NOLA bound this week!

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I can’t believe how fast this semester is going by! By the end of this week I will be in New Orleans for spring break. I have been looking forward to this trip for such a long time it seems, and now it is right around the corner. Marine debris research is going good and is right on schedule for the most part. I only have one more beach to finish processing and I plan on getting that done before NOLA so i can focus on my paper and analysis after that and until my last SRI trip in early April.

Data Analysis

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This week I have focused more time on data analysis. In comparing the four stream sections (North Fork, South Branch, Arroyo Conejo, and Calleguas Creek I have found some interesting differences and similarities. Here are some graphs showing the greatest disparity between the natural North Fork and the channelized South Branch.

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Over time chlorophyl levels have been significantly higher in the South Branch in comparison to the North Fork.

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Over time dissolved oxygen has been more prevalent in the North Fork in comparison to the South Branch.

One week to go

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In exactly 168 hours (7 days) I’ll be on the Island Packers boat making my way to Santa Rosa. I’ll be checking the cameras for the first time in 5 months, so I look forward to lots of data to sort through. In addition, I’ll be assisting Dr. O’Hirok’s Stream Team in placing rebar in some of the water sheds for future monitoring. I’ll be there from Monday through Friday, so four nights. It’ll be my longest trip, and I can’t wait to get back out there and hopefully see some wildflowers. The picture included is from March 2014, my first trip to Santa Rosa. The flowers were everywhere

Santa Rosa Island 29-31 March 2014

Santa Rosa Island 29-31 March 2014

, and the Coreopsis was in full bloom as well.

Happy Pi Day!

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Being a math lover, Pi day is one of my favorite days! I love math and plan to pursue it in grad school and apply it in the environmental sector after I graduate. Pi day is not only one of my favorite days because of math but also because I love Pie and its my best friends birthday! So every year, I celebrate this day with math, pie, and my best friend.

This past weekend, I spent my time analyzing data for my capstone. In honor of Pi day, I plan to be in a math mindset and work on my Linear Algebra and Calculus 3 homework!! I will continue cranking on my capstone the rest of the week.

Happy Pi Day everyone!! Go celebrate by doing math and eating some pie!

Pi Day

Organizing data

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Last week I gave the students my final survey and now comes the hard part. Sorting through my surveys and figuring out how to analyze it. For now I will be putting what I have on Excel to just have it all in one place. That is all for now.

Audubon Presentation on Beaches are Habitat Too

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This weekend I had a presentation table at the Ventura Audubon event for “Beaches are Habitat Too” at the Channel Islands Boating Center.  Dr. Clare Steele presented on Sandy Beaches as habitats for many species, including Sand crabs and other invertebrates.  This community based education seminar was set up by Ventura Audubon to educate the local homeowners about the threatened shore bird populations as well as other threats to the sandy beach ecosystem.

I had a table to share some of the Marine debris collected by my colleague Michaela Miller from the Santa Clara river mouth, along with our Pollutants Poster and some micro trash samples.  I brought the small digital scope with me to show people just how small these particles are.  I was able to explain what micro plastics are, where they tend to come from and why its important we pay attention to them as pollutants. Many of the folks I spoke with did not know what microbeads were or that there had been a ban and were very thankful for the information to make product changes at home.

CSU Chancellor’s Conference

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Tuesday evening Tevin Schmitt and I attended the CSU Chancellor’s conference sponsored by CSU Coast.  We shared our research on petroleum based pollutants in our sandy beach environment and their effects on sand crabs.

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