Hello,

Now that I’m back from a refreshing 4th of July weekend, I’m looking back on the last week and realizing how many different things happened! Plans for da Vinci Days are ongoing and we’re trying to assemble all the necessary components before the event hits us in the face – hard to believe it’s the weekend after next! Last Tuesday, Josh and I met Cindy Newberry and she showed us how to set up the giant Oregon Sea Grant display – at 8 feet by 10 feet, it is much taller than me! It took about an hour to set up and take down but hopefully we’ll be able to recreate it when the time comes in a couple of weeks.

Josh and I also went shopping for da Vinci Days supplies… we’re planning on using Sea Grant’s Enviroscape, an interactive plastic display that models how watersheds work. It’s actually an awesome visual to show kids what can happen from various pollutants. The plastic is ridged and colored to look like a watershed, with mountains, meadows, neighborhoods, and of course a river. Using things like soy sauce to exemplify an oil spill, we can show how polluting in one area can spread all across the watershed. The Enviroscape’s website had some funny suggestions, like using chocolate sprinkles for dog poo and small pieces of paper for highway litter. I’m looking forward to trying it all out!

I was finally able to meet Tania Siemens, my third supervisor for my internship. She told Josh and I about some teaching opportunities we will have throughout the month, mostly to do with invasive species and watershed issues. She also introduced us to her aquatic invasions toolkit project, a resource for teachers that provides them with information so that they can teach their classes about aquatic invasive species.  The toolkit includes lesson plans, species guides, and a well-written introduction, but since the toolkit is still being developed, I might have the opportunity to work on it and contribute.

I’ll add one more random thing to this list! Last week, Sam Chan (one of our supervisors) asked us interns to start working on a project for the Oregon Invasive Species Council, of which Oregon Sea Grant is a member. Basically, the Oregon Invasive Species Council has a document that outlines protocols for state agency field workers. These protocols are intended to help prevent the spread of invasive species, and include information on things like cleaning gear and avoiding contaminated areas. The document is six pages long and not very attention-grabbing, so Sam asked us to come up with some clearer, more concise ways to communicate the material. Jen, professional intern-in-residence, suggested that I make a website using WordPress, so that was my task. I’ve never tried anything like that before, so it was an adventure. Since I am technologically deficient, I ended up drawing my own pictures and scanning them in for illustrations, except for the two diagrams that were provided in the document. Although it was  a struggle figuring out how everything worked, I’m fairly pleased with how it turned out! Not a dazzling production, by any means, but good enough for a prototype.

One of my low-tech illustrations :)

Hope you all are having a good week!

Hello all,

So, normally I feel like I have to push myself to write these things. However, I just had a coffee so now I’m all jazzed up!!!

This week I’ve been researching all week. Rather I should say “investigating” because the word “research” has such a strong undertone to it. I’ve been investigating the topic of Pharmaceuticals in our waterways for the past week, and I’m starting to feel like this is the subject I would like to focus on for my internship, outside of my normal duties of course.

Here’s the background…

If you were to open up your medicine cabinet back home, there would be a chance that you would find some sort of expired, or perhaps unused, medicine. The next thought, hopefully at least, would be “I should get rid of this stuff”, which then begs the question, “how do I get rid of this stuff”. In the past the government has recommended that you simply flush the medicine down the drain. Well surprise, surprise we are now starting to find that some of our watersheds and, consequently, our drinking water is starting to have some pharmaceuticals present in it. An AP Press study found that 41 million Americans are drinking tap water contaminated with a whole range of drugs in it, drugs found in these water ways treat everything from high blood pressure and cholesterol to some mental health syndromes.

So why should we care…

Well people are drinking compounds that are designed to initiate and change the ways our bodies work. On top of this, it is currently unknown how these drugs behave when combined together. It is currently not known how or if these compounds effect the human body. Recently, however, it is being noticed that some male fish are starting to lay eggs. These intersex fish are commonly thought to be interacting with the huge amounts of estrogen that we are flushing down the drains. These fish are thought of as a warning sign of the possibility of drugs in our water ways, and possible consequences of being exposed to them over large periods of time.

So what am I supposed to do with these damn drugs???

Well that’s the thing…if you just leave them in your medicine cabinet, there’s a chance that a child or pet might get into them and overdose. This happens more often than thought and in fact my cousin poisoned herself on pills when she was younger. Also some teenagers, who do the darnedest things, think it’s really cool to get high off of prescription drugs. Apparently, it’s thought that these medicines can’t hurt you, because they’re medicine right? We’ve already discussed what happens if you put the drugs down the drain: The water treatment plants can’t take the drugs out of the water and so the drugs are put into the rivers with the “treated” water. Eventually, a town downstream might use this water for tap water. If you think about putting the pills in the garbage, you face the same issues with kids, pets and teenagers. Also these pills go to the dump, where they can dissolve into leachate (or dump juice as I like to call it) which either 1) drains into the ground water or 2) gets taken to a water treatment facility…where the inability of scrubbing the pharmaceuticals out still persists.

Apparently I’m writing a paper now…(strong coffee)

The last option would be to take it to the local law enforcement office. Because everybody loves cops right? Now, intuitively one would think “I’ll just take it back where I got it…the Pharmacy”, but this is barely an option. I found out through my Aunt (who owns an independent pharmacy) that there is a program in which people can take their medications to the pharmacist who dispenses these pills into a large brown box and mail it back to a company (Sharps inc.) that incinerates the drugs in a way that is perfect for the environment AND legal. However, only some small independent pharmacies are getting into this program. Yesterday, I approached the independent here in Corvallis about this program, and was told that the Oregon board of Pharmacy didn’t allow them to take drugs back in any way. When I called the Oregon Board of Pharmacy compliance board, I was forwarded to rule 855-041-0080 part 2c, which allows this environment take-back program to be completely legal in Oregon, and that Pharmacist can take your drugs (non controlled) back if they are intentioned to destroy the drugs.

In short, it seems that this entire project will be simply educating people…even some pharmacists.

I don’t know where to go with this project, it seems extremely wide ranging and there are many problems with the current system (I haven’t even discussed the issues I have with the federal regulations on drug disposal).  My adviser  offered the idea that I start looking for grants to create some community based drug take-back program and, that I consider writing an undergraduate thesis on this subject…  I didn’t even know there were undergraduate thesis’. I’ve been put into contact with Rob Emanuel who seems to have started working of a similar project up in Tillamook and Clatsop county. And at this point I’m looking for anyone to give me some direction with the subject.

Anyways…that’s what I’ve been doing this week…If any ideas come to you please comment and give me some Ideas!

Have a GREAT 4th of July Weekent

Josh Scacco

Hello all!

My name is Josh and I, along with Amy, am a PROMISE Intern working with Oregon Sea Grant Extension here in Corvallis for the summer. A quick wrap up about me: I’m a Senior at OSU in Pre-Prarmacy with a minor in Chemistry, I most recently was the Co-Director of a student group on campus, and I’m going into OSU’s Team Liberation program at the end of the summer! I also love being an educator to all ages, and I’ve participated as a councilor at a local Outdoor school camp for sixth graders for the last five years. Okay! Now that that’s over and done with I guess I can get started on talking about my adventures with Sea Grant so far.

My first day was last Monday, which was entirely focused on PROMISE activities. We started off getting to know each other, this is where I met my fellow Sea Grant Intern Amy. Than we had a delicious lunch with our Advisers. Amy and I have three advisers: Megan Kleibacker, Samuel Chan, and Tania Siemens. During our first week, Megan was the only one in the office so, while I’ve met both Sam and Tania briefly, I’ve yet to have any extended conversation with them. After this was done, we were instructed to go the Challenge Course…I didn’t even know OSU had a challenge course. So imagine my surprise when I see a bunch of poles and guide wires 35 feet up in the air! After spending a good half hour (or at least it felt that long) getting strapped into our harnesses. We spent the next three hours climbing, crossing, and jumping around the course. Overall, it was a fun day and a great way to get introduced to the PROMISE program.

Tuesday was a simple introductory to the office setting, getting the equipment to run, learning to figure out the resources we have at our disposal etc. All this time I was still trying to figure out all that Sea Grant does. It all seemed a little intimidating to be honest. On Wednesday, however, I got to have a great experience that helped put Sea Grant into focus for me. Amy and I joined Jen, a professional Intern in the office, in going to a conference up in Vancouver, Washington. The conference focused on AIS (aquatic invasive species) for the Columbia River Basin. States that had representatives included Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho. Megan and Sam had assured me that it would be okay if I got  overwhelmed, they just wanted me to go to soak up the information, not necessarily understand it. At first, this was the case, but after a representative of Idaho, Amy Ferriter, spoke it all seemed to snap into place and make sense. I walked away from that conference with a much greater understanding of what Sea Grant does, even though Aquatic Invasive Species is only one of the many projects that Sea Grant is involved in.

Our biggest project right now is easily the DaVinci Days booth. DaVinci Days is the local art and science festival in Corvallis, so things tend to get equally colorful and nerdy, so I’m always a fan! Since this year marks the 40th anniversary of Sea Grant, Amy and I have twice as much space to work with than past interns. This has been a great activity to work on so far, because it allows me do a lot more research on the difference aspects of Sea Grant. I’ve been discovering more and more that Sea Grant is involved in a lot more than I previously thought. From educating the public on boater safety to doing research on tsunamis. Lately, instead of asking myself, “What does Sea Grant do” I’m asking myself, “What doesn’t Sea Grant do”.

As I try and find answers to this question, I get more excited to be working with such a great organization for the summer, and I can’t wait for all of the adventures and activities in store for me!!!

Hello, bloggers!

While many of you are Oregon Sea Grant Scholars, I depart slightly from that definition. My fellow intern Josh Scacco and I are  PROMISE summer interns, stationed at Oregon State University, and more importantly, at Oregon Sea Grant Extension located on campus. Some information on the PROMISE program can be found here:

http://oregonstate.edu/main/current-students/promise

We’re still in the process of finding our role here, but it could be anything from teaching kids to helping research invasive species issues. This week was my first, and I’ve been navigating the jungles (or should I say waters?) of information regarding what Sea Grant is and what it does.

My background is mostly journalistic. While I’m going into my senior year at OSU for a degree in zoology, I’m hugely interested in science communication and writing. I’m hoping to use my experiences as a science writer to effectively communicate science and ecological concepts here at Oregon Sea Grant.

So what have I learned this week?

Invasive Species

They are bad. Okay, so that may be oversimplifying things a bit.  North America is overrun with an astonishing number of invasive species! An estimated 50,000 invasive species are in the United States alone, which amounts to countless  incidences of ecological damage across the country. Josh and I journeyed to Vancouver, WA yesterday and we were privileged to sit in on the 100th Meridian Initiative Columbia River Basin Team’s meeting regarding aquatic invasive species. While many topics were discussed, I was especially interested in researcher Andy Ray’s concept of Environmental DNA, a form of genetic information that may help researchers detect aquatic invasive species early on. Early detection is particularly important in controlling unwanted invaders. Strangely, the key may be found in… feces. There’s a point to this, I promise.

Organisms shed a lot of DNA. Just as we lose hair or fingernails, animals living in the water slough off dead skin or excrete waste into the water, which can float around for up to a week. By sampling water content (and I’m greatly oversimplifying this), researchers can use DNA amplification techniques via PCR to determine which species exist in the body of water they sampled. Ultimately, through routine water checks (much like regular cancer screenings), this method could result in the early detection of invasive species. It’s a great alternative to the current method of waiting to find an actual specimen (a sort of “needle-in-a-haystack” scenario), at which point the species may already have proliferated. While still being researched, all of this is on the brink of scientific knowledge, and I was excited to learn about this cutting-edge science.

Sea Grant Is Busy!

I’m amazed by the breadth of issues that Oregon Sea Grant deals with on a daily basis. From what we work on here at the Oregon Sea Grant Extension office – invasive species, watershed health, education, outreach, ecological research – to subjects including ocean health, tsunami preparedness, renewable energy, and salmon, this program has got it all. You definitely have to be a multitasker to work here. Thinking back on all the different things I did on my first day (including looking at modeling kits that exemplify how the water cycle works,  tackling a bunch of Quizdom remotes that we might use to teach kids about invasive species, doing a training program that will certify me in case I need to conduct research involving human participants), it’s clear to me that I won’t be able to categorize my experience here into one neat box. The opportunities are seemingly  limitless.

The Importance of Community

Oregon Sea Grant is certainly not a one-man show. In this first week alone, I’ve seen so much dizzying collaboration, networking and brainstorming – a complex web of interaction! It takes the cooperation of all these people – scientists, writers, coordinators, planners – to bring about the change and improvement that Oregon Sea Grant is hoping to accomplish. One of my assignments as an intern is to work with Josh by helping develop Oregon Sea Grant’s booth at the da Vinci Days Festival in Corvallis this summer. The theme is Connectivity, and it seems appropriate, since everyone here at Oregon Sea Grant is so inseparably connected as a team. I’m really lucky to be part of this team for the rest of my internship and I hope I can do my part in contributing to the world that is Oregon Sea Grant.

The Oregon Coast is a beautiful place!

June 17, 2011

I’d like to give everyone a brief update of my Oregon Sea Grant Legislative Fellowship, now that the 2011 Legislative session appears to be winding down. It covers the period from April 26, 2011 to June 16, 2011.

Things have been in a pretty constant state of flux since the last update I provided. The main focus of my efforts has been HB 2009, which would implement a series of marine reserves, is currently locked in end-of-session negotiations. Essentially, the bill is being used as a bargaining chip between legislators in various leadership positions. It remains to be seen whether the bill will pass this legislative session.

A bill of particular concern to the Coastal Caucus, SB 736, was left to be debated in the next session. The bill would have banned gillnetting on the lower Columbia River, essentially ending the livelihoods of many fishermen on Oregon’s coast.

My primary duties to this point have included:

• Planning and organizing weekly Coastal Caucus meetings, including generating topics of discussion, arranging invited guests, and preparing agendas.

• Participating in a discussion with representatives from state agencies, the governor’s office, and interested stakeholders re: how to proceed with implementing marine reserves if HB 2009 does not pass this session.

• Collaborating with lobbyists and interested stakeholders to ensure that Oregon’s commercial fishermen continue to have a viable livelihood.

• Facilitating smooth and open lines of communication among members of the Coastal Caucus, to make sure that they stay apprised of issues that may be of concern to them as a group.

All in all, it has been a tremendous experience so far, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity provided to me!