Happy Sunday folks! Let\u2019s start with some of the nitty-gritty science stuff. This Friday I completed my last fieldwork in Yaquina Bay. Amy and I took a trip upriver to three eelgrass beds where we collected water, sediment, and eelgrass samples for processing. For the first time this summer the processing went completely smoothly! Nothing got mixed-up and the new lab layout gave us tons of space (we totally reorganized this week in anticipation of a visit from an EPA bigwig). It appears that, based on our preliminary data, eelgrass is a massive reservoir of Enterococci (a fecal indicator bacteria). What\u2019s more, the majority of this bacteria is loosely-attached to the plant via biofilms and could be easily resuspended by wave action or storm energy. This finding could have big implications on future work as storm-based water sampling could be providing skewed levels of indicator bacteria due to resuspension. This would falsely\u00a0indicate levels of fecal matter in the bay. I know you\u2019re all hooked but you\u2019ll have to wait until my poster is complete to learn the whole story (I can\u2019t go spoil the results for you).<\/p>\n
Speaking of posters and presentations, there\u2019s only 5 days until the final symposium! How\u2019d that happen?!? This coming week is going to involve a LOT of figure-making and R script\u2026I know, sounds like a party, right? I am actually excited to see if there are any interesting findings however! We shall see.<\/p>\n
On a very non-Sea Grant note I want to take a second to talk about an issue that I feel doesn\u2019t get addressed enough in our fast-paced culture: mental health. It\u2019s not a very popular topic and it\u2019s slightly taboo in our culture to discuss mental health; maybe it\u2019s because we associate the term with \u2018crazy\u2019 or \u2018illness.\u2019 Regardless, it\u2019s a topic that we should all stop and think about every so often. I think it\u2019s especially relevant for those of us thinking about graduate school to take time and evaluate how we make our choices and if they are good for us. I don\u2019t just mean good for us professionally<\/em> but also mentally and personally<\/em>. I know that I\u2019ve felt immense pressure to go to grad school ASAP and get my degree ASPA and get a post-doc ASAP and get a job ASAP and produce research ASAP\u2026it\u2019s exhausting just to think about it all. The truth is that this thought process doesn\u2019t leave much room for our own personal growth or happiness. I would argue that making choices for mental health reasons should be just as important as, if not more so, than academic reasons. Being happy isn\u2019t a luxury that\u2019s earned with success; it\u2019s a right that we all should take the time to exercise in our lives no matter what are professional goals are. Invest in friendships. Forge healthy relationships. Bottom line: take care of yourself first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy Sunday folks! Let\u2019s start with some of the nitty-gritty science stuff. This Friday I completed my last fieldwork in Yaquina Bay. Amy and I took a trip upriver to three eelgrass beds where we collected water, sediment, and eelgrass … Continue reading