And just like that, we're done. This week went by so quickly, didn't help that our days were so free. For our last weekend we kept it chill. On Saturday, we headed back down to the south Slough trails and had lots of fun hiking down to some lookouts. Sunday was super chilly and we watched another movie. Tara came back on Sunday and we spent a lot of time finishing up our posters. Monday and Tuesday were also spent working on posters and we sent them in on Tuesday. I finished cleaning up my office space and organizing my data and methods in a folder for future uses. On Tuesday night we played a Kahoot with a bunch of quotes we've said and written down over the summer and we had so much fun. On Wednesday we made a quick stop at the farmers market and it was so much fun. We had our last professional development and practiced elevator talks about our projects. All just adding to the realness of everything coming to an end. We ended the night with a charcuterie board(s) at Bastendorf followed by a couple games of ninja. It was the perfect little thing to bring it to a close. Thursday was spent doing laundry, packing, and cleaning the room out. Friday is the day it's all been leading up to! The poster session went so well and it was greta to talk to a bunch of people about my research and listen to the others talk about theirs. I can't believe how fast these 9 weeks have gone, but it's been a blast. No need to stayed tuned this time, it's been sweet. Peace out! That's two months of my life washed down the drain and into the ocean. -El
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GUESS WHAT! There has been a Covid outbreak here at Oimb and it really through us all for a loop. It feels like everything has been sinking in this past week with working on posters, field work, and only a week until we leave. It doesn't help that it feels like our group is getting smaller and smaller. We started last weekend off strong with our CMLC outreach day and it went great! Everyone's tables were so cool and there were lots of fun activities to do(and I did do all go them.) At our green crab table I taught people how to identify female and male green crabs and then had a game where they could sort live crabs. The people were eating it up and we got to talk about monitoring and management efforts as well as our own research projects. We ended up picking blackberries out in the slough and Sunday was a chill day as well. We have been watching a LOT of movies because of how few of us there are and how busy we've been. It's usually just me picking a movie and setting up the projector in the boat house for everyone to watch. It's been lots of fun and everyone has been loving the movies.(Boosting my movie-loving ego) This week was the last week for field sampling with Shon so it was bittersweet, but it was a great way to motivate me and start the day out on the Slough. The mornings were spent out in the field and then processing the crabs and then afternoons working on posters. Tuesday was India's Independence Day, so we got Indian food from American Market and went to Bastendorf to celebrate. On Tuesday and Wednesday we were joined by Taichi Uchio, an anthropologist from Japan, and we got to take him out to do fieldwork and process crabs. He was so interested in our work and was so willing to help out. Taylor joined us on Friday to take some pics and it was a glorious last day in the field. The weather has been getting foggier and colder which I'm not kicking with. We watched movies pretty much every night and it has been a pretty chill week. Scared but also super excited for our last week, so stay tuned! No data, just crabs. -Chloe We are so close to being done and I can feel everything picking up pace every single day. On Saturday I went for a run which ended with me jumping into the water at OIMBeach and it was cold just like expected. I think my skin is feeling a seawater deficiency and all is well now. We went down to Coos Bay again and got some shopping done and all I could think about was my costume for the inverts ball. I did in fact get the things I needed so it was a mission accomplished. On Sunday a couple of us drove around with Devin to do salinity tests at each of his sampling sites. We got a little distracted by the blackberry bushes, but we got back in time for dinner and got some DQ ice cream to eat with our berries. We watched a lot of movies overnight and worked on our invert costumes after dinner which was lots of fun before Madison and Randi left on Tuesday. My weekdays were full of tank trials which were going well until someone moved the water hose out of my tank which messed it up and set me back a day🙃. But it's ok! Cause that's science, right? I think the crabs are also tired and slowly dying or they could possibly be learning, because they are becoming less and less reactive to the traps and bait. I'm trying to finish everything before this weekend so I can process all my data so let's hope everything works out. Thursday night was the OIMB 2023 Inverts Ball, and we had so much fun all dressed up and everyone’s costumes looked so cool. There was a bonfire afterwards which was also fun, but we headed back early because I had lots to do on Friday. Friday was mostly spent running through trials and prepping for the CMLC presentations on Saturday. Things are still a bit messy, but I feel like I have gained my footing. I can't believe the end is so close, but now is when we feel the heat. Hopefully we don't get cooked:) She has kidnapped all of my sisters and is holding them ransom. -Ethan This week went by so fast and I feel like I can't remember anything I did, so I'll start with last weekend. We took a two(ish) day trip to Eugene, with last minute decision(made at lunch) to leave Friday night. We ate dinner in Eugene and then stayed the night at Madison's house, which was super nice of her. We spent Saturday at the Saturday Market and stopped at a swimming hole which was very needed. It was a really fun weekend. Monday was spent doing more tank trials and it went good for the most part. I'm now doing work from my room because it's much closer to the tanks instead of walking back and forth between ECOS and the tanks. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I helped Devin out in the field with his project sampling and processing the crabs. We had professional development at the CMLC and learned about giving presentations to the public. On Wednesday I went to the Coos Bay Farmers Market with Taylor, Audrey, and Ethan for the South Slough booth. It was such a pretty day and a few of the other REUs came out too. On Thursday night Devin, Shreyaan, and I went out to 7 Devils Brewery to meet with some other South Slough Interns for trivia night and dinner and we did pretty good. On Friday I did more tank trials and the crabs seem to be following the pattern I hypothesized with them being less likely to go into the trap when there are more crabs already present in the trap. I will say, the crabs are probably mad at me because of how much I work them, but they will die in the end regardless. It's been a week with lots of starts and stops, but next week will probably be booked and busy. Till next week! We’ll just stand over here in the grass. Can you even call this grass? -Naia |
AuthorWhat's up! My name is Naia Pulotu, but you can call me Naia. I am from Hau'ula, Hawai'i and am currently studying at BYU- Hawai'i. I am majoring in Biology with a Marine Biology emphasis. This summer I am excited to be studying the invasive green crabs with Dr. Shon Schooler at South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. ArchivesCategories |
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