Hello, hello, hello!
It has been one week since I first arrived in Corvallis, Oregon to begin my internship. A lot has happened! I’ve met lots of great people and seen lots of cool places – but first, a short intro. I hail from Michigan which is also where I go to school (Michigan Technological University). I have one year to go and then I’ll have my BS in Biology with a concentration in fish bio, and a minor in ecology. I’ll be working with Mike Donnellan at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) under the Marine Resources Program (MRP).
I decided to drive to Oregon which was about 39 hours away, taking three days and two nights, and crossing 10 states. While it was a bit intense, it was a great experience, and I got lots of great pics. Plus, how often can you say you drove across the country? :)
Since my arrival, and mainly last weekend, I’ve managed to see the banana slugs in the Redwood National Forest in California, numerous hundred+ foot waterfalls along the Colombian River Gorge, and the 11,249 foot Mt. Hood. I hope to see more while I’m here learning and working!
Coast Redwoods
While I wasn’t exploring I was working. Part of what I have been doing this past week has been familiarizing myself with ODFW and the whole West coast in general. There are a lot of species I’m not familiar with and it has been real interesting to learn about them – I even had the opportunity to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which I highly recommend.
The other part consisted of me building a framework for how I will be tackling my project. There are a lot of things I need to learn, like Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 or building a map interface on GoogleMaps/Earth. What we want to try to do is pinpoint locations on a map where the general public can go, click on the point, and see underwater ROV footage of that exact spot. Surprisingly, not many people really know what the ocean floor looks like! I am getting a lot of ideas from people so I’m excited to see where this project will take me and how much I can accomplish!
Good luck building your maps! I can’t wait to find out what you learn about the seafloor.
I like the title of your blog update in that it informs others of your growing knowledge of Oregon, including its pronunciation (which we Michganders call ‘Ore-eh-gohn’). Looking to hearing more about your west coast discoveries and how you decide to tackle your project! Good luck!
Sounds fascinating! When you get your Google Earth maps up, be sure to let Sea Grant Communications know so we can feature them on our Web site!