Hello all,

So far working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been a great experience. The first few weeks of the job were spent creating codebooks for surveys, hashing out logistics regarding the sampling schedule, and getting out in the field to begin collecting the 800+ visitor intercepts needed for the final project statistics. I also conducted business surveys in Lincoln City and this upcoming week I will be conducting them in Yachats, OR. 

Usually, my work day begins with much needed coffee and stuffing various things into my backpack to successfully complete a day of visitor surveys. At around 8-9 AM, I began traveling to certain sites along the Oregon Coast’s marine reserves to initiate participation in ODFW’s anonymous business and visitor surveys. At around 3:30-4:00, site surveying is typically complete and the teams meet back up in the office for data entry and other logistics regarding ID numbers for surveys or scheduling. Much of the data collection of this project comes directly from the public. Therefore, a majority of my time has been spent at Oregon’s marine reserves. I check in with supervisors once a week and team meetings happen during these check ins as well. 

I would say that my motivation has come directly from the team members that I work with and support from friends or family. I would also go as far to say that being able to call the Oregon Coastline my office for several hours of the day helps me realize that much of my worries or doubts are unnecessary-I’m in a beautiful place! I am now fully vaccinated and glad that I could contribute to the numbers that lifted the mask mandate. Perhaps my favorite part of the job so far is that while conducting visitor surveys I meet so many dogs or young kiddos ready to play on the beach!