Category Archives: Summer Scholars

Summer is here! (finally)

Posted on by
3

It’s the first day of summer today, and with the sunshine came our ten new Summer Scholars! This past Monday, orientation at the Corvallis Sea Grant office was followed by a trip to Newport where eight of our scholars met their agency mentors and moved in to the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) dorms. On Tuesday, Sarah Kolesar, Mary Pleasant and I headed down to the south coast to drop off two more of our Scholars, Lexi and Collin. Lexi is stationed in Bandon working for the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance (WRCA), and Collin is living in Charleston and working for the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNERR). This was my first opportunity to visit these beautiful locations, and to be honest, I never wanted to leave! The South Slough Visitor Center is interactive, modern and well designed, which is coupled with an adventurous forest setting with winding trails throughout. The housing for SSNERR interns are yurts that sit up high in the forest overlooking the slough, which makes for a stunning view every day. In Bandon we saw the newly built WRCA offices that are located on the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, which I found out is ranked number one for golf resorts in the nation! These offices are architecturally appealing with outdoor seating available that overlooks a small lake – a perfect place for lunch. Check out Lexi and Collin’s blogs for photos to see for yourself. We happened upon delightful, sunny weather, which always makes the coast seem ten times more breathtaking in my opinion. We also encountered some delicious food at Shark Bites restaurant in Coos Bay – I highly recommend the Dungeness crab eggs benedict!

As summer continues we are gearing up for expectations meetings with our scholars and host agencies, as well as the much anticipated mid-summer check in and camping trip! We will be heading to Trout Creek Campground, which is about an hour from Corvallis, to spend some time exploring more sections of Oregon. Seeing as none of our Scholars are Oregonians this year, we encourage them to make the most of their summer in Oregon and adventure as much as possible. There’s no place more amazing than the Pacific Northwest in the summer months – warm days, plenty of lakes and rivers, flowers and trees all around, mountains to hike or even ski, well you get the idea! I’m kept plenty busy between my two jobs at Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), but I am certainly making time for camping and hiking in these next months. Even as a native Oregonian, there are still plenty of places I haven’t yet discovered. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

First Thoughts (…Best Thoughts?)

Posted on by
3

Hello there.

Thank you for checking out this blog. As you probably already know, I (Claire) am one of the students participating in the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholars Program for Undergraduates. This summer, I am working for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) on a project to research the recreational ocean Dungeness crab fishery and recreational Dungeness crab fishing gear. I’ll explain more about that in a bit.

A little about me before I launch into a week-by-week account of my life: I just finished my junior year at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington (well, not all at Indiana University – I spent the spring semester studying in the Dutch Caribbean) where I am majoring in Biology. I have focused on lab work in my short time in the research world, but studying Dungeness crabs calls for getting out in the field, measuring some crabs, and chatting with people. The remainder of my time will be spent analyzing data and learning other things (which may or may not include learning R and driving a truck with a boat trailer attached – I’ll let you know). Conclusion: this summer I am getting a taste of fieldwork, working on my social skills, and reviving my relationship with math. Three birds with one stone.

And, as usual, I’m procrastinating.

I arrived in Newport to chilly and damp weather on Monday after our orientation in Corvallis. As most beginnings seem to be, Monday was hectic – it was filled with driving, grocery shopping, unpacking, meeting new people, divvying up closet and refrigerator space…

The rest of the week simultaneously flew by and felt much longer than six days. Maybe because I was meeting so many new people and doing so many new and varied things every day…every hour, even. Tuesday brought my first day on the job, a trip to Rogue Brewery, and Funfetti cake for Justin’s (another Scholar’s) birthday. Getting to know the seven other people here with me has been such a treat, especially against the backdrop of beautiful Newport. Watching the sunset from the South Jetty, visiting the popular bayfront restaurant Local Ocean, going to the [ferociously windy] beach, seeing Yaquina Head Lighthouse…I couldn’t ask for a better place to spend our time. If my body would maintain the temperature of a normal human being and let me wear less than five layers that would be even better. But it’s okay. Hiking boots and wool socks are my new flip-flops.

IMG_2564 IMG_2393 (1)

My week during the hours of 8:30 AM to 5 PM was no less eventful. This week, I got a crash course in the recreational Dungeness crab fishery. While there has been ongoing data collection on the sizes of crabs caught in the estuary, this information is lacking for ocean-caught crabs. So, my job will be to start getting some data there. To do this, of course, I have to learn how to handle/measure crabs. After Justin (my mentor) took me shopping for a pair of boots, lent me some rain gear, and took me out to measure some crabs we caught in the bay, I feel like I am well on my way. I didn’t get pinched, at least. And we found a message in a bottle! A plastic water bottle. But a bottle nonetheless.

I also learned about the problem that derelict fishing gear poses to the environment (a larger one than I had realized). A lost crab pot can continue catching crabs for months to years after it is lost. Crabs crawl in the pot, die, become lunch for more crabs, and so on. I’ll be asking crabbers (that return from crabbing in both the estuary and the ocean) questions about lost gear to feel out just how big this problem is. Oregon already has a Post-Season Derelict Gear Recovery Program, but perhaps there is more that needs to be done. Hopefully, I’ll have at least part of an answer to this question by the end of the summer. There are other issues involving crabbing gear as well, including that of floating vs. sinking line. Crabbers are encouraged to use sinking line because floating line can cause navigational problems for other boats. Oregon does not have laws concerning this issue, but Washington does. “To regulate or educate???” seems to be the overarching question with these gear problems. Hopefully, some of my data will help people to eventually make that choice.

To sum up: my first week has been packed with learning new info and skills. I have some wonderful roommates and program-mates (hi, boys) to help pass the time when I’m not huddled in orange rain gear elbow-deep in a bucket of crabs. But in all seriousness, I am thrilled that I get participate in marine science research and get my feet wet in the resource management side of things. As I spent more time at the lab bench, I became more aware of the importance of not only scientific research but also education and communication with the public. In the coming weeks, I get to bridge that gap by hanging around the docks, clipboard in hand.

Hey, you still there? Thank you for making it this far. Catch you next week.

 

Greetings from Newport, Oregon

Posted on by
3

Yaquina Bay State Park

The last couple of months have brought a lot of change. From applying to jobs and internships, to graduating, to moving out of my minuscule apartment in LA, to moving here- it’s been quite the adventure. Welcome or unwelcome, these events have all pushed me closer and closer to the real adult world. As young and carefree (or perhaps naive) as I’d like to be, there’s nothing more sobering than the prospects of figuring out my future and the reality that money can determine what happens in my future. And while I don’t want it to be the most important thing, I do recognize the value in understanding the role money has in the world.  

Albeit, economics is not a field I’m very familiar with, I’m extremely excited to be working with the OSU Lincoln County Extension Office on a project to assess the economic and business impacts of direct marketing programs that help marine businesses of Yaquina Bay. An astounding amount of seafood caught off the Oregon Coast is shipped elsewhere; hence, research was done on the impacts of direct marketing (also known as community-supported fisheries) in the hopes of understanding which fishermen can benefit from these programs. It found that many consumers felt intimidated or unfamiliar buying off the docks.

flyers

Flyers for Shop at the Dock

And so began Shop at the Dock (now going into its third summer!), which is an event that provides free, guided educational tours of commercial fishing docks in Newport, allowing customers to learn about fisheries, meet local fisherman, and buy fresh, locally caught fish. This project combines all of my interests- education, community building and outreach, and the environment- so I’m really grateful and excited to get started.

During my first week, I spent time getting acquainted with the Extension Office. I was amazed to hear about all the work they do, including running the 4-H Youth Program to Family and Community Health Programs. I have my very own (and first!) office with a fantastically distracting view of Yaquina Bay. I also began preparation for Shop at the Dock. One of the highlights of the week was going on a Dock Walk led by my mentor, Kaety Jacobson, and seeing a boat that was rigged to catch hagfish (mmm…dried slime).

I am endlessly in awe of Newport. The weather gets a little gloomy for this California soul, but I love the billowing clouds, the random rain, and the cotton candy sunsets. So far, I’ve had a fantastic time exploring the Newport Farmer’s Market (I ate the pint of blueberries I bought in a day), hiking around Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and laying out on the beach on an exceptionally windy day (my ears are still filled with sand).

IMG_6142

Like-minded (and like-dressed) environmentalists

Newport’s definitely inspired a new playlist this summer, so feel free to listen along. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more on my research and Newport adventures!!

Week 1 – Planting the seed

Posted on by
3

…I have always found fish to be intriguing creatures, and as far back as I can remember, I have been enamored with fishing…Each species has its own life history that dictates its diet, location, and behavioral characteristics, and so I studied up on a plethora of them, eager to know more about what makes each one unique as well as how to pursue them…connecting my interest with academics was intuitive – as a biology major specializing in ecology, I was very much interested in fish as a particular subject, and as a recreational angler, I felt as though I had a personal stake in helping to manage our resources. It has become increasingly apparent to me, whether it be through learning about historical stock collapses through my lecture on the tragedy of the commons or hearing the debates regarding recreational regulations each year, the importance of stewardship side by side with research…

I included the above excerpt from my personal essay as a bit of insight into what drove me to apply to the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholars Program. The focus of my essay was on the tragedy of the commons, a phenomenon that I first came across several years ago when I was still an undergraduate. Now, I’ve found that throughout college there are the courses you enjoy, the courses you tolerate, and the courses that leave you profoundly contemplative of what just transpired in the sixty minutes prior. I can’t say that I was raptly attentive throughout the entirety of my marine biology lectures (I’m looking at you, macroalgae), but our class on the tragedy of the commons was one in which I was not only intrigued by the content matter itself, but also surprised by the fact that I could be so interested in a topic.

Originally conceptualized by William Forster Lloyd in 1883, the tragedy of the commons was popularized by Garrett Hardin in 1968 as an explanation of the consequences of the rapidly expanding human population on resources. In his paper, Hardin summarizes it best in the following thought experiment:

“Picture a pasture open to all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep as many cattle as possible on the commons…As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks, “What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?”…the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another… But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit–in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.”

Since its inception, the tragedy of the commons has been applied to a variety of situations – in the case of my marine biology class, on overfishing. This isn’t even necessarily about blatantly illegal fishing; responsible operations that abide by the law are also part of the problem as we attempt to divide increasingly scarce fisheries among increasingly larger markets. Certainly fishermen have a right to a livelihood, but where do we draw the line between sustainability and human demand? As one can imagine, it’s a complex path studded with bias and contention, one that must be navigated shrewdly if we are to adequately meet the needs of both nature and man. (I recommend reading Hardin’s paper in its entirety to get a stronger understanding on the tragedy of the commons, but be forewarned that the latter parts of the paper adopt a decidedly controversial attitude on human overpopulation).

Which brings us to why I’m here with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). My area of research this summer is centered on the state’s five marine reserves scattered up and down the coast. Officially enacted in 2012, these reserves are closed to fishing and ocean development, but they are more than simply ecological sanctuaries. The ODFW Marine Reserves Program is closely monitoring their long-term effects with respect to comparison areas, which are open to fishing but still closed to development. In addition to studying the impacts of fishing, the Marine Reserves Program also assesses other abiotic and biotic measures related to the health of Oregon’s coastal ecosystems.

As a research project, these marine reserves were built specifically to be scientific in nature. But they are also simultaneously meant to conserve biodiversity and inform future management of our marine resources. Having already shared my above motivations for pursuing this specific field, I can’t help but feel that that this is the path that much of future ecology work must take, if it hasn’t already started trending in that direction. This is exactly what I meant when I wrote “stewardship side by side with research” in my essay. The effects of what has already occurred under scenarios dictated by the tragedy of the commons are glaring. Overfishing. Water shortages. Fossil fuel usage and the advent of climate change. And so on and so forth; the list will undeniably get longer with time. We’ve already taken so much out of our natural resources, some of it irrevocably. It’s going to take a lot more to restore it back to the way it was.

But enough big picture talk for the time being. My personal role in this endeavor is multifaceted – I’ll be working on anything ranging from SMURF (Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Fishes) data collection to intertidal sea star surveys to underwater video analysis. I’ll also be spending part of my time on the communications aspect of the project, namely video editing and social media outreach. So far, I’ve been dutifully busy reading material, visiting the aquarium to solidify my fish identification skills, and conducting SMURF fieldwork.

We’ll see what the next week brings.

Life on the coast

Posted on by
3

After traveling across the country for 11 days and putting 4,000 miles on my car, I finally arrived in Newport, Oregon! This being my first time on the West Coast, I really didn’t know what to expect. I recently graduated college in upstate New York so I was more than ready to see and live in a new part of the country. As of right now I can say that I am really enjoying my time here and I am very excited to see what the rest of the summer has in store for me and the research team I am working with.

My internship is stationed at the EPA’s Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch under Dr. Ted DeWitt. Our research team consists primarily of Ted, Jody, Daryl, Katie (another intern in the group), and myself (all pictured below except for me). We are looking primarily at characterizing how water moves through various salt marshes around Tillamook Bay, OR and seeing if we can use various models (that were created for other outside sites) at these sites to predict changes in the environment due to different factors. To eventually accomplish that goal, Katie and I will be analyzing soil cores to look at the hydrology, soil chemistry, and soil physics of these salt marshes.

I originally found out about the Summer Scholars program when I was looking at OSU for graduate school. I’m really passionate about studying water quality and one of my long term goals is to be able to participate in creating a management plan for a certain area to improve coastal water quality while appeasing local business owners and nearby residents. This is why I am so excited to be a part of this research. Even though I won’t be here to see the project all the way through, I am very confident that the work we are doing will lead to more knowledge about Tillamook Bay and management plans will have a greater chance of being established in this area.

DSC_0140

The picture above was taken this past Thursday in Tillamook Bay when we were installing wells in the salt marshes to track the water pressure in different areas of the marsh. It was a surprisingly beautiful day considering the weather was predicted to consist of severe rain and possible thunderstorms. It was the one day so far in Oregon where we completely missed any sort of rainfall. This was my first experience conducting field work in salt marshes and it was a lot of fun. We used a corer to take out soil cores in the marsh which were then sectioned off and soil characteristics were identified while we were still in the field. Wells made out of PVC piping were then installed and HOBO (yeah I know it’s a weird name but that’s just what they’re called) sensors were put into the wells to measure the water pressure over time. We should be going back to this particular site in about a month to remove the sensors and analyze the water pressure data.

We now have eight cores to analyze from Thursday, plus the four cores taken from site 7 before we arrived in Newport, AND now we have water pressure data to work with…so I am currently preparing for a very busy week ahead of me. Knowing that my contribution to this project will hopefully improve the health of the environment and possibly even the standard of living in the Tillamook area makes me really excited to analyze the data.

Other aspects of living in Newport and being a Summer Scholar are getting to explore the area and getting to meet other like-minded individuals from across the country.

IMG_0296

My roommates and I went to the Yaquina Head lighthouse on Saturday and I highly recommend going! It was beautiful and the area has great intertidal zone access. I definitely suggest looking at a tide chart before going and planning your trip around low tide so you can go out further and see more. We went to a nearby beach today which was also beautiful but windy. Very windy. Hopefully the next time we try to go the conditions will be a little better. I’m still having trouble getting all of the sand out of my clothes.

Hopefully I’ll have some really interesting data and some beautiful pictures to share next week!

The Oregon South Coast: Week One

Posted on by
4

My first week as an Oregon State Summer Sea Scholar has been busy, but already fulfilling. It’s impossible to document every experience that I’ve had, but looking back on my week, there are several moments that stand out. I’ll organize the post by these moments, and hopefully this will make it easier for you to read too – you can skip the less intriguing subtitles.

Part 1: “Where are the hipsters?” (A story of expectations)

I’m almost embarrassed to say that I didn’t know much about this region, or Oregon generally before I had arrived. My academic interests surround environmental policy, and I’ve studied Oregon’s history within (really, initiators of) the U.S. environmental movement, and many of their successful environmental policies are fascinating, so I wanted to learn about these aspects on the ground. But my academic research on the histories and policies of the region failed to prepare for the cultural and geographic differences from my Mid-West home. Flying in, I had no idea that there were so many mountains here! I knew about Mt. Hood, and the mountains in Washington, but mountains, a coast, and a seasonal in-land climate? Oregon, you cool. I also expected just about everyone to be wearing flannel, skinny jeans, and thick-rimmed glasses, but I don’t think I saw a one! There were plenty of Starbucks in the airport, though, and I haven’t had a shortage of coffee while here, so that expectation was met. Also no one told me how cold it was; coming from Missouri, our summers are 100 degrees and humid, but here? Highs of 65 and breezy? I can see why Nike set up shop, you can run forever! Also these trees. Man, the trees! Gorgeous conifers, towering over 70 ft! I thought just the Redwoods (which, I also got to see a “baby” Redwood on the OSU campus) could grow this tall, but their average tree here is a giant. Really helps put the world in perspective biking among this giants to work.

Mount St. Helens, the river in Newport, and my new hat

 

Part 2: The pokey bike ride

Speaking of biking, that brings me to my first story. So I had just arrived at my new place (also gorgeous, by-the-way — huge ceilings, two stories, queen bed with my own private bath — definitely didn’t expect any of that. Oh, also laundry is right-next-door and I have yet to see anyone else in there), and I was about ready to take my requisite daily nap, when it occurred to me that I had absolutely no food. While I wasn’t hungry then, I reasoned that by the time I woke up, biked the 10 mile roundtrip to town, and fixed my dinner, it’d be too late. Talking myself out of my nap (very hard to do), I took off down the road I was told led to Bandon (there’s only one road…). I didn’t get very far when I noticed that the seat on the bike that was donated (thanks a million, OSU!) was a bit too high (surprise, I’m really short). I bent down and realized that the only way to move the seat was with a wrench. So I piddle-paddled-peddled on down to town, choosing between bruising my tailbone and getting poked in the rear with the seat (a difficult decision). After a couple of stores, a lady (in a pharmacy, no less), directed me towards the section that included a wrench, wahlah! She was very surprised by how excited I was to find and purchase such a strange item, and so I explained my long and arduous journey. She laughed and said, “Well now you can add a wrench to your toolbox.” “Great,” I replied, “it will include one wrench.” But it was a wrench that I was able to comfortably peddle on back to my house (with some yummy groceries that I was also very excited for upon returning).

Downtown Bandon, and the infamous bike

Part 3: Person, Place, Thing (First Day on the Job)

Wow, is Bandon Dunes stunning (photos linked). I had looked up photos before coming, but nothing compared to standing out on the course, warmed by the sun, cooled by the ocean breeze, and in awe as these elements played with the seemingly-endless rolling hills, unbelievably tall trees, and sparkling sand dunes. When I first saw Bandon Dunes, it felt like I was in a dream. Every morning biking to work, it still takes my breath away as I roll through the forest, come down the hill into the resort, and its vast beauty strikes me again. Best perk: I can walk amongst this beauty during my lunch break (see photos from my lunch spot, and a few great trails that I’ve visited).

Bandon Dunes

For the actual “work”, I get to do what I love, research, for a cause I support. A bit on Wild Rivers Coast Alliance (WRCA) – they’re a local non-profit that is funded by the proceeds from Bandon Preserve, a 13-hole, 3-par course open to anyone at a much lower cost than the other courses at Bandon Dunes. Mike Keiser, the visionary, creator, and owner of Bandon Dunes, created WRCA to help give back to the community. We work with local businesses, other non-profits, and the state to fund projects that meet the “triple-bottom-line” of conservation, community, and economy. We help the south coast develop sustainably, which are exactly my academic interests. My job? Provide information to make this happen. Currently I’m working on a report of the Oregon Coast Trail that I’ll provide to Travel Oregon on how to increase the accessibility of the trail, while protecting the ecosystem that it runs though. Later, I’ll be compiling data on the tourism initiatives in the region to help develop curriculum for Oregon State’s new tourism program. I’ll also get to work with a fantastic local organization called “Washed Ashore”, which collects local sea debris and turns it into art, and then a conversation about the effects of sea litter on our ecosystems (see photo of “Henry the Fish” who lives in downtown Bandon). Basically, this position is perfect. It’s like no other “job” I’ve had before because it doesn’t feel like a job. Every day I am excited to show up and learn as much as possible to support such a great cause. Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this organization, and I am so grateful to be a part of the team.

Meet Henry, from Washed Ashore

Part 4: “Do you know how I can get to Portland?”

When I envisioned Oregon before my arrival, I guess I basically thought that it would be Portland all across the state… that’s a bad assumption. But with that assumption I also thought that I would be just fine trying to navigate around with just a bike. Oregon is bike-friendly, right? Sort of. What I didn’t realize was just how small Bandon is (the town where my program is), and just how far away it is from everything else (even my office is 2 miles from where I live, so I’m getting into some decent shape, whether I want to or not).

I’ve also been lucky enough to receive a scholarship for my tuition. I’m truly grateful, but one of a few stipulations of the scholarship is that I have to attend a workshop in the middle of the summer, meaning that I had to determine how to get from Bandon to KC and back again as quickly as possible. For my Missouri friends, I likened this task to trying to get from Camdenton (similar to Bandon) to either Springfield (like Eugene, has a smaller airport) or Kansas City (like Portland, large-ish airport with more options, but much farther away) with only a bike. Now, I lived in Camdenton for over 5 years, and I wouldn’t be able to tell someone how to do that. Do they have an Amtrak? I’m pretty sure there’s an Amtrak from Jeff City to KC, but how would you get to Jeff? Local bus from Osage Beach? And then I’m not sure if there’s a local bus from Camdenton to Osage Beach? My point is, I’ve learned what I didn’t know about myself growing up in a small town – we don’t take public transportation, because there basically isn’t any. If you live in a small town, chances are you have to commute to a larger town for most things, and so you’ll need a car, which I’m running short on. So after many conversations (a lot very similar to my description of transportation in rural Missouri), lots of google searches, and tremendous help from my travel enthusiast/saint of a grandmother, I found a route that includes a couple 30-min taxis, 2 greyhound buses, two flights, including the “red-eye” flight (1 am departure) from Las Vegas into KC, and finally a 3-hr drive to my workshop in Columbia, MO. That’s the trip out, I’m still working on getting back in since I just found out that there are no buses back to Bandon on Saturdays. I’ll keep you posted.

Looking forward: Week 2

If you’re still reading, (thanks!), you’re probably wondering about several aspects of my experience that I haven’t mentioned. This certainly isn’t close to everything that I have to talk about, including my roommates, workmates, and the wonderful people I’ve met around Bandon so far. But I’m sure I’ll fill in the gaps as the weeks progress and I continue posting. I’ve already set out some goals for the summer, for my internship, professionally, and personally, and I’m excited to share those next time!

Skyler’s Weekly Review – Week 1

Posted on by
3

The Buzz: Newport, ODFW & SEACOR, UAVs and GIS

Newport: Consistent temperature. Inconsistent weather. Weather prediction apps wildly inaccurate. Prepare for rain AND sun. Quaint maritime/fishing community reinforced by the presence of the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC). Excellent farmer’s market on Saturdays.
P.S. Like many before me, I too have now contributed to the pool of images of the Yaquina Bay Bridge (See Left).

 

ODFW & SEACOR: The Shellfish and Estuarine Assessment of Coastal Oregon (SEACOR, pronounced “seeker”), is operated under the auspices of the Marine Resources Program of ODFW and is primarily funded by recreational shellfish licenses. They have enlisted my help for field work in several major Oregon estuaries. Additionally, I have been tasked with aiding in operating and evaluating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (UAVs) potential for rapid assessment of shellfish burrow hole counts and eelgrass estimates. Utilizing various software, UAV imagery is stitched (also called a mosaic), referenced to a position on the planet, and exported for further use and/or analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS).

 

 

UAVs: Often given a bad rap for landing on the White House lawn and interrupting firefighting flights, UAVs (or more commonly, drones) remain an undeniably game-changing technology in photogrammetry and scientific research due to their affordability and ease of use. We will be primarily utilizing a Turbo Ace Matrix quadcopter: a reliable, lightweight carbon-fiber/aluminum bodied UAV carrying a Sony RX100 camera sensor.

 

GIS: In order to utilize the UAV imagery with computer mapping tools (i.e. ArcGIS), we need to position several Ground Control Points (GCPs) along the anticipated flight path of our UAV. GCPs allow us to make geographic ties between the images we collect and the real coordinates of the high-accuracy GCPs. Our GPS coordinates will be collected using a professional-grade Trimble GPS receiver prior to the UAV flight. Once our imagery and GCPs are collected we can “georeference” our imagery so that we can make more accurate calculations.

Next week: Estuary Field Work, RStudio, and more!

Thinking Beneath the Surface

Posted on by
3

Photo of my first encounter with a sea turtle.

Ever hear of the saying, “the head, the hand and the heart?” I’ve learned that thinking, doing and feeling are key elements to bringing about change. If you know about an issue and you can feel the impacts of it, then you are more likely to care about it and take action. The same is true for me with my first encounter with the great sea turtles of Hawaii. When I was younger, I vividly remember the first time I came across one of these massive creatures on the beach and my heart raced as I approached this mysteriously large being that was probably much older than myself. On June 16th this week, people across the globe took part in world sea turtle day in an effort to spike awareness and emphasize the importance of their conservation.

When it comes to conservation problems, there is a lot to think about. In 2005, bycatch accounted for about 17% of all U.S. commercial fisheries catch. This has been a huge problem as a result of heavy fishing pressure with non-selective fishing gear, especially large purse seine and bottom trawl nets. To give perspective, the world’s largest supertrawler, the Atlantic Dawn, is longer than one and a half football fields with an otter trawl big enough for a 747 jet to pass through. As you might imagine, any fish or marine mammal that becomes trapped in this net has no chance of escaping and many in fact drown before being tossed back overboard upon retrieval. As horrifying as this may sound, it is our love for seafood and the sky rocketing demand to feed the population that has led to the implementation of such efficient technology.

So what is being done? For sea turtles, there has been a bit of a success story thanks to the efforts of conservation groups. It is now required by law that shrimp fishermen use Turtle Excluder Devices (or TEDs) to let sea turtles or other large bycatch escape deadly trawl nets. While sea turtle mortality has been reduced by 90 percent as a result, all six species of turtles found in U.S. waters are endangered and still faces threats of survival each year. The decline in marine species stretches far beyond sea turtles, as many species may be slipping into extinction without our knowing.

Otter Rock Marine Reserve.

That is where marine reserves are important. A Marine Reserve constitutes areas “protected from all extractive activities, except as necessary for monitoring or research to evaluate reserve condition, effectiveness, or impact of stressors.” This differs from a Marine Protected Area in that some fishing may be allowed rather than closing off all extractive activities. Both of these are important efforts to reduce fishing pressure on fish that have been harvested at an unsustainable rate.

Just as the sea turtles of Hawaii ignited my passion for their conservation, I see my position this summer with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as an opportunity to help bring attention to issues of ocean conservation. I look forward to better understanding the ways humans value, use and depend on marine resources and how Marine Reserves play a part in that. We’ve only just begun to skim the surface but there’s much more to dive into.

Shooting the poop

Posted on by
3

So I’ve read a lot about different kinds of poop these past few days…cow, bird, elk, and human to be specific (yes, there is a difference). Why? Because my mentor (Amy) is focusing on determining the sources of feces that contribute to the microbial load in Tillamook Bay. Although the details are still in flux, the current plan for the summer is to take water and sediment samples from various estuaries that empty into the bay and gather nutrient, chlorophyll, and microbial data. The microbial data Amy is looking to collect is specifically regarding fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), microbes that are found in feces that can signal the potential presence of other harmful pathogens in the water. We will also be using qPCR to determine the abundance of specific genetic markers from certain microbes in order to do microbial source tracking (MST). MST allows us to determine whose poop is where and how much of it there is. I’m sure that I’ll learn more as the next week unfolds and we do some field work for the first time. If time permits I’m also going to be able to work on my own side-project related to microbes in the Tillamook Bay; I’m thinking of looking at the concentrations of microbes in oyster gut tissues or on the biofilm produced by eelgrass, Zostrea marina. I’m getting really excited for all the data to start coming it, it’s going to be a cool time at the EPA!

On a non-science related note Newport is pretty sweet! It feels a lot like Boston (my hometown) and Maine; it’s great to be around actual trees instead of being in the SoCal desert. Newport itself is a quaint little town that really only exists on one main street by the bay; it’s a nice small-town feel.

 

P.S. Dungeness crab is really good

 

Welcome 2016 Summer Scholars!

Posted on by
Reply
Summer Scholars 2016

Summer Scholars, 2016

Today we kicked off our 2016 Summer Scholars season with an orientation for the 10 undergraduates who will be spending their summer working on research and public engagement projects with natural resource agencies on the Oregon coast: Angus Thies, Lexi Brewer, Skyler Elmstrom, Claire Mullaney, Erin Horkin,  Stephanie Ng, Collin Williams, Edward Kim, Justin Dalaha and Jessica Vaccare.

This is the largest class of Summer Scholars we’ve hosted to date, and we look forward to reading their posts about their experiences in our Sea Grant Scholars blog.

Learn more: