It has only been a week and I am already falling in love with Oregon. I am so grateful to be one of the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholars for 2018 and spend my summer in Newport. The project I am working with is in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Marine Reserves branch helping with ecological monitoring the reserves. So not only do I get to explore Oregon on my free time but also for work! Starting next week I will be conducting field work at three of the marine reserves: Otter Rock, Cascade Head, and Cape Perpetua. When I am not in the field I will be helping analyzing and summarize the data that ODFW’s Marine Reserve Ecological Monitoring Team collected last year. While there is both intertidal and subtidal monitoring that the department conducts, I will be focusing on the intertidal data and collection.

For work, my time will be split between sea star wasting monitoring and intertidal biodiversity monitoring. It is really awesome that the ODFW not only collects their own data for this but also works with other groups of researchers and citizen science projects to be able to collect tons of data and get a very good understanding of the areas that are protected. Occasionally I will be going out with these collaborators during their fieldwork to see first hand how these studies are conducted.

During my free time I have visited the beach,, boardwalk, and farmers market of Newport. Each time I go explore I gain new appreciation for this beautiful place that I get to live in for the summer. The awe-inspiring nature is not the only appeal of Oregon but also the culture of the towns and the people that live here. Everyone I have met is so nice and helpful. The best part is that almost everyone here is a dog person so wherever you go there are always tons of dogs which helps with missing my dog back at home.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse