And so it ends. A salty, grassy, sulfur-y summer slowly winds to a close. I’ll miss OIMB quite dearly, there’s really nothing quite like it. The rustic campus, the immense natural beauty, the amazing people who I’ve come to know in my time here, and the host of memories I’ve made will always hold a special place in my heart. Not bad for a first visit up to the PNW. Now for the recap: this week was way busier than I imagined. Remember last week when I said my poster was finally done? Lie. Complete and utter lie. After quite a lot of feedback on the revised draft of my poster, on Monday I began work on my revised-revised draft. All of Monday pretty much went that way, I’d make some changes to the poster, go over them with Ali, spot some more changes to be made, rinse and repeat. After about 4 or 5 rounds of editing, the poster was finally done – for real this time, and it felt like a huge weight was finally off my shoulders. While the process was grueling, I’m extremely proud of my final draft and wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s taught me that sometimes what you think is the best way to present data may not be the best way for a different audience, and it really helps to take multiple perspectives into account when creating any sort of presentation. The rest of the week was still busy, but a lot less mentally taxing. I spent most of Tuesday helping out Ali and Adam with their monthly water quality monitoring surveys, a.k.a. another excuse to get on the boat and enjoy the beautiful views in the estuary. With barely any wind and no clouds in the sky, the shining sun made it all the more picturesque. I helped Ali collect water samples using a fun contraption called a Van Dorn bottle at both low and high tide at 4 sites along the estuary, meaning we got to boat the whole way down. On Wednesday and Thursday I went through a couple flowering shoot bags Lara had left over to look for seeds. Though rotting bags of plant matter can get quite smelly, you get used to the smell soon enough, and with music playing the task is quite relaxing and mindless. Today, Friday, was the final poster session. It feels surreal to be done, but so gratifying. Being able to talk with people in depth about the work I did this summer and share my findings with students, faculty, and even families was extremely fun. It helped me reflect on what I actually did, and how far I’ve come from the beginning of the summer. It also helped that everyone was super curious and receptive, and in some cases almost as enthusiastic about my findings as I was! It’s left me with a great sense of excitement for what I’ve done, and everything else to come. As for the non-work side of things, it's been bittersweet, but we really made the most of our last week together. On Saturday we went on a beautiful hike through the South Slough reserve and enjoyed some breathtaking views. Sunday and Monday we watched a few more movies, and on Tuesday we finally played our long awaited Kahoot - a guessing game of who said which memorable quotes from our time as a cohort at OIMB. Many laughs were had and fond memories brought back up. On Wednesday we decided to buy some supplies from Grocery Outlet and set up a charcuterie board at Bastendorff Beach. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good charcuterie board, and this one was no different. We followed it up with some fun games and – you guessed it – another movie. Yesterday we didn’t do much (except watch more movies) and this morning a few of us went on one final trip to downtown Coos Bay. Now we’re getting geared up for a potluck at Richard’s house. It's gonna be nice to have everyone together one last time before we disperse across the country tomorrow. The goodbyes will be hard. All in all this experience has been amazing, and quite frankly life changing. I’ve learnt so many things, not only about how science works, but also about myself, and my learnings here will definitely shape my career going forward. For any potential interns or applicants reading this, I can’t overstate how amazing this program has been. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected], and I’ll be happy to help. Well, that’s all folks. It’s a wrap.
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AuthorHey guys! My name is Shreyaan Seth and I'm a rising junior majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and Econ at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I was originally born in Davenport, Iowa, but have spent most of my childhood growing up in Gurgaon, India. This summer I'll be working with Ali Helms from the SSNERR on eelgrass seed functional diversity with implications for restoration of the seagrass here in Coos Bay! ArchivesCategories |
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