Category Archives: Former scholars

Week 8: Experiment…Finished!

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After eight practically non stop grueling weeks of collecting and analyzing, the phytoplankton limitation experiment has largely been completed. Wow. I can’t believe I am saying that myself. We have completed the in vivo portions of phytoplankton limitation experiments from Yaquina, Siuslaw, Umpqua, Nehalem, and Alsea. And we did Yaquina three times. Just saying.

The most recently completed experiment from both Alsea and Nehalem responded well. Alsea showed “N” limitation which I believe I predicted last week, and Nehalem showed a combination of “N” and “P” limitation which I believe I also predicted last week. Not to toot my own horn or anything.

Just because we finished the in vivo doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do though. I have some chlorophyll samples to extract from Alsea and Nehalem, some acid washing to do to get the bottles all neatly put away for another day, some data to analyze, and a presentation to create that will knock the socks off of everyone at the symposium.

And because the symposium is rapidly approaching, I won’t say too much more about how my eight weeks of data is looking. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise! Alright, until next time!

Filming faux pas

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Last week proved to be one that posed its own unique set of challenges, primarily with technology. As I’ve been going through the interview processes for the media clips, I’ve be touching base with Stevon Roberts, who resides in the fourth floor editing bay in Kerr. He has been more than gracious to show me the ins and outs of Final Cut Pro X, the digital editing software. It only varies a little from the program we use at school and so far, seems to be pretty intuitive.

On the other hand, the cameras, microphones, and such, have not. Each camera that I have (attempted) to work with has been different, and each has its own little quirks. For an interview with one of the grad students last week I reserved an interview room in the library that comes with its own camera. After getting lights that work (no windows in the room and on of the lights was burned out), finding out that the camera (which is mounted on the wall) cannot be adjusted, and getting a memory card (which was supposed to already be in the camera), we were able to begin the interview. It wasn’t until I was trying to download the videos that I found out that the Canon handicam I was filming with records in an .mts format, which Final Cut doesn’t recognize. This presented its own set of issues. Finally, after multiple trips to the library, and one very gracious person at the media help desk, I was able to at least get the video onto the desktop in the editing bay. More research and a brief conversation with Stevon, and I was able to get the video into Final Cut.

From this day (yes, all of this took a whole day), I learned that you can never be prepared for everything when working in the field. After making sure my Final Cut folders were ready for the media and calling ahead to make sure the room was set up for the interview, there were still a host of things that went wrong. But, despite all the frustration, I’m glad to say I’ve learned of some more items to add to the preparation list when getting ready for an interview.

Results are in!

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Things are winding down on the nutrient uptake project. We finished the last replicate day of experiments for my temperature experiment on Monday. I have looked at the data now, but I don’t want to discuss it here as I still have to do some further thinking on it. I will say, though, that there are two bars on the graphs I have created that made me jump out of my desk chair with excitement. I stayed after all my coworkers had already left creating this graph and thus had no one to share this excitement with until the next morning. It was agonizing.

Putting this excitement aside, the mood in the lab this week has become more somber for me. I am realizing that this summer is drawing to a close and the great times I’ve had at the EPA are as well. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the people in the field group and the lab, sitting outside under the Oregon sun in sometimes boiling waders, tromping through mud, gaining strength by lugging stainless steel cores across varying terrain, pouring liters and liters of salt water while belting out Hakuna Matata, jumping in and out of boats and getting splattered with mud by the hovercraft. It has challenged me in many ways and helped me to realize that I truly love field work.

There are now two weeks left to get a ton of things done. I need to prepare my presentation, which I am giving to the EPA and to the Oregon Sea Grant. I also need to discuss with my mentor what sort of write-up he wants on my project. There is also a portfolio that I am doing for the Sea Grant. It should be a busy two weeks. We have collected a lot of data this summer from many different estuaries. I am curious to see what sort of “story can be told,” to use the words of my mentor.

At the end of this week we have our last field hurrah down in Coos Bay. It will be an overnight trip and I think we are camping out somewhere. I need to get rest for this week as this weekend has been tiring. My roommates and I went up to Seattle and then down through Portland and Tillamook doing various touristy things, with a stop at Powell’s Books! I can never get enough of bookstores.

Here we go!

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This past week has been very interesting for me because it was mainly vacation time.  Yet, before my vacation time occurred I did do a lot of work at the VC.  First of all, at the beginning of the week I had some of the same duties as I usually do.  I did Ocean Quest for Sunday and Monday and I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable with it.  I’m starting to get a groove with a 25-30 min presentation and have a pretty good feel for each crowd.  That way I can tailor the presentation to them, such as whether there are many adults, children, or young adults/ college students.  The VC was normal as usual and Aurora seems to be doing much better in the tank.  Then, on Tuesday we had a real project day which was amazing to have.  I got to change the water out of my shore erosion tank as well as make completely new signs for the tank.  This is the third sign change, and each sign has evolved.  Now the shore erosion tank has 2 signs.  One says “The Erosion Problem” and this is where we talk about making a beach, move the paddle steady and see the erosion occurring.  Then, the second sign says “The Erosion Solution” and this is where I give three examples of shore erosion solutions and say to try ONE of them.  We were already seeing great progress with the Beach Erosion Challenge, hopefully more progress will occur with these new signs.  In addition, these new signs are made of much thicker laminent, thus they stand up much better than the flimsy beach erosion challenge signs.

The main things I did this week was……..VACATION! I was on vacation from Wednesday to Sunday and it was amazing.  I went to Vancouver, BC, Seattle, Portland, and Tillamook.  In Vancouver, BC I stayed at a hostel in a tiny room with 4 other girls (2 from England, 2 from Germany), but it was cheap.  My hostel was also really close to public transport to get to Stanley park where the Vancouver Aquarium is located and Science World was right down the street. I spent a LONG time at the Vancouver Aquarium and once I mentioned I volunteered at the Baltimore Aquarium and working at Hatfield for the summer the special treatment started to roll in instantly.  I got to see the dolphins up close and even get a kiss from willow the sea lion.  I also got to see some behind the scenes aquarist workshops and lastly I got some business cards to be an intern there or for a job interview.  Thus, an amazing experience and one that doesn’t come very often.  At Science World I got to see an IMAX movie about the Rocky Mountains and building the transcontinental Canadian Pacific train through those mountains.  Yet, the main reason I went to this place was to see the DaVinci exhibit where I got to see his journal entries, his machines from the journal entries built, hands on exhibits about his inventions, his original art pieces and a whole exhibit on the Mona Lisa.  This exhibit to an art historian (or art history minor like myself) was spectacular.  The rest of Science world was cool as well with many hands on exhibits about physical science as well as biology and chemistry.  Needless to say it was a long day, but totally worth it.  I left the next day for Seattle and that was a crazy trip as well.

Seattle brought me the Seattle Aquarium, Pike’s Place, Ferry rides, many hills, and Seattle Center with the Pacific Science center, concerts at the mural and MOD pizza!  My day of exploring alone brought me to the Pacific Science Center where I did see another IMAX on mummies in Egypt and all the other exhibits, but the real deal was King Tut!  That was worth the whole trip, because not only did I get to see so much ancient Egyptian history that I studied at my college, but it was all in 1 place.  I ended up leading my own tour because I was explaining to a middle ages couple about the sculptures that were around them.  Before I knew it, 4 families and a security guard were listening to me as I answered many questions and explained the history and art behind each piece.  It was spectacular to see all of this history in real perspective compared to on a screen in a classroom.   Then, when I was done there, I came out and there was concert at the murals randomly and I got to see 3 Seattle bands as well as get lots of free stuff.  Then, Hillary;s family was lovely and let us all (Maryna, Kate and I) stay at their house.  They also fed us delicious food all the time and we caught up on all our Olympic games we have been missing.  Then, after a day with my housemates at Pike’s place, Ferries, Seattle Aquarium and a fantastic dinner, we slept and left for Newport.  On the way home, we went to Portland to Powell’s books (got 3 books for under $10), a Sunday market, Tillamook cheese factory to drop off Maryna for field work and even saw some whales on our way to Newport.

Now that my vacation is over, work is about to begin.  I need to not only work on my VC project and my regular duties as an education intern, I also need to work on my final presentation.  This will mostly likely be the largest challenge since it has to be done in 11 days, but I’m always up for a challenge.  Working days here I come :)

Muddy Dredging and Presentation Prep

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This week was much the same as last week: lots of intertidal dredging. On Monday and Tuesday I wasn’t on the boat but I went to measure the samples when the boat team returned to the office. On Wednesday and Thursday I was out on the boat nearly all day. Its really tough to stay in a dry suit that on because after about 5 hours you start getting sweaty and the inside of the suit (which is made to not allow the transfer of moisture) gets really sticky and uncomfortable.

Last week we did dredging on Bridge flat, which is all sand. This week we dredged at Sally’s Bend, which is a huge mud flat, and boy did it make a difference. In case you weren’t aware, mud is much stickier than sand. And this made it much more difficult to get our samples. It generally took 25-35 minutes for each site on Sally’s Bend compared to 10-20 minutes for sites on Bridge Flat. It also took much longer to sort the mud out of the samples and we had to rinse the bag in the water every few minutes. Luckily it was pretty warm out on the days I was out sampling so sitting in the cold water that long wasn’t terrible.

On Friday we finished measuring clams and then prepped gear for our next (and my last) excursion to Tillamook. We will be there until Wednesday night, and beyond that I’m not sure what the week will bring. Hopefully some time off to relax!

This week I also met with Robert Allen, the Director of Student Development for the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at OSU. We chatted about what direction I have been moving with my degree and what my plans are for the next year and beyond. It was really great to hear I have been doing well and that I don’t need to rush off to graduate school if I am not ready. He also recommended taking some time off (if I want to) and do something really awesome. He mentioned Peace Corps and Teach for America, among other options. I feel much better now about how I am going to spend my final year of school preparing for the future.

This weekend I made a quick run up to Seattle with Kate, Hilary, and Diana. Kate and I left on Friday after work and met Hilary and Diana up there. We went to the Aquarium, Pike Place, and rode the ferry. We also briefly stopped in Portland on our way back. I wish I had more time to explore these places!

I’ve also been working hard trying to get my presentation into shape. Its rather frightening that I have a mere 2 weeks left before I have to make the trek home to California and prepare for my last fall quarter. And because I know that I’ll be doing lots of fieldwork in the meantime, I wanted to get started as soon as possible. Here’s a sneak preview of one of my slides as it is now. Hopefully next week I will have pictures of dredging and my last days in Tillamook.

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Yesterday was the most chaotic day at the VC while I’ve been interning here.  Chaotic days are definitely more fun than a non-chaotic day.  Here’s how it goes.  First off, no coffee.  This is nearly always a good start to a chaotic day.  Coffee is definitely a must each morning and as it was the weekend there was no coffee in the dining area yesterday.  This is something I expect on the weekends but the rest of the day was very very unique.  Both my supervisors, Becca and McKenzie, were absent yesterday.  It’s the first time both of them have been gone at the same time and this is problematic because they are the first line of defense when something goes awry.  So when things went bad, as they did, there weren’t really many people to go to.

In the morning Athena was heading up an invertebrates class for high school students and she was the only one around so she was stressed out.  Athena out.  Just a few minutes later another huge unannounced group of university students came in to have a vet lecture with Dr. Tim and Kristen.  Dr. Tim and Kristen out.  Next another unannounced group of vice presidents and administors from China came expecting a tour from Shawn Rowe.  “Okay lets get Shawne.”  No Shawn for 15 but he eventually showed.  Phew hopefully nothing else too crazy happens. Nope next there’s a leaky shrimp tank that is spilling water all over the floor.  Becca and McKenzie are gone, Kristen is in a class, so we got Tim to help us mop up.  Next the last unannounced group shows up.  This was a group of OSU students taking a Physical Oceanography course.  Apparently they were expecting a tour of the facilities but nobody had any idea what they were talking about.  So I ended up canceling the estuary tour at 11 and brought the group all over Hatfield and talked about research, student involvement, and then the estuary.

To make things more chaotic the only certified octopus feeder at Hatfield yesterday was Athena and she was doing her inverts class.  The show must go on so she came out and rocked the octopus feeding.  Our only volunteer in the morning disappeared for awhile and then two guys with firearms on their sides came in to end the day.  Kind of stressful but definitely kept me on my toes.  The day went by more quickly than any other of the summer.

Sea Grant Blog, Earthdate 0812.2012

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Another week of my summer Sea Grant experience has passed; I’ve reached the point where the conclusion of my internship with ODFW is in sight. I have mixed feelings of melancholy and excitement regarding this. On one hand, this has been an extraordinary experience that I’ll miss. Living on the Oregon coast, especially in a semi-isolated town like Charleston, has been like living in a different world. It’s difficult to describe, but there’s definitely an underlying subculture here that’s unlike any other I’ve previously experienced. The connection to the ocean and the importance of its resources permeates everything here. It’s one of several things I’ll miss. On the other hand, though, I look forward to sleeping in my own bed again and cooking my own meals (though the food here in the OIMB dining hall has been stellar). I look forward to the warmth and sunshine of Corvallis (it struggles to reach 65 here and is often foggy/overcast) and to being on campus at OSU once again. I know I will emerge from this experience as a changed person, and I wonder what it will feel like in a month when I look back on it all.

Speaking of looking back, I spent more time last week in front of the computer running stats, generating maps, and starting on my final presentation. The statistics are yielding some interesting differences in cockles between the two survey sites. This is encouraging, because one site is within a reserve where the taking of clams is prohibited, and another site is outside the reserve where clams are harvested at least semi-regularly, so we would expect to see some differences in the data. We’re going to have a closer look at the characteristics of the data (normality and equal variance) to determine if parametric stat tests will be reliable. So far we’ve been using non-parametrics, based mainly on suggestions made by the stats software. However, parametric tests can be more powerful when all the underlying assumptions are met, and we don’t want to rely completely on the software to guide our decisions. Furthermore, some of the non-parametric test results seem to contradict each other, and we’re not sure why. It would take too much writing for me to explain it here, but suffice to say the results, despite being interesting and encouraging, have still prompted us to examine the data a bit more and assess our stat methods.

Data analysis has been one of the biggest challenges for me in the past weeks, especially when it comes to analyzing graphs. I’ll take a look at a graph and am able to interpret what it’s saying, but applying the interpretation to the bigger picture with respect to cockle population dynamics and providing answers to questions about “why this” and “how come that” is more challenging. I think it probably has something to do with my lack of in-depth knowledge about the biology of shellfish and the fishery industry that harvests them. I’ve thus been digging into past research in an attempt to gain deeper understanding of cockle population dynamics.

Last Thursday I stopped by the office of Jamie Doyle who is the Sea Grant outreach representative at OIMB. We had a nice conversation about what I’ve been doing over the summer, my interests, and future plans. We talked some about Oregon Sea Grant and the role she plays and future opportunities. It was good to have the chat.

I’ll be helping out with some red sea urchin surveys this week, which I think may involve going out on a fishing vessel. It may be dependent on the weather. We’ve been getting a lot of fog lately, and visibility has been zero. Thus for safety reasons we may not be going out. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. It would be nice to get out into the field one last time before my internship concludes. We’ll see. I will be spending additional time this week dialing in the stats for the cockle surveys and working on my final presentation.

Keep your eyes open, I may have more photos to share as well.

Week 8: Guns and Roses Reunion Tour

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This week I worked an extra day in exchange for me starting my long weekend a day early. Earlier in the week we received a piece of the bumper off of the Japanese dock. People have been very curious about the artifact and we have even installed a little sign on the fragment to help people identify it. It would also seem hat we will also be receiving a larger section of the dock at a later date. The dock is currently being broken up somewhere inland.

Aurora our octopus has been much more active this week. She has also continued to remain on the viewable side of the tank when she is sleeping. The new cool looking Octocam Cards are also proving to be very popular and we routinely have to refill the empty stack on the front desk. Another interesting event occurred this week as well. While we were refilling the Tsunami tank we accidentally lost control of the hose for a few seconds causing it to spray all over the place. We got some water on one of the computers as well but the device turned out to be alright. The Tsunami tank is still a work and progress but we have been opening it up to the public on Tuesdays with very positive results. On Friday Bill Hanshumaker had me help repaint the Yellow submarine out in front of the visitor center. It only took 2 hours and the submarine now looks really good (almost like new). All of us desperately tried to resist the urge to start humming the Beatles song while we were working.

Saturday was marked by another incident involving people with firearms. It has been decided that we should make a sign to discourage this from happening again. Additionally we have been having more trouble with leaks that seem to be spring up in multiple exhibits.

This upcoming week will be short (only 2 days) for me. I will be heading home for a 5 day break accumulated from all of my days off over the summer. I cannot believe that it is Mid August. Where has the time gone?

Salmon River Detective work

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This week I continued to do pressure counts and surveys at Cascade Head. This week I found the surveys to be challenging not because people weren’t willing to participate, but rather because they were very cautious about their answers. As I described earlier, I am finding that I survey a lot more local people in the Cascade Head area and naturally they seem to be more concerned about the Marine Reserve. People are asking me more and more questions before they give me their answers, which can be difficult because I don’t want to give away information that might influence their answers but at the same time I still want them to make a well-informed decision. The most common questions I receive are  about the size of the reserve and what activities will be allowed. However, I am starting to get questions about the impacts it will have on fishermen and the local economy. It’s good that people are thinking about these issues and that is exactly what the ODFW is trying to figure out right now, but at the same time I can’t give people a straight answer to these questions at the moment.

As I mentioned in my previous post, part of my job at Cascade Head is to look for boats that might be going over the bar from the salmon river into the ocean. After 10 stops of monitoring the ocean area past the salmon river with no sightings, I spotted a small motorboat in the ocean inside the reserve from a top a hill on Wednesday. I was hoping to find the boater when I went back to do my pressure counts at Knight Park later in the day. In order to do this, I asked all the fishermen in the parking lot at Knight park if they had gone into the ocean that day, and they looked at me funny. I got a lot of, “Are you kidding me, going over the bar in this tiny boat, do you think I am crazy?” I was feeling like I was the crazy one for asking and went to go check for boats in the ocean one last time. On my way back a man asked me what I was doing, and when I responded that I was looking for boats he told me that he had just seen a boater go over the bar and into the estuary, and he had just disappeared around the corner. I lept into my car and drove as fast as I could down the gravel road to chase down the boater. When I arrived back at Knight park there was a man pulling his boat out and he confirmed that he had indeed been fishing in the ocean, with a boat about the same size as the other fishermen who were laughing at me for the idea (This made me feel less crazy) . For some reason I think I was too out of breath to give the man a survey, but I did get all his information, so the ODFW can contact him and find out more about his fishing practices. Success!