-Remind us what your project is: My project is to create a summarized report of the visitor intercept surveys that were conducted at the Oregon Marine Reserves from 2012-2015.

-What have you been doing in your first few weeks on the job? My first few weeks I’ve been reading relevant literature and reading about the Marine Reserves history (when it was created, how the surveys were administered, etc.). I’ve been attending the weekly Marine Reserves Program team meetings and the Human Dimensions team meetings as well. I’ve just received the synthesized data of the surveys on Wednesday so I’m starting to write the report now.

-Describe your daily routine in the time of COVID-19 remote (or in person) work:

Do you work 8 hours straight? I don’t but I think I’m going to possibly try that next week to optimize productivity.

Do you multitask? I do in a way. I think if my brain starts getting burnt out from reading one thing, I will switch things up and go through other material.

Do you have “coffee” with colleagues/co-workers/other interns? I don’t but I’m open to it! I joined in on Angela’s, Jenna’s, and Em’s last coffee hour this morning and that was great to check in with the other scholars and see how they were doing.

How often do you check in with your supervisor? I check in with him in the beginning of every week. We were doing Monday at 1030 am but sometimes push it to Tuesdays afternoon if our schedule can’t accommodate the Monday morning meeting.

How often are team meetings? Team meetings are every week as well. I meet with the Human Dimensions team every Wednesday at 11am for about an hour and a half then the weekly Marine Reserves Program team meetings are also on Wednesdays but at 130pm till 3pm.

How do you stay motivated (exercise breaks, phone calls with friends, walking meetings…)? To stay motivated I make lists. I write down what I need to read and get done. I also try to make sure I have a clean work space before I begin doing work so I’m not distracted by any messes around me.

-What is one downside or your COVID-19 work routine? This is a huge downside but one downside of my COVID-19 work routine is not being able to interact with people face-to-face. I’m sure many others feel the same way. I do appreciate we have Zoom and other forms of meeting with others still but it’s definitely not the same as in-person interaction!   

-What is one upside of your COVID-19 work routine? One upside is that even though we are all doing remote work, I am still able to network and meet new people, and possibly meet people I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet if I was doing an in-person internship. I think that more people are willing to do meetings because of COVID. Mostly all of us are still doing remote work so I think that people are freer than they’d normally be.