We had poster presentations and everyone did amazing. It was really fun to see all the REUs present their finished product and get to talk about some potential follow up projects that could be done. Hannah and I will both be going to the CERF conference in Alabama and presenting the work we did together. I already miss everyone from the CTEL lab and can’t wait till I get to come back and see everyone. We had a potluck at Maya’s house after the poster presentation. It was nice to have one last REU event where we all got to be together and just enjoy each other’s company and not have to worry about any work.
It was time to say goodbye to everyone and I wasn’t ready. We stayed up late talking and playing games trying to make the night last as long as possible. I can genuinely say I made some wonderful friends this summer and know I will see them again. We all slept in the hall way one last time, so that we could spend our last few hours together even if we were sleeping. It started with Meagan leaving at 6:30 and one by one the rooms cleared out and what had been my home for two months was just an empty hallway without all the beautiful people in it. I am truly thankful for my time at OIMB and know everyone is going on to do great things. I have made great connections and look forward to all the adventures that are to come. I’m sitting at home thinking back to when I thought I had all the time in the world at OIMB and now I wish I had just one more week with all my friends laying on the beach practicing scientific names.
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This weekend we got to go to Aaron’s house for dinner on Saturday and Sunday we went to the beach. I fell in love with Aaron’s dog she is an Australian Shepperd and a big lover. It was nice to get to sit down with Aaron and his family and enjoy a meal together. When we went to the beach some people saw a grey whale while they were kayaking and snorkeling. It was nice to get one last beach day in before we leave. I wish I was going home for two weeks and then coming back to work with Aaron and Julie for the rest of the year. Next week we have our farewell potluck and leave on Saturday. It’s a bitter sweet moment, but we will have to make the most of our last week at OIMB. I have finished my poster and am really excited for when we get to start printing on Wednesday. I finished collecting and analyzing my data from my experiment. To ensure even light distribution Hannah and I had to work in the enviormental room. It is very cold in there, but it was worth it to make sure my crabs weren’t drawn to one point of light. My hypothesis was right and the crabs had a preference for the control pH of 7.8 over the experimental pH of 7.4. I’m really excited to be done running trials, but I will miss working with everyone. Hannah and I start to take down everything we had set up for our experiments this week. It will be sad to see everything come down and know it’s really over. Hopefully we can squeeze in a few more adventures before we leave. I have three roles of film left that I need to use this week and I want to make sure I get at least one picture of everyone. This week we got to go tide pooling with Svetlana and it was a super fun experience. We went to a spot the you can only get to on super low tides. A land bridge is exposed and you can cross to caves that are normally covered with water. Svetlana works with ribbon worms and taught everyone a lot about how they can look very similar, but still be different species based on their genes. Some seagulls were nesting on one of the islands and weren’t very happy that we were by their babies. I just didn’t want them to poop on me or attack me because I was walking by. We gave outreach presentations at the CMLC on Saturday about the research we have been doing. I was a little nervous at first, but once we got going it was really fun to teach people about ocean acidification and how it will be affecting oceans. I had one person come up and he didn’t know about leaving a carbon footprint. It was so cool to be able to educate someone about some sustainable choices they could make to reduce their carbon output. I would love someday to get a job doing outreach and being involved with the community. My project is coming along nicely and I will have my poster done by next week. I’m super excited to see how everything turns out and know if my hypothesis was correct. Hannah and I have come a long way from the first week when we just had learned to calibrate probes. I have grown so much as a person and want to get in to a lab back in Portland helping out with research. Julie is going to help me put together a CV and teach me how to reach out to people who I would want to work with. Its starting to set in how close we are to the end and I don’t think I’m ready to leave. I just want to stay with all the other REUs and do research with them forever. I guess for now I just will have to soak up the last two weeks I have with everyone. |
AuthorHi, my name is Steven I’m an environmental studies major at Portland Community College. I hope to do conservation or restoration work when I graduate. Anywhere outside is where you will find me! Archives
August 2019
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