Ok here I go a worrying mother but my daughter is tracking caribou this summer and I know she did

her bear safety course, but just where is she. She starts grad school next year if she can be found.

They wouldn't have sent her out there if they didn't have the confidence she can handle herself. And they trained the bejeepers out of her, so she knows what she's doing. Honestly, wildlife tracking can be incredibly boring, and she's probably bored out of her skull most of the time! :)

One of the frustrating things sometimes (both for the fieldworker and the family) is being in areas out of radio contact. Heck, sometimes I can't get satellite contact where I am. But I do have to check out and in every time I go out, and I'm betting she does too. So the folks she's working with/for know that she's OK, and as difficult as it is to do so, you're going to have to trust them to keep an eye on her.

If she's going to come back in to civilization sometime during the summer, or if she has someone ferry mail/supplies/care packages out to her, there's a neat little gadget called a SPOT Satellite Messenger that sends a check in message via email and has a separate "help" button. I use it with my team out in the field and it's been tremendously handy. (We've NEVER had anyone send a "help" message, FWIW.) http://www.findmespot.com/en/

I know it's hard to let your baby go do something that seems bit risky, and that she's probably excited to find her feet and be off on her own for the first time. If you're having permanent worry (as opposed to the occasional late night stuff), you could always send her one of those SPOT jobs and ask her to check in with you once a week. Sometimes you need to leave it on for half an hour or an hour to get a signal (I didn't leave it on long enough when I checked out this week and the signal didn't go through ... be prepared for that, too), but when it connects it sends GPS coordinates to the designated email recipient. You could always send it under the pretext that you'd like to follow her travels. ;)

I'm sure she's fine. When she's back you'll be so proud of her you won't be able to stand it. In the meantime, rest easy knowing that she's probably going to be bored to death for most of the summer. :)

:hug:

Now if she is in Alaska WORRRRRY if Governor Palin is planning on going out hunting! Especially if it is with former VP Cheney!