Hi everybody,
The quarter is winding down and I'm looking forward to the holiday break. After expending hours of research time going through papers on modelling in order to decide on a snow project for the Western Snow Conference, Dwight and I settled on snow microbiology. I think it will be a cool as there are few people doing any similiar research. I think the protocol will be similiar to the methods of analysis I used in Costa Rica on soil (see previous posts). Basically, we'll be extracting any DNA in the soil, then clone it, and see what we have with gel electophoresis. It will probably be a baseline characterization for now. Other than that, I'm still working on a carbon footprint for the Peninsula College campus and collecting snow data for the NASA forecasting project. Tune back in later, Shea
Monday, December 8, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Travelling Free
Hi again fans and friends,
After finishing my lab and statistics work at La Selva and Laguna Del Lagarto, I was able to reap the reward of 10 days to travel freely. I first headed back to the Rio Sarapiqui valley, just up river from La Selva. I ended up staying with some raft guides I had met on the bus to Peurto Viejo a month previously. Being a fellow raft guide, they invited me in like a brother. I was fortunate enough to get a free trip down the class IV section of the river and was invited to a house party afterwards. All I can say is; in my experience, raft guides are the same wherever you go. A few days later, I was able to coordinate a discounted trip down the Pacuare River (see previous posts) through some of my raftguide friends. The Pacuare is rated in the top five river trips in the world, and justifiably so. It runs through one of the largest preserves in Costa Rica flush with tropical flowers and butterflies, down raging rapids, and past towering waterfalls. It was heavenly. From there, I took a bus to the other Peurto Viejo, a surf town on the south carribean coast near Panama. My days were filled with surfing on the famous wave "Salsa Brava," bicycle rides down the coast, and lounging on the beach at sunset. As nice as conditions were, I got itchy feet with only a few days left to travel. I decided to head over to the Pacific side and check out the culture and surf conditions on the southern Nicoya peninsula. The beach town Monteczuma was a quirky ex-pat hippie town that kinda reminded me of Sedona, Arizona. Mal Pais and Santa Theresa and the west side of the peninsula had consistent, powerful waves and all night beach parties. Here is where I awoke on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 14th. Not knowing that monday was Costa Rica's equivelent of July 4th, I had planned on taking a bus, ferry ride, and another bus back to the San Jose airport in order to catch my 4am flight much later that night. I got side tracked at a bar next to the bus stop watching the nfl opener and thus didn't notice that no busses had gone past. Around three o'clock I began enquiring about the typical arrival time of the last bus when I was informed that they had cancelled bus service on Sunday due to Monday being independence day. At that, I took off down the with my overstuffed backpack and an outstreched thumb. After numerous rides in the back of trucks, with and assortment of farm animals, being driven at full speed over bumpy roads by patriots celebrating early, I made the last ferry to the mainland. Another long, sketchy bus ride and I was at the airport and on my way back to the states. Once I got back, I was home for about 4 days and then off to Idaho for a two week raft trip down the middle fork of the Salmon River. I was somewhat obligated to go as it was the end of the season trip for Olympic Raft and Kayak, the company I guide for. Once I got back from that trip, I was a week behind and crunched for work although I doubt I'll ever regret taking the trip. My REU work for this fall is data collection from the NASA forcasting model weather stations, completing a carbon footprint for Peninsula College, and working on a paper for the Western Snow Conference.
After finishing my lab and statistics work at La Selva and Laguna Del Lagarto, I was able to reap the reward of 10 days to travel freely. I first headed back to the Rio Sarapiqui valley, just up river from La Selva. I ended up staying with some raft guides I had met on the bus to Peurto Viejo a month previously. Being a fellow raft guide, they invited me in like a brother. I was fortunate enough to get a free trip down the class IV section of the river and was invited to a house party afterwards. All I can say is; in my experience, raft guides are the same wherever you go. A few days later, I was able to coordinate a discounted trip down the Pacuare River (see previous posts) through some of my raftguide friends. The Pacuare is rated in the top five river trips in the world, and justifiably so. It runs through one of the largest preserves in Costa Rica flush with tropical flowers and butterflies, down raging rapids, and past towering waterfalls. It was heavenly. From there, I took a bus to the other Peurto Viejo, a surf town on the south carribean coast near Panama. My days were filled with surfing on the famous wave "Salsa Brava," bicycle rides down the coast, and lounging on the beach at sunset. As nice as conditions were, I got itchy feet with only a few days left to travel. I decided to head over to the Pacific side and check out the culture and surf conditions on the southern Nicoya peninsula. The beach town Monteczuma was a quirky ex-pat hippie town that kinda reminded me of Sedona, Arizona. Mal Pais and Santa Theresa and the west side of the peninsula had consistent, powerful waves and all night beach parties. Here is where I awoke on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 14th. Not knowing that monday was Costa Rica's equivelent of July 4th, I had planned on taking a bus, ferry ride, and another bus back to the San Jose airport in order to catch my 4am flight much later that night. I got side tracked at a bar next to the bus stop watching the nfl opener and thus didn't notice that no busses had gone past. Around three o'clock I began enquiring about the typical arrival time of the last bus when I was informed that they had cancelled bus service on Sunday due to Monday being independence day. At that, I took off down the with my overstuffed backpack and an outstreched thumb. After numerous rides in the back of trucks, with and assortment of farm animals, being driven at full speed over bumpy roads by patriots celebrating early, I made the last ferry to the mainland. Another long, sketchy bus ride and I was at the airport and on my way back to the states. Once I got back, I was home for about 4 days and then off to Idaho for a two week raft trip down the middle fork of the Salmon River. I was somewhat obligated to go as it was the end of the season trip for Olympic Raft and Kayak, the company I guide for. Once I got back from that trip, I was a week behind and crunched for work although I doubt I'll ever regret taking the trip. My REU work for this fall is data collection from the NASA forcasting model weather stations, completing a carbon footprint for Peninsula College, and working on a paper for the Western Snow Conference.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Catching up
Greetings veryimportantresearch nation,
I've been trying to get caught up in my life since returning from Costa Rica and catching up with my blog fans is a part of that process. The last time I spoke with all of you I had just returned from whale watching in Drake bay. After that I returned to La Selva to finish up some lab work while we had the luxury of a real lab. A week later we packed up our equipment which Dr. Eaton and family took to a jungle lodge up near the Nicaraguan border. Mel, Brenda and I decided to take a circuitous route up through Tortuguero on the the Carribean coast and meet Bill a few days later. There are no roads to Tortuguero, the only way to get there is by plane or boat. Being poor college students, we decided to take the boat, which crashed into the shore at one point, combined with a few bus rides. The main reason to go there for us, and everyone else who travels there, was to see giant sea turtles laying eggs on the beach. We weren't disappointed. We got to see three green turtles and watched one while she was laying her eggs. The other great thing about Tortuguerro is the Carribean flavor. Many of the locals are dreadlocked with African ancestry and speak english with a Jamaican sounding patois. There is also the sound of carribean music and the smell of spices and coconut milk. I took the opportunity to party with the locals until three in the morning. It was a great time.
When we left Tortuguero it was a full day, a boat ride, three bus rides, and a ride in the back of a truck to get to the Laguna Del Lagarto lodge near the confluence of the Rio San Carlo and the Rio San Juan. This is one of the most remote lodges in the country and it felt like it. After the last couple travel adventures it was nice to relax, do some stat work, and clone some DNA. The place was a bird lovers paradise and had lagoons for canoeing. We even had a coconut Olympics.
Everyone left about a week into September. I delayed my flight a week so after everyone else left, I still had a week to travel solo before heading back to the U.S. Tune in later to hear about that adventure.
I've been trying to get caught up in my life since returning from Costa Rica and catching up with my blog fans is a part of that process. The last time I spoke with all of you I had just returned from whale watching in Drake bay. After that I returned to La Selva to finish up some lab work while we had the luxury of a real lab. A week later we packed up our equipment which Dr. Eaton and family took to a jungle lodge up near the Nicaraguan border. Mel, Brenda and I decided to take a circuitous route up through Tortuguero on the the Carribean coast and meet Bill a few days later. There are no roads to Tortuguero, the only way to get there is by plane or boat. Being poor college students, we decided to take the boat, which crashed into the shore at one point, combined with a few bus rides. The main reason to go there for us, and everyone else who travels there, was to see giant sea turtles laying eggs on the beach. We weren't disappointed. We got to see three green turtles and watched one while she was laying her eggs. The other great thing about Tortuguerro is the Carribean flavor. Many of the locals are dreadlocked with African ancestry and speak english with a Jamaican sounding patois. There is also the sound of carribean music and the smell of spices and coconut milk. I took the opportunity to party with the locals until three in the morning. It was a great time.
When we left Tortuguero it was a full day, a boat ride, three bus rides, and a ride in the back of a truck to get to the Laguna Del Lagarto lodge near the confluence of the Rio San Carlo and the Rio San Juan. This is one of the most remote lodges in the country and it felt like it. After the last couple travel adventures it was nice to relax, do some stat work, and clone some DNA. The place was a bird lovers paradise and had lagoons for canoeing. We even had a coconut Olympics.
Everyone left about a week into September. I delayed my flight a week so after everyone else left, I still had a week to travel solo before heading back to the U.S. Tune in later to hear about that adventure.
Friday, August 15, 2008
NASA project
I was able to snag a copy of the vidcast Chris DeSisto and I made last school year about the NASA solutions network and hydrologic forecasting model (see previous posts).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Whale Tale
I'm just back back from three of the most enjoyable days of my life. Myself, this guy Justin, Mel, Brenda, and this chick from South Africa named Taryn all went on a whale watching trip to the Bahia Drake, which is where the grey and humpback whales hang out and people used to be able to swim with them until it became illegal in 2006. We left on friday and stayed at this cool hostel in downtown San Jose. It was pretty swanky and had a pool with swim up bar and a bunch of young, drunk 20 somethings from sweden, who I had to tell to keep it quiet at 2am. The next morning we walked 
to the Teatro National (the famous national theatre) and caught a 5 hr bus ride (with a dozen or so other whale watchers) to the beaches south of Dominical (the central pacific coast surf capital). We had to walk out into the water to get onto the boats as some kids tried to hold it steady in the pounding surf. There was about a three hour boat ride (saw one whale and a giant sea turtle swimming) to the north coast of the Osa Peninsula, which is mostly comprised of the Corcovado National park (National Geographic called it the most biologically intense place on the earth and I b
elieve them). We hiked along a couple of beautiful beaches until we came to the most beautiful, San Josecito, and stayed in some nice little cabins at the poorman's paradise resort. We all went swimming in the warm water and body surfed in the massive waves until dinner time. They had a nice little bar where I caught a good buzz and then walked up and down the beach with Mel as three lighning storms in the distance illuminated the beach from three different angles. That beach is one of the most magical places I've ever been. The next day we went out in the boat again and saw five 
whales. The best sighting lasted about an hour and was right off of the coast of Isla de Cano. It was a mother and her 4 day old baby playing around, slapping the water with it's tale and jumping above the surface, totally awesome! Then we landed on Cano island and hung out and swam and I hiked up on some rocks overlooking the beach and did a little meditating on the magic of the moment. Then we got in the boat and sped up the Sierpe river past the largest Mangrove forest in Costa Rica, had beers and food in Sierpe, and got on the bus 
back to San Jose. This morning everyone left out of the same hostel at 6am but I decided to stay and tour San Jose a little bit and catch a bus by myself. I went to the three parks in the downtown and took photos of statues and landmarks, went to the Central Market (much like the arcade downstairs at the Pike Market), had breakfast at a little diner stand, then caught a bus back to La Selva. On the bus I met an old ex-pat raft guide living in La Virgen who pegged me as a raft guide right away (it's kinda like gaydar for gay people) and told me to come up and hang out with him and his family and he'd get me on a raft trip down the class 5 section of the Sarapiqui for free. I think he enjoyed conversing raftguide talk with someone from the states as he said they don't hire gringos anymore because they cost too much. All in all it was a f##king great time.
to the Teatro National (the famous national theatre) and caught a 5 hr bus ride (with a dozen or so other whale watchers) to the beaches south of Dominical (the central pacific coast surf capital). We had to walk out into the water to get onto the boats as some kids tried to hold it steady in the pounding surf. There was about a three hour boat ride (saw one whale and a giant sea turtle swimming) to the north coast of the Osa Peninsula, which is mostly comprised of the Corcovado National park (National Geographic called it the most biologically intense place on the earth and I b
elieve them). We hiked along a couple of beautiful beaches until we came to the most beautiful, San Josecito, and stayed in some nice little cabins at the poorman's paradise resort. We all went swimming in the warm water and body surfed in the massive waves until dinner time. They had a nice little bar where I caught a good buzz and then walked up and down the beach with Mel as three lighning storms in the distance illuminated the beach from three different angles. That beach is one of the most magical places I've ever been. The next day we went out in the boat again and saw five 
whales. The best sighting lasted about an hour and was right off of the coast of Isla de Cano. It was a mother and her 4 day old baby playing around, slapping the water with it's tale and jumping above the surface, totally awesome! Then we landed on Cano island and hung out and swam and I hiked up on some rocks overlooking the beach and did a little meditating on the magic of the moment. Then we got in the boat and sped up the Sierpe river past the largest Mangrove forest in Costa Rica, had beers and food in Sierpe, and got on the bus 
back to San Jose. This morning everyone left out of the same hostel at 6am but I decided to stay and tour San Jose a little bit and catch a bus by myself. I went to the three parks in the downtown and took photos of statues and landmarks, went to the Central Market (much like the arcade downstairs at the Pike Market), had breakfast at a little diner stand, then caught a bus back to La Selva. On the bus I met an old ex-pat raft guide living in La Virgen who pegged me as a raft guide right away (it's kinda like gaydar for gay people) and told me to come up and hang out with him and his family and he'd get me on a raft trip down the class 5 section of the Sarapiqui for free. I think he enjoyed conversing raftguide talk with someone from the states as he said they don't hire gringos anymore because they cost too much. All in all it was a f##king great time.Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Turrialba
Hi everybody,
This entry is one day behind as I'm still trying to catch up. I may even back track more in future blogs.
I went to Turrialba today. It was awesome. I got to tour the countryside in a 4x4 with my driver, Macho. Really, that's his name. If I have a son I shall name him Macho as well. Macho McDonald esquire. We had to drive up in the mountains along a winding mountain road that followed a ridge line where if you looked down one side you were gazing into the valley of the Rio Reventazon and in you looked to the other side you gazed upon the mighty Rio Pacure. Little do I need to tell you that these are two of the premier white water rafting rivers in the world, as I know you've been up all night memorizing my blog from yesterday. I was originally going to deliver samples and get dropped off there in order to spend a couple of days rafting and staying at the hotel interamericano, witch is known as THE place to hook up with other boaters and and get inside info on the status of Central American Rivers. That fell through as La Selva has rules(lame ones) about their shuttle service, you can't use them for anything that even appears to be personal. No matter, I'll be back there by bus this weekend or shortly thereafter. Anyhow, I got to go to the CATIE (pronounced caat-ee-eh) Laboratorio to deliver our ghetto-ass looking nutrient samples in dixie cups wrapped in garbage bags to one of the premier research laboratory in Costa Rica. It was alot like the Battelle lab outside of Sequim but on an even more sprawling campus. The head chemist, Patricia, looked a little surprised by the appearance of our samples and the dirty coolers I brought them in, but f##k it, we're in the jungle. As I was leaving I got to take a few minutes and check out all the research posters in the hall of posters, again-much like Battelle. I think I might be a bit of a nerd as I love that s##t; research information in easily digestable poster format. After we left, Macho and I stopped at a roadside restaurant outside of Siquirres and I treated him to lunch, much to his delight. The place was a bit of a dive but so authentic that if it were in the states it would be considered high end because you just can't manufacture that sort of authenticity. It was a collection of open-air thatch roof dining areas connected by little walkways. There was a fish pond with Tilapia that was the actual fish they would cook for you and chickens out back that they would kill and cook for you. There were onions and chilis and bannanas and other s##t I didn't recognize hanging from the roof everywhere you looked, but they were there for a reason, not just for show. They had a wood-fire stove and oven in the open kitchen in the center of the compound so you could watch them prepare your meal old school style. We had rice and beans (obviously) and fish prepared with lemon and vegetables and sweet baked? plantains and salad and fresh salsa and tortillas and chicken and some other stuff that I didn't know what it was but it tasted f##king awesome. I think we ordered one or more of everything they made there, hell it was on my wallet. When we finished and sat there bloated like hogs ready to butcher, I sauntered up to the register thinking that meal for two was worth at least $100.00 and when everything was added up it came to a grand total of $9.30. God I love the third world.
This entry is one day behind as I'm still trying to catch up. I may even back track more in future blogs.
I went to Turrialba today. It was awesome. I got to tour the countryside in a 4x4 with my driver, Macho. Really, that's his name. If I have a son I shall name him Macho as well. Macho McDonald esquire. We had to drive up in the mountains along a winding mountain road that followed a ridge line where if you looked down one side you were gazing into the valley of the Rio Reventazon and in you looked to the other side you gazed upon the mighty Rio Pacure. Little do I need to tell you that these are two of the premier white water rafting rivers in the world, as I know you've been up all night memorizing my blog from yesterday. I was originally going to deliver samples and get dropped off there in order to spend a couple of days rafting and staying at the hotel interamericano, witch is known as THE place to hook up with other boaters and and get inside info on the status of Central American Rivers. That fell through as La Selva has rules(lame ones) about their shuttle service, you can't use them for anything that even appears to be personal. No matter, I'll be back there by bus this weekend or shortly thereafter. Anyhow, I got to go to the CATIE (pronounced caat-ee-eh) Laboratorio to deliver our ghetto-ass looking nutrient samples in dixie cups wrapped in garbage bags to one of the premier research laboratory in Costa Rica. It was alot like the Battelle lab outside of Sequim but on an even more sprawling campus. The head chemist, Patricia, looked a little surprised by the appearance of our samples and the dirty coolers I brought them in, but f##k it, we're in the jungle. As I was leaving I got to take a few minutes and check out all the research posters in the hall of posters, again-much like Battelle. I think I might be a bit of a nerd as I love that s##t; research information in easily digestable poster format. After we left, Macho and I stopped at a roadside restaurant outside of Siquirres and I treated him to lunch, much to his delight. The place was a bit of a dive but so authentic that if it were in the states it would be considered high end because you just can't manufacture that sort of authenticity. It was a collection of open-air thatch roof dining areas connected by little walkways. There was a fish pond with Tilapia that was the actual fish they would cook for you and chickens out back that they would kill and cook for you. There were onions and chilis and bannanas and other s##t I didn't recognize hanging from the roof everywhere you looked, but they were there for a reason, not just for show. They had a wood-fire stove and oven in the open kitchen in the center of the compound so you could watch them prepare your meal old school style. We had rice and beans (obviously) and fish prepared with lemon and vegetables and sweet baked? plantains and salad and fresh salsa and tortillas and chicken and some other stuff that I didn't know what it was but it tasted f##king awesome. I think we ordered one or more of everything they made there, hell it was on my wallet. When we finished and sat there bloated like hogs ready to butcher, I sauntered up to the register thinking that meal for two was worth at least $100.00 and when everything was added up it came to a grand total of $9.30. God I love the third world.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pura Vida!
Hola senor and la senora blogeros,
I'm a little late to the table with my blogging this summer, but hey I've been working hard trying to save the planet, so lay off with all of your incessant requests. I can't log onto hotmail without having to shuffle through hundreds, possibly thousands of emails with headings like "please do another blog or I may throw myself from a bridge" or "when will you lift this darkness with another illuminating blog" or "Shea will you father my children." O.K., that last one was wishful thinking, but the rest is all true. This is just a background entry so you can catch your bearings as to what your cyberhero has going on this summer. I don't want anyone to O.D. after such a long layoff, but rest assured that more will follow. Be prepared.
Here is the background and itinerary for my summer trip to Costa Rica. Basically, I'm getting paid two round trip tickets, room and board, along with 5 G's to be Dr. Bill Eaton's research b##ch, er I mean assistant. Dr. Eaton, for those of you who havn't heard of the legend, is the vice president of Peninsula College and a fairly respected microbiologist. Under his expert guidance myself and three other students (more later) will be doing lab work at the La Selva biological research station (you can Google it to learn more) from July 7th to the 21st, then collecting samples in the Monteverde cloud forest preserve for three days. Then I fly home to Port Angeles for a memorial on the 25th and coming back to La Selva on July 28th. On August 23rd, I head up to the Laguna de Largo lodge near the Nicaraguan border where I'll do work in the Maquenque preserve until the 7th of September. Then I have a week to do whatever I want, which will probably include beer, a beach hut and a surfboard, until I fly home on Sept. 15th. All and all, I'll be in Costa Rica for about ten weeks.
The work wer're doing is soil microbial analysis to understand the effects of global climate change and different land management practices. Soil microbes are a great indicator of ecosystem health and change for a number of reasons. They respond rapidly to change, they aid in decomposition and humus production, and they're key players in nutrient cycling and availability. So what I do is: take soil samples -> determine pH and bulk density -> determine the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) using K2SO4 extraction -> determine NH4, NH3, and total nitrogen using KCl extraction -> then I extract different types of DNA (for presence) or RNA (for activity) from the soil, clone it many, many times using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), then see if I have what I'm looking for using Gel Electrophoresis. The things I'm looking for as far as presence and activity are concerned are: genes for nitrogen fixation, methane production and digestion, lignin digestion, certain fungi and archeabacteria, and a bunch of other s##t. I left a bunch of other steps out and if you want to know more, just email me as I'm sure most readers have quit by now.
Anyhow, it's a pretty cool project, I get work at one of the premier jungle research stations in the world, and hob nob with some fairly big names in the business. Plus it's like working in a zoo. Costa Rica has more biodiversity per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world which is about 4-5 times that of North America. I've already seen monkeys, a jagarundi, sloths, a kinkajou, wild pigs, pacas, and snakes, turtles, insects, frogs, birds and butterflies of all shapes, sizes and colors. Also, there's three kick-ass class IV & V white water rafting runs in close proximity to where I'm staying (the Sarapiqui, Reventazon, and the Pacuare) as well as world class surfing. Tune in again to see how the adventure unfolds
I'm a little late to the table with my blogging this summer, but hey I've been working hard trying to save the planet, so lay off with all of your incessant requests. I can't log onto hotmail without having to shuffle through hundreds, possibly thousands of emails with headings like "please do another blog or I may throw myself from a bridge" or "when will you lift this darkness with another illuminating blog" or "Shea will you father my children." O.K., that last one was wishful thinking, but the rest is all true. This is just a background entry so you can catch your bearings as to what your cyberhero has going on this summer. I don't want anyone to O.D. after such a long layoff, but rest assured that more will follow. Be prepared.
Here is the background and itinerary for my summer trip to Costa Rica. Basically, I'm getting paid two round trip tickets, room and board, along with 5 G's to be Dr. Bill Eaton's research b##ch, er I mean assistant. Dr. Eaton, for those of you who havn't heard of the legend, is the vice president of Peninsula College and a fairly respected microbiologist. Under his expert guidance myself and three other students (more later) will be doing lab work at the La Selva biological research station (you can Google it to learn more) from July 7th to the 21st, then collecting samples in the Monteverde cloud forest preserve for three days. Then I fly home to Port Angeles for a memorial on the 25th and coming back to La Selva on July 28th. On August 23rd, I head up to the Laguna de Largo lodge near the Nicaraguan border where I'll do work in the Maquenque preserve until the 7th of September. Then I have a week to do whatever I want, which will probably include beer, a beach hut and a surfboard, until I fly home on Sept. 15th. All and all, I'll be in Costa Rica for about ten weeks.
The work wer're doing is soil microbial analysis to understand the effects of global climate change and different land management practices. Soil microbes are a great indicator of ecosystem health and change for a number of reasons. They respond rapidly to change, they aid in decomposition and humus production, and they're key players in nutrient cycling and availability. So what I do is: take soil samples -> determine pH and bulk density -> determine the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) using K2SO4 extraction -> determine NH4, NH3, and total nitrogen using KCl extraction -> then I extract different types of DNA (for presence) or RNA (for activity) from the soil, clone it many, many times using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), then see if I have what I'm looking for using Gel Electrophoresis. The things I'm looking for as far as presence and activity are concerned are: genes for nitrogen fixation, methane production and digestion, lignin digestion, certain fungi and archeabacteria, and a bunch of other s##t. I left a bunch of other steps out and if you want to know more, just email me as I'm sure most readers have quit by now.
Anyhow, it's a pretty cool project, I get work at one of the premier jungle research stations in the world, and hob nob with some fairly big names in the business. Plus it's like working in a zoo. Costa Rica has more biodiversity per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world which is about 4-5 times that of North America. I've already seen monkeys, a jagarundi, sloths, a kinkajou, wild pigs, pacas, and snakes, turtles, insects, frogs, birds and butterflies of all shapes, sizes and colors. Also, there's three kick-ass class IV & V white water rafting runs in close proximity to where I'm staying (the Sarapiqui, Reventazon, and the Pacuare) as well as world class surfing. Tune in again to see how the adventure unfolds
Monday, June 9, 2008
The End is Near
Hello again my friends,
Well, the end of another school year is approaching. While I always feel a sense of relief this time of year, I also always feel that I didn't quite take advantage of all of the opportunities I could have, whether through lack of time or effort. I've been trying to relax with the realization that it's fairly rare (for most people I think) to feel as though you've done everything as perfectly as possible; there always seems to be room for improvement. While I have one year left to bring everything into perfect focus, I'm going to try and look back fondly on what I think I did well this year.
One of the nice things that happened this year was the funding I recieved through the Peninsula Garden Club. I attended a luncheon today in which they presented me with a $2,000 scholarship. They were very nice ladies who seemed legitimately interested in the work I've been doing through the college. I'm often surprised at how many Clallam County residents are unaware of the great projects and opportunities at Peninsula College. Few of the Garden Club members knew that there was a Huxley Bachelors program at the campus, or that students were doing real research work on the Elwha and Dungeness Rivers. I've come to feel as though I've become a sort of demonstration project/billboard for the educational and research opportunities available at Peninsula College. I just hope I can adequately represent what a great program it is.
Well, the end of another school year is approaching. While I always feel a sense of relief this time of year, I also always feel that I didn't quite take advantage of all of the opportunities I could have, whether through lack of time or effort. I've been trying to relax with the realization that it's fairly rare (for most people I think) to feel as though you've done everything as perfectly as possible; there always seems to be room for improvement. While I have one year left to bring everything into perfect focus, I'm going to try and look back fondly on what I think I did well this year.
One of the nice things that happened this year was the funding I recieved through the Peninsula Garden Club. I attended a luncheon today in which they presented me with a $2,000 scholarship. They were very nice ladies who seemed legitimately interested in the work I've been doing through the college. I'm often surprised at how many Clallam County residents are unaware of the great projects and opportunities at Peninsula College. Few of the Garden Club members knew that there was a Huxley Bachelors program at the campus, or that students were doing real research work on the Elwha and Dungeness Rivers. I've come to feel as though I've become a sort of demonstration project/billboard for the educational and research opportunities available at Peninsula College. I just hope I can adequately represent what a great program it is.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
routine research
Hello again my friends,
Well, this post is a little late (sorry Dwight) but monday was Memorial Day and I had to guide raft trips on the Elwha and sea kayak trips in Freshwater Bay all weekend. The weather was nice and the Elwha river is pretty fun right now with the high spring runoff. Anyhow, it was a busy three day weekend and now I'm a little behind. Speaking of the Elwha, I got to speak to one of the freshman English classes yesterday morning about the dam removal and the research being done in the REU program. I felt a little nervous with Dwight there, watching and judging me, but I think it went well. I wasn't as prepared as I have been for other presentations because I had planned on revising the already existing power point, which I had already given to the Clallam County worker retraining board. It was about an hour before the presentation that I realized I would have to give the powerpoint as is, and without time to practice. I figured it would be alright as I would be speaking to fellow students and they'd probably prefer a more casual style over a scripted one. Afterwards I remember reflecting on how far I've come in my public speaking comfort level compared to when I began the REU program. I used to get fairly nervous whereas now I feel pretty relaxed and more focused on the material being presented than on the heat of the spotlight. I think have a deeper understanding of the material also helps with the confidence. Tune in again for more words of insight.
Well, this post is a little late (sorry Dwight) but monday was Memorial Day and I had to guide raft trips on the Elwha and sea kayak trips in Freshwater Bay all weekend. The weather was nice and the Elwha river is pretty fun right now with the high spring runoff. Anyhow, it was a busy three day weekend and now I'm a little behind. Speaking of the Elwha, I got to speak to one of the freshman English classes yesterday morning about the dam removal and the research being done in the REU program. I felt a little nervous with Dwight there, watching and judging me, but I think it went well. I wasn't as prepared as I have been for other presentations because I had planned on revising the already existing power point, which I had already given to the Clallam County worker retraining board. It was about an hour before the presentation that I realized I would have to give the powerpoint as is, and without time to practice. I figured it would be alright as I would be speaking to fellow students and they'd probably prefer a more casual style over a scripted one. Afterwards I remember reflecting on how far I've come in my public speaking comfort level compared to when I began the REU program. I used to get fairly nervous whereas now I feel pretty relaxed and more focused on the material being presented than on the heat of the spotlight. I think have a deeper understanding of the material also helps with the confidence. Tune in again for more words of insight.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Costa Rica here I come
Greetings veryimportantresearch nation,
Since you last heard from me I've been on the double whammy data colletion schedule. I do my well sampling for the lower Dungeness shallow aquifer recharge project on mondays, and on tuesdays Dwight, Cris, and I go snow sampling in the upper Dungeness watershed. It's kinda nice to get the the mixture of warm sunny weather on mondays and cold snowy weather on tuesdays. It's also interesting to observe the changes in ground water in the lower Dungeness one day and then observe the changes in snowpack in the upper Dungeness the next. Their period of overlap should probably end in a month or so, as the mid elevation snowpack recedes.
Anyhow, I just learned that in a little over a couple months, I'll be going to Costa Rica to participate in soil microbial research. I keep thinking that I must be dreaming and that they must have gotten the wrong guy mistaking me for someone else. Not just because the college is paying for me to go, but because they're paying me to go as well. I still can't believe it. It sounds like I'll get to take a tour of the La Selva research station in the Meso-American biological corridor for ten days, getting to learn all about the programs and projects they have going on there. After that, I'll spend three weeks at an ecovillage south of the Nicaraguan border doing soil microbe lab work. There'll be seven REU students going in all so there is also the chance for some serious college field trip partying, but only after the work is done of course :>
Since you last heard from me I've been on the double whammy data colletion schedule. I do my well sampling for the lower Dungeness shallow aquifer recharge project on mondays, and on tuesdays Dwight, Cris, and I go snow sampling in the upper Dungeness watershed. It's kinda nice to get the the mixture of warm sunny weather on mondays and cold snowy weather on tuesdays. It's also interesting to observe the changes in ground water in the lower Dungeness one day and then observe the changes in snowpack in the upper Dungeness the next. Their period of overlap should probably end in a month or so, as the mid elevation snowpack recedes.
Anyhow, I just learned that in a little over a couple months, I'll be going to Costa Rica to participate in soil microbial research. I keep thinking that I must be dreaming and that they must have gotten the wrong guy mistaking me for someone else. Not just because the college is paying for me to go, but because they're paying me to go as well. I still can't believe it. It sounds like I'll get to take a tour of the La Selva research station in the Meso-American biological corridor for ten days, getting to learn all about the programs and projects they have going on there. After that, I'll spend three weeks at an ecovillage south of the Nicaraguan border doing soil microbe lab work. There'll be seven REU students going in all so there is also the chance for some serious college field trip partying, but only after the work is done of course :>
Monday, April 28, 2008
Global Climate Change must be for real
Greetings my blogfans,
I've been back from the Western Snow Conference for about a week now and I'm back into the full work schedule. I've picked back up on the lower Dungeness shallow aquifer recharge project again (see previous blogs). I have a few newly added wells to sample this year but it ain't no thang for this super speedy sampler. I'm still doing the snow sampling for the hybrid model, as well. We have a big day scheduled for deer ridge tomorrow, but I don't expect the snow to last very much longer.
The Western Snow Confrerence was cool. I learned a lot about snow science and forecasting models, everything I could have hoped for and more. I thought it was interesting though that approximately 80% of the presentations were either about climate change or directly referenced climate change as a part of their work. I heard virtually no debate over the validity of climate change amongst the attendees even thought many seemed to be fairly conservative. If anything I got the feeling that amongst the people who have been looking at snow pack for a few dacades, they consider climate change a no-brainer. Well, they've finally sold me on it. (edit: this last part was a joke:)
I've been back from the Western Snow Conference for about a week now and I'm back into the full work schedule. I've picked back up on the lower Dungeness shallow aquifer recharge project again (see previous blogs). I have a few newly added wells to sample this year but it ain't no thang for this super speedy sampler. I'm still doing the snow sampling for the hybrid model, as well. We have a big day scheduled for deer ridge tomorrow, but I don't expect the snow to last very much longer.
The Western Snow Confrerence was cool. I learned a lot about snow science and forecasting models, everything I could have hoped for and more. I thought it was interesting though that approximately 80% of the presentations were either about climate change or directly referenced climate change as a part of their work. I heard virtually no debate over the validity of climate change amongst the attendees even thought many seemed to be fairly conservative. If anything I got the feeling that amongst the people who have been looking at snow pack for a few dacades, they consider climate change a no-brainer. Well, they've finally sold me on it. (edit: this last part was a joke:)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Watch out Western Snow Conference
Howdy there my loyal followers,
I'm back again after a bit of a spring layoff. I'm very excited about our (me and my crack team of researchers) upcoming trip to the Western Snow Conference. We'll be leaving on monday, April 14th, for Hood River, OR (road trip!), staying for three nights and coming back in time for my thursday night forest ecology class. While there, we'll get to hob nob with a virtual who's who in the Western U.S. water resource management industry. We (Dr. Dwight Barry, Chris DeSisto, Erin Drake, Shaelee Evans and myself) just finished composing poster presentations of our data for the conference. We have posters explaining the NASA solutions netowork and the hybrid water forecasting model of which I've explained much in previous posts. A third poster refers to a team research project comparing the effects of a forest fire on adjacent snow pack up on Blue Mountain, just east of Port Angeles. Pre and post burn snow data was compared with El Nino and La Nina events factored out. Hopefully, the proffesionals will be interested in our posters and want to talk with us at great length. I may be most excited about getting to hear the inside scoop on working in the water resource management industy,
from those who do it for a living. One the many benefits I've discovered in the undergrad research program, is getting first hand accounts from people in the field. Now amount of academic preparation can give you the insight of what a job or proffesion is really like, the way a conversation with someone who works in the business can. Because I've set my sights on working with water resources, I can't wait to get a preview of what it will be like.
I'm back again after a bit of a spring layoff. I'm very excited about our (me and my crack team of researchers) upcoming trip to the Western Snow Conference. We'll be leaving on monday, April 14th, for Hood River, OR (road trip!), staying for three nights and coming back in time for my thursday night forest ecology class. While there, we'll get to hob nob with a virtual who's who in the Western U.S. water resource management industry. We (Dr. Dwight Barry, Chris DeSisto, Erin Drake, Shaelee Evans and myself) just finished composing poster presentations of our data for the conference. We have posters explaining the NASA solutions netowork and the hybrid water forecasting model of which I've explained much in previous posts. A third poster refers to a team research project comparing the effects of a forest fire on adjacent snow pack up on Blue Mountain, just east of Port Angeles. Pre and post burn snow data was compared with El Nino and La Nina events factored out. Hopefully, the proffesionals will be interested in our posters and want to talk with us at great length. I may be most excited about getting to hear the inside scoop on working in the water resource management industy,
from those who do it for a living. One the many benefits I've discovered in the undergrad research program, is getting first hand accounts from people in the field. Now amount of academic preparation can give you the insight of what a job or proffesion is really like, the way a conversation with someone who works in the business can. Because I've set my sights on working with water resources, I can't wait to get a preview of what it will be like.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Cat Scratch and Frozen Piggies
This past thursday my crack team (Chris and Dwight) and I headed up to the top of Deer Ridge to do a little snow sampling and weather station construction. The not so fun part of putting a weather station together at the top of a five mile+ hike is getting it there. Luckily I was able to delay packing my bag in the parking lot long enough for Dwight to grab the heaviest part of the station, thereby saving your cyber hero the discomfort of carrying it himself. My plan wasn't as effective as I'd hoped it would be, as there was still enough heavy items to go around. Not to complain, the day was beatiful, I had skis on my feet (partway anyhow), and we ended up with a very productive day; four snow courses sampled and one weather station constructed. Not to mention that Chris and I collected valuable video footage for our vidcast on the water budget model. cough, NASA, cough, cough. We were taught a valuable lesson in improvisation on this trip as well. Even though we forgot the snow tube weighing rack and the main center post for the weather station, we were able to fashion suitable replacements out of a rag and a piece of closet rod. IN YOUR FACE MacGyver!!!!!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
water
Howdy cyberfans!
Work is starting to heat up now. Soon a podcast, vidcast and research brief, all relating to the water project, will be available on the interweb. While the research brief will stick to the water budget model, the pod and vid casts will relate to water issues in the western U.S. in general. I don't if any of you have been reading the papers lately, but their was an article about the future of lake mead. Researchers calculate that there is a better than 50% chance that the lake will be empty by 2021. The forcast for other water supplies in the west don't look much better. There has been speculation on the future of water supplies here on the peninsula as the glaciers shrink and the snowmelt runs off faster due to global warming. The new water budget model, once implemented, will help determine water trends here on the peninsula in the future. Once we have a good measure on how much water we'll have to work with, we'll be able to better plan on how to manage it. Isn't science great.
Work is starting to heat up now. Soon a podcast, vidcast and research brief, all relating to the water project, will be available on the interweb. While the research brief will stick to the water budget model, the pod and vid casts will relate to water issues in the western U.S. in general. I don't if any of you have been reading the papers lately, but their was an article about the future of lake mead. Researchers calculate that there is a better than 50% chance that the lake will be empty by 2021. The forcast for other water supplies in the west don't look much better. There has been speculation on the future of water supplies here on the peninsula as the glaciers shrink and the snowmelt runs off faster due to global warming. The new water budget model, once implemented, will help determine water trends here on the peninsula in the future. Once we have a good measure on how much water we'll have to work with, we'll be able to better plan on how to manage it. Isn't science great.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Deep Snow
Hi Everybody!
I finally made it out snow sampling again this tuesday. We were going to go again today, but I think the jeep is getting new snow tires and another set of chains (I hope anyway). We are finally able to get snow samples at the Luella sample site as the snow level has been dropping. We had to do a bulk sample though, as the snow isn't deep enough yet to get a good plug for each sample. It was the opposite case up at the top of Bon Jon Pass. There was so much snow up there that we almost didn't make it. Thanks to Dwight's masterfull driving and bravery, we were able to turn back and park. We then made our assault on the hill by foot. It always feels good to get outside and get the blood pumping, even when it means walking three miles uphill in blowing snow with heavy gear on your back. Ah....to be alive. I'm fairly certain that there was about two inches of fresh snow on the bill of my cap by the time we made it back to the jeep. Anyhow nothing to eventful at the (Shea's) Lounge sample site: good snow, easy access, and we got action footage. Keep an eye on the interweb and you might see this very footage on a vidcast coming soon.
I finally made it out snow sampling again this tuesday. We were going to go again today, but I think the jeep is getting new snow tires and another set of chains (I hope anyway). We are finally able to get snow samples at the Luella sample site as the snow level has been dropping. We had to do a bulk sample though, as the snow isn't deep enough yet to get a good plug for each sample. It was the opposite case up at the top of Bon Jon Pass. There was so much snow up there that we almost didn't make it. Thanks to Dwight's masterfull driving and bravery, we were able to turn back and park. We then made our assault on the hill by foot. It always feels good to get outside and get the blood pumping, even when it means walking three miles uphill in blowing snow with heavy gear on your back. Ah....to be alive. I'm fairly certain that there was about two inches of fresh snow on the bill of my cap by the time we made it back to the jeep. Anyhow nothing to eventful at the (Shea's) Lounge sample site: good snow, easy access, and we got action footage. Keep an eye on the interweb and you might see this very footage on a vidcast coming soon.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
NOAA fisheries
Howdy there little bloggeroo's,
Sorry to disappoint y'all yesterday. I was going to post at my scheduled blogg time but wouldn't ya know it, the college was closed for MLK day. You may have felt let down, but hopefully you spent the balance of the day celebrating the struggle for social justice. Anyhow, back to me. I spent this past Thursday and Friday helping out Sarah Morley and Holly Coe from NOAA. They have a pretty cool project going studying the marine derived nutrients Salmon provide to the riparian ecosystem, related the Elwha river. I spent much of the time helping Holly remove samples from underwater racks containing periphyton growing surfaces with differing nutrient availability in the growth medium, which was designed to demonstrate nutrient availability limitations on the periphyton, relating to nitrogen and phosphorus specifically. I also helped collect terrestrial invertebrates with a butterfly net. The second half of both days I was able to utilize an area of expertise that I have much experience in; grunt labor. I pounded numerous rebar stakes into the riverbed for the purpose of attaching Salmon carcasses to them this week, in order to study the effects of the nutrients they will release into the riparian ecosystem. Tune back in two weeks from now and I will probably jump to describing another project.
Sorry to disappoint y'all yesterday. I was going to post at my scheduled blogg time but wouldn't ya know it, the college was closed for MLK day. You may have felt let down, but hopefully you spent the balance of the day celebrating the struggle for social justice. Anyhow, back to me. I spent this past Thursday and Friday helping out Sarah Morley and Holly Coe from NOAA. They have a pretty cool project going studying the marine derived nutrients Salmon provide to the riparian ecosystem, related the Elwha river. I spent much of the time helping Holly remove samples from underwater racks containing periphyton growing surfaces with differing nutrient availability in the growth medium, which was designed to demonstrate nutrient availability limitations on the periphyton, relating to nitrogen and phosphorus specifically. I also helped collect terrestrial invertebrates with a butterfly net. The second half of both days I was able to utilize an area of expertise that I have much experience in; grunt labor. I pounded numerous rebar stakes into the riverbed for the purpose of attaching Salmon carcasses to them this week, in order to study the effects of the nutrients they will release into the riparian ecosystem. Tune back in two weeks from now and I will probably jump to describing another project.
Monday, January 7, 2008
2008 and full speed ahead!
Hi everybody!
I know you all have been checking in religiously, sometimes twice a day, to see if I'd posted a new message. Well the wait is over. The new year is upon us and the NASA project is moving forward. My crack team and I (they're not really my team, I just like to say that) are comensing with snow surveying. We have established a series of snow courses in the Olympic National forest just east of the Park and south of Sequim. We'll be visiting these snow courses twice-a-week in order to collect snow samples that will be used to estimate the amount and water density of the snow pack in the Dungeness watershed. This data will contribute to the NEW AND IMPROVED! water budget model of which I've told you much already (maybe too much). My understanding is that it will definately be used in a ground-truthing capacity and possibly as legitimate data wich may be entered into the model. The exciting part of the snow sampling, for me anyway, is that I get to do stuff outside. There may be danger involved, but don't worry excessively for your cyber-hero, just worry for the people with me. On these survey trips my crack team and I will be snow shoeing to remote (kind of) areas where we have to follow exacting procedures in order to collect samples from the correct spot and make sure we measure and weigh it precisely and with the greatest possible accuracy. Soon I may have real data to wave in your collective faces so you can see how smart I am. Tune in next week ;)
I know you all have been checking in religiously, sometimes twice a day, to see if I'd posted a new message. Well the wait is over. The new year is upon us and the NASA project is moving forward. My crack team and I (they're not really my team, I just like to say that) are comensing with snow surveying. We have established a series of snow courses in the Olympic National forest just east of the Park and south of Sequim. We'll be visiting these snow courses twice-a-week in order to collect snow samples that will be used to estimate the amount and water density of the snow pack in the Dungeness watershed. This data will contribute to the NEW AND IMPROVED! water budget model of which I've told you much already (maybe too much). My understanding is that it will definately be used in a ground-truthing capacity and possibly as legitimate data wich may be entered into the model. The exciting part of the snow sampling, for me anyway, is that I get to do stuff outside. There may be danger involved, but don't worry excessively for your cyber-hero, just worry for the people with me. On these survey trips my crack team and I will be snow shoeing to remote (kind of) areas where we have to follow exacting procedures in order to collect samples from the correct spot and make sure we measure and weigh it precisely and with the greatest possible accuracy. Soon I may have real data to wave in your collective faces so you can see how smart I am. Tune in next week ;)
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