Howdy (enter your name here),
This past week was a standard week of work at the VC. I met awesome people from different parts of the world, like Isabella, who is the oldest volunteer at Hatfield. I love old people, and their stories, full of wisdom and quirks. She came from Scotland a long time ago and told me about the war, America, and Hatfield Marine Science Center in the past. It was magnificent to talk to her.
Another person that I met was Professor Kerry McPhail, from OSU’s Chemistry Dept., who specializes in natural product extraction, or in other words, finding medicine from natural sources. She told us about the new interest in the deep sea and its potential as a source of new antibiotics, and other interesting drugs for our use.
I also met with Lisa M., who helped me and the other interns understand my project a bit further (pinniped life history transmitters). I will have the challenge of creating a curriculum based on this project in the attempt to convey the concept behind cooling rates and how shape and size of a mass affects them.
I also had to give estuary tours (from which I got positive reviews for!), and Ocean Quest presentations, as well as learning how to feed and clean the moon jelly tank. I finished my timeline for my project, so now my tasks are mapped out throughout the rest of the summer!
This weekend, I went to Portland for a blues festival. I loved the food, shopping and people. Excited for this week!
See you around the VC!
What’s the difference between the estuary tour and the OceanQuest presentation? I can’t wait get some more insight into how you’ll present the science behind marine mammal biology.
The estuary tour is a guided tour of the Yaquina Bay estuary, its flora, fauna, and forces that make the estuary one of the most awesome ecosystems in the world. The OceanQuest presentation is one that is based on research done on underwater vents and volcanoes!
Regarding the marine mammal biology, I will be using modeling clay to show the relationship between mass and cooling rates to then link the concept of the life history transmitter (LHX). If you don’t know what LHX is, its basically a tag that senses temperature change that is implanted inside the sea lion. When the sea lion dies, the tag floats up and sends a message to a satellite with the temperature change diagram… Sudden death due to predation has a sharper decline in temperature, whereas death due to natural causes shows a much less severe decline in temperature. very cool stuff, all designed by Dr. Horning!