Gibson Blankenship

Research Technician, Forest Biodiversity Team

“I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the spring of 2023. I had a couple of field experiences before that with the Critical Trends Assessment program, which is part of the Illinois Natural History Survey, doing similar work to what we're doing here. A lot of forest and wetland and prairie monitoring, all of those involved measuring trees. That's really marked the research I've done over the past couple years. There is also a ForestGEO [Smithsonian Forest Global Earth Observatory] plot at Illinois called Trelease Woods. That was really where I started a lot of my field experience. Through that I got connections here at Tyson and reached out to Jonathan and started last year.”

While at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Gibby was a part of a cycling group that traveled across the country.

“I was part of the Illinis 4,000, the undergraduate cycling group. We traveled from New York City to San Francisco: fantastic people, awesome landscapes. Seeing that all from a bike going 15 miles an hour, I think is the best way to see the country. For me that was what made me fall in love with doing field work and just being outside.” 

As well as loving spending his summer outside, Gibby returns to Tyson for a second summer because of the community here.

“The Tyson community is pretty awesome. I've had a couple experiences before at field stations and this one is definitely unique and a place I've really grown to cherish quite a bit.”