Hi everybody,
Snow is the theme for my current REU research work load. We're still doing weekly (or every other week) snow sampling in the Dungeness for the NASA forecasting model. I'm also working on the protocol for snow microbial sampling, which will be done at some of the same sites in the Dungeness. This friday the snow team is heading up to Hurricane ridge to do a snow survey with Bill Baccus of Olympic National Park for their climate and mountain lakes program. So I should be knee deep (heh heh heh) in snow for a while.
The snowpack microbial survey is probably the coolest part of what I'm doing right now. It's a fairly young field so any work is considered significant. The thing I'm learning first off is how important it is to write a thorough methods section in papers. Dr. Barry has stressed as much in the past but it didn't hit home untill I had to try and write up a methods protocol off of science papers. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to fill in the blanks when someone has neglected to include a half-step here or there. Luckily I have knowlegeable proffesors I can rely on to help me connect the dots (right Dwight?....Bill?....anyone?). I've also learned some pretty cool things about microbes and snow. Bacteria is one of the most common sorces of nuclei for snow flakes to form around and microbial blooms in surface snow can reduce albedo and increase snowmelt rates up to three times. Cool huh? Tune in later (as if you weren't anyway) to find out more as my research progresses.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
2009 - the future is now!
Hi again my friends,
I hope 2008 treated you well, I know I had a blast. 2009 looks like it will be even better, especially after I graduate. Collecting snow samples has gotten a bit more exciting this year with the increased amount of early snow. I'm getting ready to head back out with Rebecca in the morning to sample from our hardest to access site. I'm hoping the recent rain we've had has melted some of the snow. I have the feeling however, that our recent rain in town was more recent snow up at elevation. It's nice to have challenges in life from which to grow, right?
I'm looking forward to going to the Puget Sound, Georgia Basin Conference in Seattle this Feb 8-11. I have to go as part of a class but I get to use water management in the Puget Sound as the subject for my paper in the class. I'll be able to apply some of my knowledge in water management gained from the NASA project in my paper research. It'll also be an opportunity to widen my focus from hydrology and decision making in the Dungeness and Elwha watersheds, to that of the greater Puget Sound region. I always enjoy overlapping projects because they help reinforce and expand my understanding of an issue. It also increases the bird kill rate per stone throw ;)
I hope 2008 treated you well, I know I had a blast. 2009 looks like it will be even better, especially after I graduate. Collecting snow samples has gotten a bit more exciting this year with the increased amount of early snow. I'm getting ready to head back out with Rebecca in the morning to sample from our hardest to access site. I'm hoping the recent rain we've had has melted some of the snow. I have the feeling however, that our recent rain in town was more recent snow up at elevation. It's nice to have challenges in life from which to grow, right?
I'm looking forward to going to the Puget Sound, Georgia Basin Conference in Seattle this Feb 8-11. I have to go as part of a class but I get to use water management in the Puget Sound as the subject for my paper in the class. I'll be able to apply some of my knowledge in water management gained from the NASA project in my paper research. It'll also be an opportunity to widen my focus from hydrology and decision making in the Dungeness and Elwha watersheds, to that of the greater Puget Sound region. I always enjoy overlapping projects because they help reinforce and expand my understanding of an issue. It also increases the bird kill rate per stone throw ;)
Monday, December 8, 2008
December
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
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
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.
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