Welcome back! As an intern with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNER), I have a slightly different experience than many of my fellow interns working in OIMB labs. A lot of my time is spent working in the field (which I'm always excited about) and helping with various projects that inform researchers about changes in the reserve and possible management options. I have enjoyed learning about the different aspects involved in a research reserve, and the behind the scenes for planning, management, coordination, and outreach. One of my favorite things is that South Slough has so many different projects focused on a wide variety of things that are important to the estuary. There are projects studying invasive species, like the green crab monitoring project that I will be contributing to, and there are other projects studying endangered species, species richness and abundance, monitoring various conditions in the estuary, and more. Many teams of researchers and interns go out each day. Last week I got to visit a site that is experimenting for effective restoration of the endangered species of Western Lily. This week, I assisted with a project filtering water to collect environmental DNA that can then be used to assess the species richness of fish found in the estuary. It has been nice to be out on the water so much; the Slough and its surroundings are stunning. I also look forward to seeing the sand bar with sunbathing harbor seals! Every project is also very relevant to the estuary and possibly even to other reserves around the country. I like knowing that the projects I'm helping with will discover new information that can have very real-impacts. As we were discussing in a professional development session this week, it is sometimes said that science answers questions, it doesn't solve problems. I think that the reserve does a great job of applying the science to do both. In addition to gaining experience and being able to help with ongoing projects, I have also started developing my own research project. Although I like being out in the field, I thought it may be difficult to develop a controlled experiment that I could monitor closely in such a short amount of time. Instead, I have opted instead to conduct an experiment in the lab. I have been reading a lot of literature on green crabs and have started to formulate questions based on areas where recent experiments could be extended. Stay tuned for next week’s post when I will hopefully have the first trials up and running and will explain what I’m studying!
1 Comment
Stan Heller
7/4/2019 08:54:56 pm
Great blog. Interested to learn what you decide to research.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHi! My name is Renee and I am a rising junior at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. I am a double major, studying Biology and Dance. I am so excited to be a part of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology’s summer REU program and to work with Shon Schooler and the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Archives
August 2019
Categories |
Proudly powered by Weebly