What a final week we had. It was jam packed with lots of fun and bittersweetness. We started off taking a nice walk all around downtown Coos Bay and went into the art gallery. There was a lot of ocean-themed pieces which we all enjoyed very much. The next day we made our way out to Hall Lake and spent the day swimming and chatting. It was so beautiful, even when the fog rolled in and blocked the sun. I would like to go back one day. After the lake we spent some time at Nicks house and we were able to say hello and hang out with all of the horses on the property. They are such funny and curious animals, I have really enjoyed being able to see them. This week I was invited to join Jessie, Aaron, and Maite on the dive boat out at Port Orford. It was such a beautiful day to be on the water. The ocean and wind was so easy going, we were able to go further out than we originally thought and got to hang around some bull kelp forests. I tried to use the ROV, but the remote did not charge properly overnight and died as soon as I launched it. There were no other kinks in the trip besides the ROV malfunction. We even saw a grey whale come into the area and it swam very close to the boat and divers. I am so glad I was able to see what Port Orford is all about before my departure. Rhoda has been so helpful and was able to finish processing the micro plastic data. I spent my time in the lab this week helping process the data as well as doing a lot of cleaning. All of the materials (vials, jars) that I used during this research experience needed to be cleaned before leaving OIMB. I also turned in my final draft of my poster and Nicole printed it out and we finally had our poster session. I was so nervous before the session, but in the end it was really fun and not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Everyone put on their best outfits that they brought with, which was probably my favorite part. Before this, there was not much of a need to dress up nicely so it was nice seeing everyone in their Sunday best. For the last hurrah, we had a potluck at Richards house. He provided some delicious fish, vegetables, and bread rolls. There was also a variety of desserts from Crabby Cakes. We also had the opportunity for Richard to teach us one last thing before we departed OIMB: How to play croquet. I have never played before, I had only ever seen it in the movies. It was really fun and provided a great last bonding experience amongst the REUs. I will deeply miss the cohort, our mentors, and the OIMB campus. It has been such an amazing experience and I can not wait to tell everybody what I have done this summer.
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Time is quickly running out! There is only one more week left of this summers REU program! The weekend began with celebrating Nick’s birthday at 7 Devils. The new location was packed, so the cohort filled the patio at the old pub. We had good food, good cake, and many laughs. Then, Maite and I went back to the lab and stayed until the wee hours of the morning dissecting urchins. I was able to collect the digestive systems of all 18 urchins in one (technically two) days! I felt very accomplished afterwards. The next day, we had our lightning talks and OIMB (Nicole) hosted the Invertebrate Ball. The talks went very well, when I finished my portion, Richard gave me TWO thumbs up! At the Invert Ball, everyone dressed up as an invertebrate and walked down a catwalk to show off their creations. I did not have the time to prepare a well thought out costume, so I went dressed up as the queen of sea stars. I wore all pink and got to use the tiara and wand I won at the arcade in Eugene last weekend as a part of my outfit. Andrew and MaKenzie dressed as bipinnaria and won the prize for least anatomically correct! Go REU’s! After the fun weekend, I completed my last day of volunteering at the CMLC. This time I handled completing the full feed by myself (with some help from Trish, of course)! Flash was being very active again; when I fed him he came up to the top of the tank and took the jar of crab right from me. Look at me, casually feeding octopus on Monday mornings. When I was not feeling well this week, I stayed in my dorm and was able to spend some quality time with my poster. I am so appreciative of Reyn and Nicole for assisting me during this time of the week. Nicole made it possible for me to be apart of the weekly professional development from my room via zoom. If felt like I was still there with everyone, listening to Richard and Mayas comments on our poster rough drafts. I asked Reyn if they would bring some soup to the dorms and they MADE miso soup, one of my favorites as a kid. It was so delicious, it reminded me of SoCal and now I am really looking forward to all of the good food I will eat when I get back home. In the lab, I have been doing a LOT of counting plastics and working on my poster. It is grind time! There is always something that needs to be done or can be improved. I have a lot of samples to collect data from before leaving OIMB, so I have been working on fully processing those. Rhoda has been such a big help with this, and this week she has been able to complete the digestion process of the urchin dissection samples. She is another person I am appreciating a lot this week. Reyn has been very helpful in statistically analyzing and putting my data together. Lastly, I have to mention that for one of the dinners this week, we went to Jordans and made fish tacos! While Maite was diving in Port Orford, she caught and filleted some rockfish and brought it back to eat. It was so delicious. We made some rice, beans, and a tomato-less pico de gallo on the side. Yumm. Wowow! Another week has flown by and now we are heading towards the final weeks of being at OIMB. This past weekend I took another trip up to Eugene with Alondra, Jordan, Maite, and MaKenzie. It was so nice to spend some time in the warm weather. Charleston can be very cold and at times does not feel like summer is currently happening. Taking a break from the thick overcast is what I needed. While in the city, we were able to go to the Saturday Market. It was adorable and I enjoyed seeing people out and about buying/selling fun products. They also had some yummy and diverse food selections. I ordered some jerk chicken and sweet plantains for lunch, very different from the fried fish I am used to eating in Coos Bay. We also made our way to Round1, the arcade. I do not remember the last time I went to an arcade, so it was a lot of fun playing games with friends and winning tickets. At the end, I had enough tickets to win some candy and a little tiara with a matching ring and wand. Upon our return to OIMB, Maite and I had another fun shift at the CMLC where we completed a full feed. This was an exciting day because Flash, the cephalopod was very active (I had never seen him come out of his hiding pot before). I had the opportunity to feed him some crab in a closed jar. He was being silly and kept swimming around the tank, getting close to the food but not completely grabbing it. Eventually he was enticed/hungry enough to actually take the jar from me. He opened it and shoved the crab into his mouth. Watching him eat was very entertaining. I could have watched him swim around the tank ALL day. This week all of the REUs have been preparing our lightning talks for the Oregon high schoolers. We all made short presentations about ourselves, our schools, and our projects. I enjoyed making the little presentation and adding/editing my photos of urchins. I also will talk to them about my educational path I took after high school and how I ended up at this REU program. When I was in high school I definitely did not know what sort of education I wanted to pursue or about programs like this, so I am all for helping inform other students about the REU programs available here at OIMB and across the country. My project this week has consisted of a lot of filtering and using the dissection scope to count microplastics on cellulose filters. Looking for microplastics feels like I am searching/panning for gold, especially since the plastic I am looking for is a very distinctive bright yellow color. I have been collecting lots of data, finally, and inputting it into a google sheet. Reyn taught me how to begin using the statistical program, R. It is a lot of information about something I have never heard of before coming to OIMB. Check in next week for some stories about dissecting urchins, counting more microplastics and all the happenings of the invertebrate ball! Oh wow, this REU program has been a blast! I can not believe we are already finishing up week 6. This week I had the opportunity to help out one of the South Slough REU's collect their crab traps at 3 sites along the estuary. I was so excited to get into some dirty field work, it was my first time wearing waders. They remind me of a baggy wetsuit that keeps you dry. After we collected the crab traps at each site I would walk around the water or mud just for fun. Jordan always talks about how annoying the crabs can be and I finally got to experience it myself. They grab onto the crab traps so tightly, making it difficult to pry them out. Over the weekend, Maite, MaKenzie, Jordan, and I went to Portland! I drove through the city last summer during a road trip, but this summer I was able to experience the city. We first stopped to eat at Dave's Hot Chicken which was so delicious! I will be visiting their other location in Tarzana when I get back to SoCal. We spent a lot of time thrift shopping, but I did not end up buying anything. Portland prices are higher than I expected! The rose garden was such a nice and peaceful place to visit. Basking in the sun with the roses felt so nice, the sun does not feel the same in Charleston. Of course we had to make a stop at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) while we were in town. They had a nice dinosaur exhibit, they also outlined the types of marine creatures that were living in each period (see slideshow). Next time I visit Portland, I would like to try more restaurants. There was such a wide variety of cuisines and cultures being represented as we walked around the city. Upon returning to Charleston, Maite and I met up with Aaron at Bastendorff beach to surf and boogie board. This was my first time surfing since last summer, I was so stoked to get in the water. The waves were weak so Maite and I had a hard time getting any good waves, but we still made the most of it. I hope to get back out there next week! Later in the week, most of the REUs met at Bastendorff and had a nice bonfire. This was one of the first times since the first week that I have been able to actually see the sun set; it is always so beautiful. Back in the lab, I have been continuing to sieve through urchin poop and further filter that poop down onto filter paper. This week, Reyn set me up with a dissection scope with his microscope camera attachment so I can begin to analyze the number of microplastics on each piece of filter paper. The task may be simple, but it makes me feel very sciency. I really like wearing a lab coat, I feel so professional in it. I do not know when I will be wearing one after the summer is over, so I am getting a lot of lab coat time in while I am here. When I am not wearing the coat, I have been working on my poster. I have never made one before, so I am nervous and excited to see what I will come up with. I've been spending time picking colors and the layout, I think this will be the longest and most difficult part of the process. I am excited to see the progress I will make next week in both my lab work and my poster. Come back next week for another update of my time here at OIMB! Welcome back to the next tale of Annika's REU Adventure! This week started off with finally pulling out the ROV and learning how to use it. After lunch, Nick, Maite, Rhoda, Jordan, and I went to the OIMB dock and launched the drone into the water. We found out that it is not very easy for the organisms below the water to see in this area, including us. It was difficult to tell if you were moving the drone up or down the water column, but it was still a blast driving it around with everyone. I am excited to take it out again next week. Over the weekend, I finally got the chance to visit and fully experience Eugene. Some of the other REU's and I stayed at Alondra's house for two nights. We had a nice slumber party in her living room, all situated with some blow-up mattresses. Eugene is filled with good food, a cute downtown, and some beautiful landscapes. I really enjoyed going to the Rock Slide at Lake Creek Falls. The sun and the water were the perfect temperature, it was the first hot summer day I have had all year. It was fun to have the rivers current push you down the mossy slab of rock and into a deep and refreshing pool. The drive to and from Eugene is magnificent. We drove past many large rivers, huge trees, and very dense forests. Coming from Southern California, this is not something I typically see everyday so I really appreciate being in this landscape. When we came back from our little trip, Maite and I volunteered at the CMLC and completed our first full feed. We chopped up frozen fish and squid and distributed it to all of the critters in the tanks. After we fed the CMLC residents, we had the opportunity to help move some fish out of one of the large tanks and scrape the algae off of the glass. These fish were smart and feisty, it was hard to catch them until we drained the tank. This was my first time handling live fish larger than a goldfish, and I am glad to say that I did not drop any of them. I know you are wondering about all of the fun project updates too! This week I did some more digesting of my samples, filtering of the poop samples onto filter paper, and panning for gold (urchin microplastic poop). All of these tasks take up large chunks of time to complete... so I have been spending most of my days patiently waiting for data collection time. Next week I hope to start finding and counting pieces of microplastics, I am excited to do some work with the dissection scope! Welcome back to another wonderful synopsis of my week at OIMB! We are finishing up our fourth week here, it is crazy how time flies. The week started off with Reyn showing me, Maite, and Rhoda how to perform a fatty acid extraction from some algal samples. A few weeks ago I had Reyn explain the process and now I have seen it in action. Chemistry is like magic, but there are no secrets as to how it works. I have finally gotten (mostly) all of my thoughts together and have begun my project; the working title is "Urchins: Benthic Consumers Turned Microplastic Producers". I set up the 24 glass jars, got too excited and put urchins in all of the jars when I only needed 18, oopsie! After randomly assigning the jars to 3 different groups (old rope, 3 week old rope, and new rope), I went to Bastendorff beach and walked along the water to collect many bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) blades to purge my urchins. I also grabbed some extra for the Charleston Marine Life Center (CMLC) to utilize. After the urchins were acclimated to their new environment, I fed them lots of kelp to purge their stomachs of any previous contents for their new diet of polypropylene rope. After two days, I gave them a nice heaping of rope to eat. Thus far I have only observed one urchin actively chewing on their new rope. Aaron left for Alaska this week to do some Pycnopodia work, so he left me with the exciting task of learning how to operate the Trident underwater ROV. I operated one of these ROVs back in 2019 during my Field Methods course at SBCC. Our class enjoyed using the tool so much, we based our final project on theoretically using the Trident to examine kelp/urchin densities. Having the opportunity to work with it again is a blessing! During the weekend, we watched 3rd of July fireworks with some of the other interns at Jordan and Reagans house. We had a good view of them from their yard, but it was cloudy so we could only see the bottom half of each firework that went off. Once it got too cold, we all went inside to play Jenga and Taboo. This week, some of the interns and I came together and made a delicious salmon dinner two nights in a row. We got our groceries at Grocery Outlet and they had cheap salmon filets that we could not pass on. The fish was paired with roasted colorful carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, and garlic. I got to make white rice for the first time in 4 weeks, it has been weird to not be cooking for myself every meal and eating in the dining hall. Maite made a delicious lemony marinade for the salmon and veggies. This was the most satisfying meal I have had since we made crab! I am excited to see what events the coming weeks have in store for us. This past week has been filled with new experiences like dissecting an urchin, my samples for my project getting incinerated, and cooking fresh crab. The day after collecting urchins from the North Jetty, I asked Reyn if they would dissect an urchin for me, Maite, and Rhoda to watch and learn about their anatomy. We were able to look closely at Aristotle's lantern (urchin mouth), the digestive system with the stomach contents (lots of algae!), and the gonads (you could eat them as uni). That same day Reyn and I took my samples from my pilot experiment to the drying oven to remove the seawater and leave the important samples. When Reyn checked the oven a few hours later, everything had turned into dust and only the glass vials remained standing. During Aaron and Maite's diving adventures this week, Aaron was so kind to grab two large Dungeness crabs (M. magister) for me from OIMB Beach. I took the crabs back to the lab and asked my fellow intern, Jordan, if I could cook the crabs at his house. We ended up making a delicious crab dinner with pasta and roasted asparagus along with some of the other REU's. During the weekend, I had some time to explore Downtown Coos Bay after our REU camping trip at Sunset Bay. While camping, the tides were low enough to allow us to hike through the overgrown foresty trails and scale down the cliffs to get to Qochyax Island. Here we explored caves and massive tide pools. Dr. Emlet found a 60 year old red urchin, how amazing! After returning from camping, two of my friends from Santa Barbara came to visit me on their way back from their road trip to Portland. We met up with Jordan and got Thai food for dinner (it was Jordans first time having Thai food!) and it was delicious. I really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces in this new place. I have made some progress regarding my project, my pilot experiment urchins have begun produced visible pieces of microplastics. The larger jars that Reyn and I ordered for the real deal came in this week and I was able to wash, label, and mark some measurements on them. Reyn is so crafty! They spent a few days bending and cutting glass to provide plastic-less airflow to each jar. Very soon I will have this up and running with a lot of urchin friends to look after. Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Annika and I am transferring to UCSB this fall as an Aquatic Biology major. Typically during the summer you can find me swimming at Isla Vista beach or (trying) to catch some waves at Devereaux or Sands. At low tide you can find me looking for rocks along the sandy beaches in search for some intertidal critters. My favorite creatures in Santa Barbara are the anemones! Coming to Charleston for the summer is a drastic change in climate compared to the hot and sunny days that are typically found in Isla Vista. Remaining in a coastal town brings me a lot of comfort, I have grown up living close to the Pacific. I guess I like to keep close to this ocean, it brings familiarity to a place so different from 'home'. One luxury I will be missing is being able to swim and surf in warm waters. Nonetheless, I am excited to play in the waves here at Bastendorff with a new OIMB wetsuit and snorkel gear (thanks to our GE, Nicole) along with my gloves and booties that are bring shipped to me (thanks mom!). I have quickly and easily acclimated to living at OIMB along with my other cohorts. I have never lived in a dorm or eaten in a dining hall for more than a one week summer camp. It is nice to live and eat with new people, especially as we are coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. With classes along with everything else being held online the past year, having a schedule and different places to be physically present for is such a wonderful change of pace. In the last two weeks I have accompanied my lab-mate and mentor, Maite and Aaron, in their diving adventures. While they spend some time underwater, I act as surface support by making sure I can see the two of them in the water and preparing the boat for anything that they may bring up with them. Last week they spotted the first Pycnopodia (sunflower sea star) in Coos Bay since the Sea Star Wasting Disease (2013-2016) placed them as 'critically endangered' on the IUCN Red List (as of 2020). This week they found a different, slightly smaller, Pycnopodia (check it out here: https://twitter.com/awegalloway/status/1407439052236726277?s=20) as they collected a nice handful of purple urchins and bat stars to being back to the lab! Some of the urchins collected are going to be specimens in my project this summer. Purple urchins have recently been a threat to the integrity of kelp forests by consuming kelp at high rates, turning them into algae-less urchin barrens. I will be conducting a series of experiments on these marine "shredders", testing how much polypropylene rope they eat through every day. If urchins are shredding plastic rope like this into little pieces, they are creating microplastics that are small enough to enter the bodies of filter feeding animals (mussels, clams). These organisms are frequently consumed by humans; if filter feeders are filtering plastics, we end up consuming those plastics. I am excited to collaborate with and learn from Reyn and Aaron in the CTE (Coastal Trophic Ecology) Lab this summer. |
Annika SullivanHello blog visitors! My name is Annika Sullivan. I am from Agoura Hills, CA and have been studying at Santa Barbara City College for the last 3 years. This fall I will be attending UC Santa Barbara as an Aquatic Biology major. I have always dreamed of living in Oregon, and now I get to do so while conducting marine research at OIMB under Dr. Aaron Galloway and Dr. Reyn Yoshioka in the CTELab! Archives
August 2021
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