“Thus organisms and environments are both causes and effects

in a coevolutionary process.”

—Richard C. Lewontin in The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Teaching Intro to Field Research is Amazing

Last weekend for my Introduction to Field Research course, we visited Año Nuevo State Park (also a University of California natural reserve), saw male, female, and baby elephant seals, spoke with reserve manager Dr. Patrick Robinson about the incredible physiology and life history of these animals, and saw some tagging and oceanographic equipment the seals get to wear.

 
Remaining adult elephant seals after most of the breeding season is over. The males here are not dominant males; those have already taken off to sea. Nevertheless, we saw them snorting and charging each other, and even mate with a female!

Here is Dr. Robinson showing the students the data loggers that are glued to the seals' skin and to collect information about depth, temperature, conductivity (used to calculate salinity), and light. The seals naturally shed their skin on land every year, so the tags just fall right off!


Then we visited the rocky intertidal at Davenport Landing, where I truly came to understand how I have realized my childhood dream of understanding (to some level) all the creatures that live in the intertidal zone.


Obligatory neon green anemone photo. Neonness courtesy the zooxanthellae. The students totally noticed that some anemones were more neon, so I got to explain the symbiosis! Photo credit Emmet P. 



You're really between a rock and a hard place when you find yourself between being eaten by a sea star and an anemone... until you realize you're the only one with an exoskeleton here. Then I guess you're just between an echinoderm and a cnidarian.


We only found one singular nudibranch who was all tucked up and not very happy looking, but the students loved the trip nevertheless. Then I took them all to Whale City bakery, where I always went after fieldwork at Davenport, and we enjoyed hot drinks and snacks to warm ourselves from the frigid wind.

Finding the shiny slugs is always my primary goal. This one was less shiny but just as sluggy.

I feel so lucky that I get paid to do such fun and rewarding things!!


Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Job aps are in

This quarter at UC Santa Cruz, I am having a blast teaching Introduction to Field Research as well as Ecology of Reefs, Mangroves, and Seagrasses.


Students making natural history observations during the Intro to Field Research and Conservation class' field trip last weekend to Fort Ord Natural Reserve in Marina, CA

Unfortunately, the term ends in April, and then I'll be on to new things! It has been very exciting applying for marine biology jobs all over the Pacific Northwest. I see myself as an educator, researcher, and natural resource manager, and so far this year I have applied to four jobs in these categories, including:

  • California Sea Grant-California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Debris Program Extension Fellow (Oakland, CA)
  • California Sea Grant-California Department of Fish and Wildlife Kelp Management Extension Fellow (Eureka, CA)
  • Cabrillo College Biology Instructor (Aptos, CA)
  • Olympia Oyster and Bull Kelp Habitat Restoration Project Manager at Puget Sound Restoration Fund (Seattle, WA)
All these are full-time positions doing things I love in places I love (with the exception of one place that will remain unnamed in case employers are checking out this blog; hehe). 

I look forward to giving updates on the statuses of all these soon!

* Update 3.09.2020: I have interviewed for both Sea Grant positions and have an interview with Puget Sound Restoration Fund later this week. I was not offered an interview at Cabrillo College.