Adios Winter Break….

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For having so much time off (over a month!) winter break sure did go by quickly. It was so nice spending time with family and friends and catching up on processing data for my capstone project. I have successfully finished weighing/measuring/recording/sorting/processing/whatever else needed to be done with all of the marine debris I collected for the fall mainland surveys. All winter break I’ve had about 18 trash bags in my house in the spare room, so I think my roommates are just as happy that I finished processing everything as I am.IMG_5506

Hopefully I can do this in the lab at school from now on. And now that that’s done with I can go out and collect some more in a few weeks after we get some more rain! Not going to lie, processing all the debris is a tedious process – but I am excited to see what happens after more surveys are done and the data is analyzed. The first week of school I plan on analyzing the data I have now to see if there are any trends with the types of debris according to location. IMG_5514-1Processing the trash I did notice some beaches had more of a certain type of debris than others, so it will be interesting to see what the numbers say. I also plan on finishing up looking for microfibers in the sand I collected during Week 1 as well.

School hasn’t even started yet but I am excited about starting my last semester and where things are going in terms of my marine debris project.

 

Here are some random photos highlighting my winter break.

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Found this on Hollywood Beach, judging by the vintage packaging it looks like it could’ve been made in the 60s. Crazy how long plastic can last in the ocean.

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Welcome Spring 2016 Students!

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Hello! For my English 103 students, this is a “welcome back!” You’ll notice the site is organized the same way, but it’s all new information.

For my new English 105 students, all of your course information is available via the menu on this site. Just select the link for the course in which you are enrolled to access the syllabus, course calendar, assignments, and so forth.

Feel free to take a look around to see what we will be up to this semester and feel free to email me with any questions. Thanks and I look forward to meeting you (and seeing many of you again)!

Professor Jordan

Visit to the Los Angeles/Oxnard Radar Site

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I had the incredible experience of visiting our local WSR-88D site this week. I learned so much about the nuts and bolts of how the radar works and was able to actually go inside the radome. I also made some very helpful contacts with NOAA.

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A New Semester is Upon Us!

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Our long winter’s nap is over, and it’s time to get back in the classroom for the spring 2016 semester. Time to dust off those laptops and get writing again!

Napping Cat

“Cat Nap” (CC BY 2.0) by  SanGatiche 

Huge update!

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There has been so much going on this past week and a half.  I met with Chris, one of  my capstone mentors and he told me and my partner what we will be doing for unit 3 of the program. Unit three is about student research of sandy beach and rocky intertidal zones of a beach. Students will be learning about the LIMPETS protocol for taking sandy beach and rocky intertidal surveys, why we do long term monitoring, and will take part in that practice at Carpenteria State beach. I have been working on my own set of surveys for my capstone in order to get data. I will be focusing on environmental attitudes. I hope students will be connected with nature after participating in Crossing the Channel. I went to Carpenteria State beach yesterday and here are some pictures of where the surveys will be taken. IMG_5916 IMG_5915 IMG_5914

Data Collection

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This trip to Santa Rosa Island over the past week was a very productive trip. I’ve not only figured out a stronger heading to follow with my project but I’ve also finished a large piece of my project when it comes to data collection. Zack and I have finished the census for the Bishop Pines. All trees have been counted not only on Black mountain but also on the peak of radar hill and a small group in Windmill Canyon. Total count without Dulce’s work comes out to about 2207 trees. All that is left for me to do is to core an approximate of 30 random trees and find the correlations of age and DBH, and the correlation of growth times to weather using weather reports that date back to the early 1900s.

This was me on the last day of data collection on Santa Rosa
This was me on the last day of data collection on Santa Rosa

in todays news…..

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Seed Broadcasted!

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The weather cooperated this weekend, and I was able to get out to Santa Cruz Island to broadcast our native seed mix. With the help of Paula Power (National Park Service), we made some tweaks to the overall study design, and we feel these tweaks allow for a pretty robust study. In this photo, you can see one of six sites we prepared this weekend. Lying on a North-South axis, we seeded half of the 7-meter diameter circle with our native seed mix, leaving the other half unmanipulated. Although only one-half of the circle was seeded and then raked, we did rake the unseeded half to keep the study design consistent. The sample site in this photo is located in a previous burn pile, not pictured is an identical sample site located in an unburned area. Each burn site has an identical unburned site, which allows us to monitor germination of our seed mix in multiple conditions and locations. Huge thanks to Paula Power and Jim Roberts of the National Park Service for their assistance this weekend.

Getting together

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Getting together with my advisor and research partner about our research questions and the next few steps in our project. On the 20th Cause, Erika and Chris and the NOAA educational advisor about the limpid protocol so that we can teach our classes on it well.

Surveyed Some Sites Before the Big Rains

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According to the 2009 5-Year Review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Unarmored Threespine Stickleback there are several known locations of UTS populations in and around the Santa Clarita Valley. A little over a week ago I went out to my five focus sites: 2 in the Santa Clara River, where the Valencia Waste-water Treatment Plant expels its treated water (under McBean Bridge and Bouquet Bridge), San Francisquito Canyon, Bouquet Creek, and Soledad Canyon. Each of these sites were said to support UTS popuations as of 2009. When I went to these sites I not only looked for fish but took pictures and made observations before the El Niño storms hit. For this post my main focus will be on the treated water release site under McBean Bridge. A few months ago I posted pictures from the first time I want to this site. Through those observations I found the following: there were no fish whatsoever, the water was foamy and polluted, and the water ended downstream just shy of the Iron Horse Trail off of Magic Mountain Parkway. Here are some observations from my latest visit:

This shows the area where the water is released. McBean Bridge can be seen in the background
This shows the area where the water is released. McBean Bridge can be seen in the background
Here my dad (who insisted on coming in case of any unfavorable hobo encounters) is helping me look for stickleback in the murky water.
Here my dad (who insisted on coming in case of any unfavorable hobo encounters) is helping me look for stickleback in the murky water.
This is farther downstream where the water ended. The last time I was in this location the water only went as far as the metal pipe in the background.
This is farther downstream where the water ended. The last time I was in this location the water only went as far as the large metal pipe in the background.

 

 

 

Here is just a pool of water downstream. No sign of aquatic life found.
Here is just a pool of water downstream. No sign of aquatic life found.
I took this picture to compare to my last post from this location. I posted a picture of some mysterious orange growth in the water. This is the same spot and the orange growth is now gone. Probably from the few incidents of rain since the last visit.
I took this picture to compare to my last post from this location. I posted a picture of some mysterious orange growth in the water. This is the same spot and the orange growth is now gone. Probably from the few incidents of rain since the last visit.

 

 

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As like the last visit I have not found any stickleback in the area.
These really have nothing to do with my project I just thought they were kind of cool when I stumbled upon them in the riverbed. Animal prints dried in thick slabs of dirt.
These really have nothing to do with my project I just thought they were kind of cool when I stumbled upon them in the riverbed. Animal prints dried in thick slabs of dirt.