A New Generation of Marine Biologists

This week I had the pleasure of accompanying my students out on the water for the first time. The class that I TA for is a field marine ecology course and we went out on boats this week to explore the marine life around the lab and to explore the process of marine field work. I think the students did a great job of dividing up roles, getting hands-on with the marine life, and asking questions about different organisms. The most common statement made during our trip was, "I didn't know that so many organisms were animals, especially organisms without clear mouths and eyes." Highlights of the day included seeing dolphins exploring near the boat, encountering my first sea horse in the field, and arrow crabs, which were a big hit among the students. Though close runner up was definitely the batfish, pictured here. 

My lab time this week involved cleaning up a few hundred of my samples. Since I have no use for the sediment residues I've amassed over the past five years, I need to start discarding them. This process involves washing out the samples from their storage containers and discarding the mud along with the fixative in which they are stored, since it is an environmental hazard. To make the process more enjoyable, though, I am stationed outside at our portable washing station, especially since I will go through all 600 or so of my samples, and the waste will fill a 40 gallon drum (or maybe multiple). This process will only take a few weeks, but it is quite a feat to look back on all the work I've done and to remind myself of all the mud I've collected and analyzed during my dissertation. I think once I'm finished I will take a picture of all the empty containers together to remind myself of all that I've accomplished and to bookmark the completion of my dissertation research. Stay tuned for that and so much more in the coming weeks.

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