In a couple of earlier blogs, I talked about penguin researchers in Punta Tombo, Argentina. They've tracked and researched the Magellenic penguin for years, and they've been doing it using pen and paper - and a lot of notebooks. In the Summer of 2009 - 2010, they tested a Trimble Yuma. I checked in with Olivia Kane, a researcher from the University of Washington, to see what she thought of working with the Yuma and in a nutshell, she loved it!

To understand how much Olivia likes the Yuma it helps to understand what life was like without it. Before the research season, the team would spend over 20 hours preparing notebooks with hundreds of pages. Then, throughout the season, they would sort through, remove and reorganize pages to focus only on active nests. It was a time-consuming task.

In the past, they also tracked data with pocket-sized notebooks, usually bringing five or six into the field each day to track banded penguins, follow behavior and track weather. And speaking of weather, researchers encounter weather at both ends of the spectrum. When they arrive in September, the region is just coming out of winter so it's downright chilly. In October they face cold wind and rain and even hail storms. By November and December, they experience dry 85-degree weather. That's when the dust storms start and the researchers and their gear are pelted with sand and pieces of shells.

Working with paper in rain or dust storms was always challenging but Olivia says one way or another the work had to go on. Now, research can go on with the use of a Yuma. Wind didn't affect the Yuma, and rain was never a problem. Forget pages sticking together; that's a thing of the past.

In next week's post I'll tell you about the yearly schedule and how the streamlined process of working with the Yuma improves data collection and research. Stay tuned!