This cache is part of an occasional series about Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The cache is not located at the posted coordinates, though it is one place you could park and ride public transit to get to the zoo.
Zoology is a big field, including entomology (study of insects), herpetology (reptiles and amphibians), ichthyology (fish), ornithology (birds), and mammalogy (mammals). This particular STEM puzzle is limited to mammalogy, and further limited to women who conduct fieldwork, generally outside of their home country. None of the women mentioned here study the musk ox (to my knowledge), which is part of why it was selected as the background image.
Imagine being so committed to the science you are doing professionally that you’re willing to spend months or even years living away from home, probably in another country, to be near the animal you’re studying. At the very least you would need to learn about the logistics and bureaucracy of entering the country for an extended stay, identifying a study location and securing permission to do research there. You also need to make travel and living arrangements as well as prepare medically with vaccines, possibly medications or learning more first aid. You probably also need to learn about another culture and perhaps learn a new language. You need to purchase supplies including items for your research, appropriate clothing, medical supplies, arrange for food, etc. Either you’re traveling alone, with other researchers, or perhaps with some family members; in any case you’re likely to be away from friends and extended family, likely missing holidays and other celebrations. Most or perhaps all eleven scientists mentioned here made these preparations, often multiple times, to conduct their mammal fieldwork.
In alphabetical order, the scientists in this puzzle include Sangdeun “Lek” Chailert, Anne Innis Dagg, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas, Jane Goodall, Leela Hazzah, Paula Kahumbu, Laurie Marker, Latika Nath, Sharon Pincott and Li Quan. A few might be familiar names, most are likely not names you’ve heard before. Several of these women study (or studied) more than one species or conducted studies in more than one place. For purposes of the puzzle, consider only the one species and one location they are most known for studying, also consider any islands to be part of the same location as the country it is part of (so if someone studied in Zanzibar that would be considered part of Tanzania and Africa).
The cache is at N45 AB.CDE W122 FG.HIJ
- A = the number of these women who studied lions, tigers or bears
- B = the number of these women who studied bats
- C = the number of these women who studied elephants in Africa
- D= the number of these women who studied ungulates, excluding proboscidea
- E= the number of these women who studied cats, rats, or elephants
- F= the number of these women who studied mammals in Asia
- G= the number of these women who studied primate or proboscidea mammals
- H= the number of these women who studied animals that are not primates
- I = the number of these women who either studied mammals in Asia or studied cats (or both)
- J = the number of these women who studied acinonyx, lynx, neofelis or puma
This puzzle does not have a checker. However, the checksum of the values for A thru J is 38.