Category Archives: Former scholars

Oysters, Crabs, and Clams!

Posted on by
5

 

My name is Betty Mujica and I am working as a Sea Grant Summer Scholar in Newport, OR until August! I’m excited to share my adventures, both at work and play.  I took a road trip with one of the other scholars all the way from Louisiana to arrive in the fine city of Newport, which took about 6 days.  We stopped in Arlington and Amarillo, TX; Buena Vista, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; and Boise, ID (where we got to fly in a little private plane!).  Finally we arrived in Corvallis, then Newport, to get down to business.

My project this summer focuses on the transportation of live seafood—Dungeness crab and oysters—from the Oregon coast to a growing Chinese market.  Working under the mentorship of two advisers, I will conduct interviews with seafood producers along the coast of the Pacific NW to figure out what shipping and handling practices are most common and most effective.  Furthermore, I will be conducting an economic analysis of these transportation systems to analyze what methods are the most beneficial.  Hopefully by the end of the summer, we will have a comprehensive guide to harvesting and transporting seafood for any newcomers into the seafood market.

Tuesday of last week marked the first official workday for all the Sea Grant Scholars.  I met with one of my advisers who gave me some literature to read up on about seafood transportation and a background of the industry in the NW.  Coming from Louisiana, I’m somewhat familiar with seafood; however, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico are pretty different in terms of what seafood they yield, so reading up on background information is pretty important.  While most of my week was spent reading and researching, I was able to do a few interactive things to enhance my understanding of the industry.  I went down to Newport’s historic bay front area and checked out the local seafood shops and restaurants, enjoying a delicious order of fish and chips (made with local lingcod).  Another evening, I went to Local Ocean, a sustainable seafood restaurant.  I decided since I was studying how to harvest and ship Dungeness crab, I should probably try eating one.  I ordered a 2 pounder and getting the meat out was exhausting, but worth it.

In my free time, I started researching how to dig clams.  This is something completely foreign to me, but apparently quite common to those who grew up around these parts.  I went out one day with two other Scholars and dug around to find some clams—no one told us it wasn’t that simple.  The next day I did some in depth research, watching YouTube videos and learning all the regulations.  I also bought a shellfish permit, which allows me to harvest between 12-20 clams per day, depending on the type of clam.  Then my friends and I went out again, this time with tube-shaped sand removing contraptions and started to dig.  This time we had major success, finding several different types including a pretty big gaper clam.  Unfortunately, we didn’t look into how to store clams correctly and by the next day they were dead.  But no worries, I’ll continue to research and figure out how to clam efficiently and eventually I will be a clamming master!

This week should be filled with much more reading and research, but hopefully I’ll start visiting oyster farms and some commercial crabbers to get a first-hand look at how the industry works.  My one hope for this week is that we have less rain and more sun– what can I say, I’m a dreamer!

Bondia from Corvallis

Posted on by
1

Bondia tur hende! (Good morning to all in Papiamientu)

My name is AnnaRose Adams and I will be the returning Sea Grant veteran posting on this summer’s Scholars blog. Last summer, I was a Sea Grant Scholar doing marine policy work with the Governor’s Task Force on Nearshore Research. This summer, I have decided to return to Sea Grant again to do more work related to marine policy (more on that in a bit).

A little about me:

  • Just graduated from Oregon State with an Honors BS in BioResource Research, focusing in marine ecology and policy
  • During fall of 2010, I traveled to the Caribbean island of Bonaire (hence the reference to Papiamientu above) to attend a field school for marine ecology and complete my undergraduate thesis.
  • My passion is integrating marine science and policy. I love serving as a “translator” between both fields in order to make scientific discoveries become a political reality.
  • In the winter, I will be traveling to Fiji to do socioeconomic research on alternative incomes for local fisherman that are impacted by Marine Protected Areas.

So what will I be up to this summer?

My main role this summer will be doing a lot of event planning. I will be helping to head up the creation of a workshop on Coastal Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP). This workshop is one of the current goals of Oregon State’s Marine Council. The purpose of the event will be to bring together key individuals that have expertise in CMSP to help identify goals and priorities for how Oregon can meet the Obama administration’s new goals for creating spatial maps of US territorial waters. Much of my work will involve research into current work being done in the field, identifying gaps, making lots of phone calls, going to meetings, and organizing the structure for the CSMP workshop.

A final FYI…

I keep a regular blog AnnaRose and the Sea that will provide greater insight and detail into my thoughts about my internship experience. My blogging with most likely continue as I go to Fiji (so long as I have internet access). When I post on here, I will be updating short summaries. I encourage you to check out my personal blog if you want to follow my work. It is also located on the Blogroll links of this page on the left side of your screen.

Over and out,

AnnaRose Adams

 


ODFW Adventures: Part I

Posted on by
3

Hello everyone! My name is Lauren Dimock, and I am going to be a Junior at Willamette University this coming fall majoring in environmental science. Over the summer, I am going to be blogging with weekly updates about my experience as a Sea Grant Scholar at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC). I arrived at HMSC knowing only that I would be working under my Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) mentor Greg Krutzikowsky on two separate projects: estimating the spawning biomass of Pacific Herring in the Yaquina Bay and updating ODFW’s Nearshore Strategy. After a day of orientation at Oregon State University and settling in at the small but cozy dorms at HMSC, I began to find out the details of my internship.

My first day of work was a special treat, as I was lucky enough to go deep sea fishing as part of the Black Rockfish Pit Tagging Crew of ODFW for their last day on the ocean. Having only gone deep sea fishing one other time, I was no expert at catching ocean fish, so I was lucky that two very experienced and kind fishermen on the boat helped me out. They even risked their own catch to make sure my rod was in good working condition and the fish I caught made it on board safely to be quickly measured and tagged before being let go to swim back down to their homes at the bottom of the sea. From this experience, I learned to identify several types of nearshore fish, including Black, Canary, Copper, and Yelloweye Rockfish, as well as Lingcod. It was also very interesting to observe and participate in a different project from my own that will also attempt to estimate the health of a fishery by tracking their locations throughout the coming year.

My second day at work, which was really my first day of work, I was introduced to everyone around the office and given several thick documents to read and familiarize myself with, including the Nearshore Strategy and the Oregon Conservation Strategy. This is my homework to become adept enough to begin working with the Nearshore team to update the Nearshore Strategy and begin the process of combining the document with the Oregon Conservation Strategy. In my first of many weekly meetings, I learned several tasks that were aimed to update the document, including the addition of a section about estuaries, comments on the progress made from the 16 original recommendations given, general editing of minor formatting issues of the document, and the creation of a separate document about the current and future effects of climate change on strategy habitats and species. I am currently signed up to begin research for the base of the climate change document, but we have not yet carved a clear path for the layout of this document . Therefore, until our next meeting I will simply be finishing reading the Oregon Conservation Strategy so that I can better understand and participate in our next meeting.

I began the herring project on Thursday, where another member of Greg’s team named Aly drove me around the Yaquina Bay and estuary and showed me where she did her daily surveys looking for roe from February to April, which allowed me to familiarize myself with the names of the places where the roe was collected. On Friday I began counting samples. The roe are all attached to a algae named Fucus , and after measuring the entire sample size I measured out 1-2 gram sub-samples, and counted all of the eggs on both sides of the Fucus. After doing 10 of these, I checked the CV, and if it was below 0.3, then I moved to my next sample. I actually find this work to be slightly entertaining, with my clicker ready to go in my left hand and the radio singing in the background.

It has been frustrating to read the several hundred page documents I’ve been given, but understandably necessary. But the lab work is keeping things interesting, and with two projects to juggle for the next nine weeks I don’t think I will need anything extra to do. Next week I will continue counting samples and reading documents, but I will hopefully gain a solid understanding of what my role will be in the updating of the Nearshore Strategy. I’m excited to be working on these important projects at ODFW, and look forward to providing more updates next week!

Sea_Gil’s Blog

Posted on by
5

Hello! My name is Margaretmary Gilroy and this blog will be used to document my experience as an Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar.

Before coming out here, I had a vague idea of what I would be during for the summer. I knew that I would be gathering information concerning the vulnerability of certain coastal species to climate change. This information would then be put into an extensive database (PICES) started by the EPA.

Now that I’ve spent a week actually working at the EPA station in Newport, I have a better understanding of what I will be doing during these upcoming weeks. I will be looking at how various species with calcium carbonate shells may respond to the problem of ocean acidification based on things such as shell composition and larval stages. I am excited to be a part of the project because this type of research is a fairly new undertaking and not much is known about how certain marine species will respond to ocean acidification, so it will be interesting to see what we discover through the information we are trying to capture for the database.

At work this past week, I spent most of my time reading over relevant literature in order to learn more about ocean acidification and bivalves, since I have not had much in-depth experience with either subject. I have a feeling when the summer is over, I will have become fairly versed in shellfish characteristics and the problems that arise from the ocean taking in more and more of the carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere. This upcoming week, I will be trained on how to input the information I gather into Excel spreadsheets so that it can be easily translated over into the database. I’m looking forward to doing some meaningful work for the EPA over the next couple months.

Estuaries Guided…extended version (week 1)

Posted on by
1

Hello! My name is Diego Martin-Perez, and I just graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a BS in Biology. I am so excited to be working at the Visitor Center (VC) here in Newport, Oregon.
I am going to be responsible for giving some tours and presentations over at the VC, talking about the estuary, the Ocean Quest findings in the deep sea, and Dr. Markus Horning’s work on sea lions and the Life History Transmitter.
This past week, I basically got settled in the VC, met a bunch of awesome people that showed me around the place and told me what to do. On Tuesday, I met with the volunteer coordinator at the VC and she taught me how to open the place up (and how to close it). During that day, I spent the time helping in the “wet labs”, where a Sea Granter gave hands on lectures to kids of 6th grade, as well as 2nd grade. I won’t lie, I learned a bunch in these “elementary” lectures, mostly about the ecology of the rocky intertidal, clams, and how to handle sea stars (aka the sneak attack). Wednesday, I met another volunteer coordinator and worked in the VC for a few hours, until I went on my tour of the estuary adjacent to the VC, where I learned about clam diggin’, ghost shrimp, medicinal plants found in this location, and other cool things about the tides. I really enjoyed my little tour, so much that I took my other Sea Grant intern friends on the same tour the day after!
Thursday, I met the former Sr. Aquarist at the VC, who showed me almost everything I needed to know about how to take care of fishes and tanks containing them. He also taught me how to touch an octopus, which I did! Then, I met with someone in charge of curriculum design for kids, who placed upon me the challenge of designing an experiment with modeling clay, water and ice, and a thermometer (definitely a challenge, but a fun one). Later that day, I went clamming and got several clams (mmm clam chowder anyone?)!!!
Friday, I met my mentor, and started the extreme, painful challenge (the biggest of the week) of buffing the “chaos wheel tank”. I had never done that before, and it was hard on my body… I am still hurting from it… Then yesterday, sea grant friends and I went thrift shopping, farmer’s marketing, and ice cream/taco devouring outing! Today, I took a bike ride to the beach, ate lunch picnic style on the beach volleyball court, and read my book… oh and am writing this entry!
This upcoming week, I will meet more interns at the VC, start organizing schedules for the summer, and learning our tours and presentations, among other surprises (like finishing the buff action with the chaos wheel)…
Come visit me at the VC! I am the one with the mustache and the orange vest… Regards… Deegs

Aloha!

Posted on by
2

Aloha everyone!

My name is Sara Duncan and I say ‘Aloha’ because I am currently a senior at Hawaii Pacific University studying Environmental Science.  For Summer 2011, I am partaking in the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholars Program where I will be working for the EPA to study nutrient removal of the Yaquina Estuary in Newport, Oregon.  Essentially this means as dirty water comes into the wetland, clean water comes out and we are trying to figure out the amount of nutrient that is removed by the whole system as well as how this is accomplished.  As part of my internship, I have been instructed to answer three questions in this blog once a week.  The questions are:

1.) What did you do the previous week?
2.) What did you learn? What was new? and what were the challenges you faced?
3.) What are you going to do this week?

I will use this blog to more or less reflect solely on my internship itself, but I have also set up a personal blog at sarasoregonadventure.blogspot.com to keep you updated on my fun and adventure as I spend this summer in the great state of Oregon.

Sunday night, I arrived at the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Oregon.  The next morning, my fellow summer scholars and I met up for orientation where we ate breakfast and conversed about expectations for the summer.   It was great to meet everyone and I’m excited to spend the summer with a good group of people.  After our meeting, we went out to lunch and headed to Newport – my home for the next two months.  The biggest shocker to me was how cold it is here even in the summer, but that is something that I will have to get used to.

My first day on the job was Tuesday.  I met my mentor, Ted DeWitt, and he briefed me on the project that we will be doing over the summer.  So basically, what I’m going to be doing is setting up these chambers made out of 6 inch diameter PVC pipe attached to a cubitainer, which you can probably guess is a plastic container in the shape of a cube.  The cubitainer is filled with water with a known nutrient concentration and attached to the PVC pipe with a hose and is placed below the chamber in the estuary.  As the tide rises over the cubitainer, the pressure forces the water out and into the chamber and when the tide falls, the water drains into the cubitainer again.  After a tidal cycle, we can analyze the nutrients in the cubitainer to see if there were any changes.  As you may know, wetlands are extremely good at removing nutrients to clean the water, so we are trying to find out what is removing it and how much it is removing.  Unfortunately nature is not cut and dry, so this is way easier said than done.

Nutrient chambers that we will be setting up.

This afternoon, I got to experience my first day of field work.  I went out with the chemical technician here, Jody Stecher, to set up the bases for the chambers.  Dealing with tides is never something that I had to do before, so that was a new experience for me.  In Hawaii the difference between high tide and low tide is about one and a half feet while here it’s usually eight feet or more.  So timing is everything when it comes to the tides.  In order to get to the spot where we set up the chambers we had to cross a small stream.  By the time we got done, the small stream was turning into a large creek.  I’m afraid that I won’t pay attention to the tides enough and get stuck somewhere!  So, what we were doing today was preparing for Monday when we are going to be out on the estuary all day to deploy the chambers and run the experiment.  My coworker Caitlin explained to me all we do is, “Prepare for field work, do field work, and recover from field work.”  I found that to be funny.

As you know, the organization that I was paired with was the famous (or infamous, depending on how you view it) Environmental Protection Agency.  As a scientist, there are three main job markets that I can go into: government, industry, or academia.  Being a student, I have a lot of background in academia while this internship lets me dally in the government sector of the work force.  I’ve heard many different stories about what it’s like to work for the government, so I’m excited to take a stab at it myself for the summer.   The first thing that I noticed when I walked into the door was a picture of Obama and Biden in the entry way.  I was also surprised to find out that our mail is x-rayed before we get it and that our computer network is under constant attack from intruders that would love to get a hold of the information here.  I never realized how many people are trying to take the EPA down.  Working for EPA involves a lot of protocol that we have to go through on a daily basis.  If something goes wrong with my computer, I can’t just run down the hall to grab the tech guy, I must call the helpdesk which is somewhere in the U.S. and then they walk me through the problem remotely or they contact the tech guy to help me.  Thankfully I haven’t had any problems yet.  Since I will be involved with field and lab work, I had to take an online safety training course that is supposed to last 24 hours from start to finish.  Thankfully, I got it done in less than a day but most of it was regarding things that I will never have to do here.  So far I haven’t had much of a problem with anything.  As I have learned, working for the EPA involves extreme organization.  Everything must be planned and recorded which I think is overall a good thing.

Sitting at my new desk ready to get started.

So far my week has been exciting and I have learned a lot.  I am asking as many questions as I can from as many people as I can.  I can’t wait for Monday when I get to be out in the field all day.  I’m not a fan of sitting at a desk staring at a computer, so I’m so glad to have gotten this opportunity.  I hope that this experience is overall a positive one.  Stay tuned to learn about what I am doing every week.  I will keep you as updated as I can!

Sara Duncan

Welcome our 2011 Summer Scholars

Posted on by
1

A new class of Sea Grant Summer Scholars arrived on campus this week for orientation, and are now scattered to their host departments and agencies on the coast and at OSU. They are:

  • Shealyn Friedrich is a student at Willamette University in Salem, OR, who will be working on developing a website for the OSU Marine Council under the guidance of the Sea Grant program office at OSU.
  • AnnaRose Adams, an Oregon State University student, returning for her second year in the Summer Scholars program, assigned to work on a Coastal Marine Spatial Planning workshop with the Sea Grant program office.
  • Diego Martin-Perez, a student at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, LA, working at the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Visitor Center in Newport under the tutelage of public education specialist Bill Hanshumaker.
  • Betty Mujica, of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, working with veterinarian Tim Miller-Morgan and Extension water quality specialist Rob Emanuel at the HMSC Visitor Center.
  • Lauren Dimock, a Willamette University student assigned to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s marine resource program at the HMSC.
  • Nicole Matthias, of Michigan Technological University, also assigned to the ODFW’s marine resource program.
  • Margaretmary Gilroy, of College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, assigned to the US Environmental Protection Agency lab at the HMSC
  • Sara Duncan, of Hawai’i Pacific University in Honolulu, assigned to EPA extension, where she will be working under the guidance of Ted DeWitt on a project to study the nutrient removal of flora in the Yaquina Resevoir
  • Joanne Choi, of Yale University, who will be working with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Coos Bay under the guidance of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

We hope all nine of this year’s Summer Scholars will find time to blog about their experiences.

Greetings from the Oregon Capitol!

Posted on by
2

Hi all,

My name is Zack Reeves and I’m currently the Oregon Sea Grant Legislative Fellow. I’ve never blogged before (technology these days!), but it should be fun. I’ll post a more detailed update later in the week, to give a rundown of what has happened this session. It’s been an interesting six months, to say the least.

Goodbye for now.