~welcoming you to Li #4~

lots of herbs from the farmers market; 

barnacle bottles found at the bottom of the bay while doing fieldwork; 

flowers from around the apartments.

also,

big dandelions call for big wishes

to dredge

or not to dredge?

According to every environmental studies class ever, dredging is always a bad thing.
But what if it isn't...?

I spent the last 2 days using a modified dredge system to suck up intertidal clams - or try to suck them up.
We found some but not many. We had professional scientific divers to help us.
I mostly pulled up anchors and buoys weighed down with giant chain links (maybe ~30lbs) - now my hands are raw from the ropes, even though I wore gloves.

It was surprising that in order to study disturbance, we had to disturb the environment by sucking up ~3 square feet of clams and sediment.
This is a clash between my biology brain and my enviro-studies brain. One says it's ok, because its for a legitimate study; and the other questions the damage it causes, year after year.
I guess I don't know enough about the disturbance capacity of this environment (subtidal mudflats, mostly) to judge, but it's something to think about. Maybe I'll ask my mentors next time...

~more pictures to come soon~

gape-eeeer

some pictures of field work from this week:

 ~at the mudflats~

 ~lookin' for gapers~

I caught a clam!

It was a busy week, that is for sure.
Check out my "official" summer Scholar blog post here.

From my mentor, Tony:

"Often we end up managing people more than the shellfish."

ante meridiem (am)

I am settling in to my house at Hatfield. I am living with 3 other girls who are part of the Oregon Sea Grant program. One is working with Marine Reserves (Hilary), one with the EPA (Kate), and one in the visitor center (Diana), which is similar to the Seymour Center at the Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz.

Yesterday we went for a long walk on the beach at sunset

(which occurred after 9pm ~ so late!)

Tuesday at work I had to be at the office at 5:30am for fieldwork. We went out to the sand flats under the big bridge and did a habitat assessment using quadrats and random locations.

Tomorrow I will do the same thing, I think, but on mud flats. And on Friday we will actually go digging for clams! I'm pretty excited but also a little overwhelmed with all the information that has been thrown at me in the last 2 days.

I will also have a weekly blog post on the Sea Grant Scholar Blog
but I think I will update this one more frequently and add more pictures.
Also, I will have a short bio posted here.
check it!

#roadtrip

I made it! 

I am sitting in a dorm room at OSU chatting with Diana, one of the people who will be working in Newport with me (she will be at the visitors center). 

She is from the East Coast and is a bit jetlagged and went to sleep at 9:30 last night. I felt bad because I walked into my room after that with all my stuff and woke her up. 

Today I will meet everyone, and meet my mentor in Newport. Tomorrow morning I have to report to work at 5:30am. I hope that isn't the regular starting time...

Here are some pictures from my drive up the coast with my momma. We went ~800 miles over 2 days.

 elk grazing in a meadow (N.CA)

 a random beach off the hwy

 jumping

the Smith River, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (CA).

The Smith River is the second largest river that flows freely along its entire course - meaning there are no dams. I swam in it and jumped off a giant rock.

 momma in front of a redwood

 twisted bark

 a spotted banana slug! Sammy follows me everywhere!

 a lot of the drive looked like this, with a river meandering along the side of the road.

the dock from Japan that washed ashore in Newport, OR. it's pretty boring to look at now, but it was still neat.  

where do you start

when all

your possessions

must fit in 

a 10x5 storage unit?

too many books.

too many clothes.

but I managed
And I didn't even fill the storage unit.

my summer adventure begins,
~tomorrow~

graduate!!

She wore funny socks because that is really the only thing you can see in those gowns.

signature frown

♥

and I'll be sad when she moves 300 miles away.

lost

"A starfish native to Japan was among the marine life still clinging to the structure after the long voyage"

Sometime in the last week a large dock washed up on an Oregon beach.

On the dock is a placard with Japanese writing and evidence of Japanese sea creatures.

It has been confirmed by the Japanese consulate that this is debris from the tsunami last march.

The beach is located in the town where I will be working this summer.

I kind of want it to stick around for another week so I can see it in person.

 an article (thanks dad).

another (better).

Also, not sure why my dad is reading oregon news...

(~11 days)

22 units

Tuesday: Botany Lab Report due

Wednesday: Oceanography Homework Due

Thursday: Botany Final

Friday: Botany Lab Practical; Internship Analytical Paper due

Monday: Botany Term Paper Due

Tuesday: Toxicology Final; Oceanography Final

Wednesday: Pack

Thursday: Finish Packing & move out

Friday: Leave for Oregon with mah mama

Why do I do this to myself?

{never again}

T-13 days

~Orientation