My next trip out the island isn’t until January and I think I should be able to finish marking the rest of the trees in the first couple days! Until then the outline for my paper is due so the next week is going to be a grind. I can’t wait to be done with that and get back out to the island to finish up my data collection.
I took my last trip out to the island for the year and counted about 200 trees! Now it’s time to research papers and analyze data, so my view went from this
to this
Using the total station survey tool i am able to take cross-sections of the Water Canyon stream channels. With these cross-sections i can calculate sediment flow. The visual representations shown below, also make it possible to observe changes between physical upstream and downstream stream attributes.
Throughout this semester (August-November 2015) i was able to travel to the Santa Rosa Island many times. I was on the island a total of 16 days over multiple weekends to conduct research, and collect data. Over this time i was able to record multiple cross-sections throughout Water Canyon. Here is a photo that shows my cross-section locations within the watershed.
Here is a photo of Santa Rosa Island 
More sand crab samples arrived last night from friends in Northern California! I am excited to see what I find in the different sample locations!
Yesterday (12/05/15) I went to FJ Middle School and I listened to their presentations. They had the same information and the same groups as the high school but to recap the groups were endangered species, macroinverts, water chemistry, surface water runoff and invasive species. The middle schoolers are for sure more into this program that we are doing then the high schoolers. I think this would be because the middle school is made specifically for kids that want to go into the sciences and have classes designed for this. Whereas the high school is more standardized, more general classes. For the presentations the FJ middle schoolers did very well, they were a little hard to hear at time but they had all of the info and where using words that I would never had used at that age and seemed to know how to use them correctly. They all did very well. I look forward to the days that I am there.
Last week I went to Channel Islands High School to listen to them give mini presentations in groups. Each group presented on one of the following, an endangered species, surface runoff, water chemistry, macroinvertebrates or invasive species. All of these had specific examples that were related to the Santa Clarita watershed. In the course of a week they were given a packet of information, did their research, made a poster and then presented the next week. Both of the classes for the high school had the same amount of time and had the same information. Both of the classes did really well on the presentation and knew there stuff. I am hoping that it will go well for when I am giving my own lesson in February.
This week is finals week, and the paper associated with the research is being created using pictures from the field, books and research found through the internet.
This semester has been a busy but rewarding one, and it is almost over! i have finished all of my mainland marine debris surveys for Fall. Next is to process and record all of the data I collected and that will be my winter break project.
I would like to figure out a slightly different protocol for the winter surveys that does not take as much effort or time yet still adequately samples the amount of trash on the beach. It’s been difficult getting help with these surveys and also doing them with only two people with so many beaches to survey. Remembering the El Nino years that happened when I was a kid just reminds me of the amount of trash that had washed up. I have a hunch that this year is going to be intense in terms of marine debris after storm events, so I faster and more proficient sampling protocol would be helpful. I will figure something out, but first I will finish finals, papers, and go to the Marine Mammal Conference!
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