These past couple weeks have been incredibly busy.  The week leading up to Da Vinci Days, Corvallis’s art and science festival, was spent preparing a poster for display at the Sea Grant booth and organizing and prepping equipment for this week’s intensive field work events.

Working the Sea Grant booth at Da Vinci Days was an insightful experience. I helped to inform the general public about the economic and environmental impacts of some of North America’s most pervasive invasive species. I also answered and explained any inquiries people had about my poster regarding my work with ODFW. The most meaningful experience, however, were the many children who marveled at the invasive animal displays and whom also expressed eager interest in my interpretations of those displays. I could sense their strong interest in science and their unyielding desire to learn. These passionate displays of curiosity capture the very essence of science; it is not enough to solely study science, but rather inspire future generations of scientists through education and outreach.  A simple scientific display is often times enough to capture a child’s interest and to inspire a world of endless learning opportunity. This opportunity is what I hoped instill in the many children who visited the Sea Grant booth.

Aside from Da Vinci Days, I prepped gear for the upcoming hook and line surveys. These surveys involve contracting charters with local fishermen to catch a wide variety of rockfish species. The rationale behind these surveys was explained in more detail on my previous blog post. We will fish for roughly 8 hours in a Marine Reserve and 8 hours, the following day, in its associated comparison area. The first trip will be out of Newport to Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and its comparison area referred to as the Postage Stamp. Later in the week, we will be traveling to Red Fish Rock Marine Reserve which is near Brookings, Oregon. I am preparing for an exhausting, but exciting eek out at sea!