Early Methods

Fred’s journaling methods evolved throughout his naturalist career. The first volume in his series represents his time as a Biology Field student at Valley Junior College in 1958. He used this field journal to document the discoveries he made during his class field trip to various locations throughout California (Figure 1). At this point in his naturalist career he followed the Grinnell Method - a widely used journal format developed by Joseph Grinnell. Not only is this journal well organized chronically, but it provides us with firsthand experiences to learn about the natural history of California Ecosystems.

Field journalists often write at multiple times and locations throughout the day. At the top of each page Fred provided his name, the date, page number and his exact location (including county and state). Fred used the margins on the page to document his departure and arrival times (Figure 2). He also tracked the change in car mileage and elevation as he moved from one location to another. Within the entry, he wrote about the weather and temperature conditions, gave detailed descriptions of the surrounding habitat, and compared to past experiences (Figure 3 & 4). This included numerous lists of dominant plants, common reptiles, mammals, and birds observed (Figure 5). In addition, he noted personal reflections, questions, hypotheses and added photos for visual representation. He drew pictures and maps of the species and landscape (Figure 6 & 7). While conducting experiments, he sketched maps illustrating trap locations and predictions. 

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