GIS!!!
This week I began working with GIS and creating polygons around the groves. I also began the overlaying the 1989 map the search for expansion.
Archive for date: February 8th, 2016
Water Quality Probe Training
Last Thursday I continued water quality probe training and now I just need one more training session in the field to check out the probe for my project. My goal is to check it out this weekend and survey all five sites in one day. Then I will check it out again in about a month, hopefully after some rain, and collect more data so I can compare water quality before and and after the main bulk of El Niño rains. The purpose of this data is determine how adequate the sites are for UTS survival, and how rain can increase or decrease the quality of water in their habitat. Pictured above is the Soledad Canyon Site which is owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Refugio Spill Seminars
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is hosting a series of Refugio Oil Spill-related talks through the end of March 2016. It looks like there will be some great presentations!
From their website:
The Plains All American Pipeline Spill provided a harsh reminder that oil exploration, production, and transport along our coast can have significant impacts on the environment, the economy, and our community. While federal, state, and local agencies, non-profits, and scientists are working to ensure we are better prepared for future spills, it is important for our community to be informed, engaged, and empowered to participate in this process.
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History are co-hosting a six-part speaker series that will address how Santa Barbara is moving forward after the oil spill. Experts will present on each topic (themes listed below), followed by a brief question and answer period moderated by Karl Hutterer. Each session will take place at Farrand Hall at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History from 6pm-8pm. Admission is free.
For questions about the series, please contact Jenna Driscoll at Santa Barbara Channelkeeper at jennad@sbck.org or 805-563-3377 x 5.
Details of upcoming presentations:
January 13th: Introduction to Oil Operations in Santa Barbara County
- Errin Briggs, Energy Specialist, Santa Barbara County – Current and proposed oil operations in Santa Barbara County and measures the County has taken to increase oversight and safety.
February 10th: Oil Spill Preparedness: Santa Barbara’s Oil Spill Response Plan and new legislation to improve spill prevention and response
- Robert Troy, Deputy Director, Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management – County perspective
- Jennifer Gold, Environmental Scientist, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response – Area Contingency Plans and Sensitive Site Updates for Santa Barbara, Ventura, and the Channel Islands.
- Commander Rom Matthews, US Coast Guard – Coast Guard role in spill prevention and response.
- Das Williams, California Assemblymember, District 37 – Recent legislation to improve spill prevention and response.
- Wendy Motta, Office of Congresswoman Lois Capps – Federal pipeline regulations.
February 17th: Research and Monitoring Impacts from the Refugio Oil Spill
- Mike Connell, Senior Environmental Scientist, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response – OSPR monitoring
- Dr. David Valentine, Earth Science Professor, UC Santa Barbara –TBD
- Linda Krop, Chief Counsel, Environmental Defense Center – The Natural Resource Damage Assessment and how the public can participate.
March 2nd: Do Your Part: Volunteering During an Oil Spill
- Cindy Murphy, Local Government Outreach & Grants Coordinator, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response – How to volunteer during an oil spill.
- Elaine Ibarra, Animal Care Coordinator and Administrative Assistant, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network – SBWCN volunteer opportunities.
- Yoli McGlinchey, Emergency Services Manager, Santa Barbara Fire Department – The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program.
March 16th: Truth about Seeps: Natural and Anthropogenic Sources of Oil in the Santa Barbara Channel
- Dr. Ira Leifer, Marine Science Institute and Chemical Engineering Researcher, UC Santa Barbara – Seeps in the Santa Barbara Channel
- Steve Curran, Drilling Engineer, California State Lands Commission – Seeps from legacy wells and efforts to properly re-abandon them.
March 30th: Moving Beyond Oil: Sustainable Energy and Transportation in Santa Barbara County
- Jefferson Litten, Energy Program Manager, Community Environmental Council – Community Choice Aggregation
- Ed France, Executive Director, Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition – Santa Barbara’s Bicycle Master Plan
- Andy Heller, Summerland Resident, SBCK Board Member – How you can move away from fossil fuels in your life.
Methods Section
The past week has consisted mostly of me piecing together the methods section of my paper. My first draft is done and I will be getting some good peer reviewed feedback on it in class today. I also continued my data collection this week and will be turning my attention more towards the analysis and comparison of water quality between sites over the next several weeks.
Unforseen Problems
Like any research, variables arise that were unplanned for. Elastic cords are used to hold the infrared cameras on a post, and apparently they were not tight enough. While my main objective is to photograph rats, the island foxes have proved themselves to be incredibly curious. One fox in Lobo Canyon was inspecting the camera, and was able to pull the elastic cord over the viewfinder, blocking half the view in the middle. After this, the camera recorded nearly a thousand more photos that are obscured by the cord until I was able to check the camera again.
Working with LiMPETS in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
Spoke with Monika Lynn Krach from the LiMPETS|Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary to collaborate in Sand crab collection as well as future student education. Monika runs the program for kids learning science through intertidal and sandy beach surveys and has collected more sand crabs for the project! We are sharing procedural information as well as data as the group is tracking parasites inside of the sand crabs. I will be creating a video for the students explaining the micro plastics procedure and writing in the LiMPETS blog to share my research. I am very excited to have more groups involved in the education of the public and hopefully some ideas on how to fix the problem!
Becoming the Teacher You Really Want to Be – Online
Most people think they know what it takes to be a good teacher; in particular, most college instructors think they know how to do it and feel confident that they’re pretty good at it. Except for those few of us who have received formal education in how to teach, we model our approach to teaching […]
Vegetation Significance
This photo was taken in the upper reaches of the Water Canyon Watershed on Santa Rosa Island. In this area of the watershed, the terraces are bare with eroded soil and small pockets of bunch grasses. There are steep slopes in the top of this watershed, similar to most watersheds. Vegetation not only contributes to healthy soils but also acts as a stabilizer and helps reduce erosion. Due to the lack of vegetation in this area it has unhealthy soils and the land is prone to land slides in the case of heavy storms. This photo shows the aftermath of the first rainstorm of the current El Nino. There was visible slippage of the terraces, filling the stream channel with sediment. This was the only significant change I saw after the first storm. I am curious to see the changes after all the storms during the El Nino. I predict there will be substantial changes throughout the watershed due to the condition of the soil, lack of vegetation, and types of vegetation on the terraces.
Desk Work and Paper Pushing
With a majority of the data collection to go and the only research left to do is tree coring, the only thing left to do is paper work. I’ve made great strides on the introduction section of the paper in the means of organization, only a few sections left until that is complete. Rough draft of the methods section is finished. An addition of several maps outlining the research area and coordinates would be a great addition.
First lesson
Well this Friday I did my first lesson of Unit 3. What I thought about was why long-term research is done and why it is so important as well as talked about how the protocol for looking at mole/sand crabs will be going. It went very well. The second class went better than the first because one I had what I was going to say in my mind and I had about 15 more minutes than the first. Both lesson still went very well, I got all of the important points across so that was good. Before I taught my lessons I gave out a survey for the students to complete that asked them about how they felt about the environment, then the back side of the survey asked them a few questions about protocol and how they felt about the field trip to Carpinteria State Beach.
Then for my lecture I handed out another worksheet for the students to fill out during it. It was about the protocol for sand beach and questions about mole/sand crabs. I feel like the students really liked learning about the mole crabs. They had a couple of good questions about it. Like “How do we sex these animals?” “How do they eat detritus and filter feed?” I had a lot of fun do this and I can’t wait to continue going to the school and talking with them about something that I enjoy doing.
See you all next week for my next post.
