivity — and having everything organized and ready to go ahead of time helps it all go more smoothly.

a woman in a red shirt hands a sticker to a woman in a blue shirt while a blue sky fills the background

When the hard work and detailed preparations are done, Lucy helps out in the field as well. From conducting surveys with Timon to helping Arielle pilot some of the studies for her PhD research, Lucy is an integral part of the team on the ground — and she loves it.

With Lucy’s help in summer 2023, the Turner lab was able to survey 260 visitors in Grand Teton National Park. Lucy spoke to a wide variety of park visitors. "It was just so cool to see everyone so into it,” she says. Here she hands a thank-you sticker to Diana Zapernick, who was visiting the park from Phoenix, Arizona.

When the hard work and detailed preparations are done, Lucy helps out in the field as well. From conducting surveys with Timon to helping Arielle pilot some of the studies for her PhD research, Lucy is an integral part of the team on the ground — and she loves it. With Lucy’s help in summer 2023, the Turner lab was able to survey 260 visitors in Grand Teton National Park. Lucy spoke to a wide variety of park visitors. "It was just so cool to see everyone so into it,” she says. Here she hands a thank-you sticker to Diana Zapernick, who was visiting the park from Phoenix, Arizona.

a woman in a yellow shirt and a man in a light blue shirt smile as they watch a video on a phone while sitting in a trailer

An advantage of working hard in a national park is that sometimes you get to play hard in a national park. Lucy and Timon look up mountain hikes they may try on an upcoming day off. “Coming from Chicago, I never thought I’d be summiting mountains,” says Lucy. “From the lakes and forests to the mountain tops, I just love this ecosystem.”

Mount Moran is tinged with pink and reflected in the Snake River while pink clouds fill the sky

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a beautiful place, but understanding its future is complex. This is why Turner is there and continuing to train the next generation of researchers; Lucy is one of more than 100 scientists who have passed through her lab since 1994. The experience Lucy’s gained has inspired her to continue to uncover what is happening to the region’s changing landscapes.

“It's also definitely shaped where I want to go with my future career,” she says. “I definitely see myself, if I can, staying with this ecosystem for at least a little while and just continuing to understand what's going on."

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a beautiful place, but understanding its future is complex. This is why Turner is there and continuing to train the next generation of researchers; Lucy is one of more than 100 scientists who have passed through her lab since 1994. The experience Lucy’s gained has inspired her to continue to uncover what is happening to the region’s changing landscapes. “It's also definitely shaped where I want to go with my future career,” she says. “I definitely see myself, if I can, staying with this ecosystem for at least a little while and just continuing to understand what's going on."

See more stories in the “Tomorrow's Yellowstone” series

Tomorrow’s Yellowstone

Tomorrow’s Yellowstone: Arielle

Tomorrow’s Yellowstone: Monica

Tomorrow’s Yellowstone: Timon