I spent six years tracking bison, watching them do what I never could—move freely, leave a mark, change the ground beneath them. The data glowed: protein up 150%, nitrogen cycling like a heartbeat, prairies waking up after decades of silence. My advisor called it a breakthrough. I called it another late night, another grant report, another reminder that my own life was fenced in by deadlines and doubts. Sometimes I envied the bison. They trampled the same ground, again and again, and somehow made it better. I reran the same analysis, again and again, and just felt smaller. Yellowstone was a living lab. I was just trying to remember why I started. The prairies got their revival. I’m still waiting for mine. #Science #ScienceFatigue #FieldworkBurnout