Author: Sweet Tea, Science

CSULB: In the Field

Deploying the seine via kayak. 

Today’s late post is delightfully due to my day of field work for a project underway in the CSULB Wetlands Lab. That’s right, I love biology so much that I spend my spring break away from my lab…working with another lab. However, today was a special treat for me as I was able to go out and work in one of the wetland areas that is currently being monitored after restoration. When I go ‘into the field’ for my research, it usually means a quick drive to the greenhouse to check on algae cultures. While my situation is incredibly convenient, it still doesn’t compare to a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to spend the morning and afternoon seining fish.

Seine is pretty much fancy ichthyologist talk for corralling fish into a net and bringing them up to identify, measure, and count. Ichthyologist is pretty much fancy biologist talk for weird (yet, awesome) people who are really into studying fish all the time.

Gathering up the net very carefully. Don’t want any fish to escape!

Today’s site, Magnolia Marsh, is owned and managed by the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy as part of an attempt to acquire and restore the remaining coastal wetlands in Huntington Beach. Between 1970 and 1989, 90% of California’s naturally occurring tidal wetlands have been destroyed by human influences (Dahl, 1990).  Restoration of this marsh began in April 2009, and restoration of the historical marsh channels and full tidal influence were completed in March 2010.

Monitoring of different species (birds, plants, fish, infauna), in addition to exploring food web structure dynamics is an important part of the restoration project on marsh wetlands. Previous restoration projects can provide insight into the changes you should be able to observe while the effects of the newly restored channels and full tidal influence are occurring. It’s a good way to identify what you’ve done right, and what might need to be done differently in the future.

An adorable sea slug that has flattened out.

Other projects by CSULB graduate students in the Huntington Beach Wetlands include:

  • examining microbial diversity 
  • a project exploring the impacts of  climate change on restoration
  • utilizing a marsh organ to simulate the effects of sea level rise
  • fish translocation between restored marshes
  • planting strategies in the marshlands
    Biologist’s First Sea Slug
References:
            Dahl TE. 1990. Wetland losses in the United States 1780s to 1980s. US Fish and Wildlife Services Technical Report 21p.

Questions of the Day:
What is your favorite marine species?
What sort of field work do you thing astronauts on Mars would do?

Lab Visit: CSU Long Beach Wetlands Ecology Lab

Blog post ideas come to me in a variety of different ways. On the more frustrating days, I sit and ponder and worry and formulate and brainstorm until I have something. On pleasant days, such as today, the post  practically writes itself. My Long Beach friend, Rachel, let me tag along with her to work this week and I feel more like her annoying little sister, instead of a fellow graduate student friend.

“What does this do? Do you work with this thing? Can I touch every single thing in here? Oh, look at this cool thing! What kind of bug is this? And this one? What about this one?”

This is exactly the sort of passion and interest I want to share with my readers. Science involves some cool cool stuff. So I’d like to start a new tradition of exploring new labs that I visit and sharing with ye ol’ readers via a photo post!
California State University at Long Beach – Wetlands Ecology Lab
Researching within the Biological Sciences, you are going to be exposed to many types of working environments. Many projects require you to venture out ‘into the field’ for experiments, sample collections, or recording observations. But often, a lot of processing, identifying, and analyzing takes place back in the lab. Most labs are unique and reflect the diversity of research conducted by their members. 
A brief bio of the lab’s Principle Investigator and their research. 

Questions of the Day:
What is your favorite part of the CSULB Wetlands Ecology Lab? 
What items would you like to know more about?
What would your lab’s mascot be?

Click the link below to see the rest of the photos!

Some labs have mascots to represent the research conducted. Icky the Isopod keeps moral up during late nights in the lab.
Rachel (left) and a fellow lab mate (right) use their creativity to design decorations for the lab.


It is often very important to keep track of lab utensils. Some samples in this lab are preserved with certain chemicals, and would contaminate samples used for stable isotope analysis. This spoon is marked ‘Dead’ to denote that it should only be used on preserved samples. 
You never know what supplies you might need during your research. It’s also difficult to keep track of instruments and tools in busy labs if lots of students are in and out. An organized lab with a sign out sheet will run smoothly.
Macrofauna can be difficult to identify. Microscope time is vital, yet sometime straining. The ability to take pictures of samples help the identification process. Photos can be saved as references or sent to colleagues for confirmation. Shown is a polycheate. 
Infauna vouchers. (Invertebrates kept to use as a comparison for later identifications.)
Meticulous record keeping is a good trait to master. Write everything down! You never know when you might need to look back over your notes. Trust me, you’ll forget things.
What marine focus lab would NOT have a calendar with tide charts?
You don’t realize all of the different tools you’ll need during your research. I am sure I’ve used everything in this photo in some form back at my own lab.

Cool toys are another perk of the science life. This unit takes light saturation points for leaves. The map shown above is of Huntington Beach Wetland Complex. This lab is monitoring restoration of this area. Tidal influences have been reintroduced to this area.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go…

Greetings from Long Beach! After a long night on the Greyhound, I’m at Cal State Long Beach for a few days to help a friend stay sane through her last thesis writing days. Hopefully, my own thesis will progress as well.

If you followed my #bustweets on Twitter, you already know what an adventure the past day has been. I consider myself lucky to have arrived sane and vomit-free. Any complaints aside, I was able to travel via mass transit for cheap (way less than airfare) in a reasonable amount of time. I even  slept for a few hours here and there. So why on Earth don’t more people travel by bus?

This wasn’t my first rodeo. Ok, so it’s my second. Last summer, I took those first teetering steps onto a Greyhound to attend a Surprise Birthday Party in Dallas, TX. Another smooth trip, with some characters along the way. I had planned to attempt to travel the West  this summer with the Greyhound Discovery Pass, but unfortunately there is some distance between National Park entrance gates and the nearest bus stations. An adventure for another time, perhaps.

Have you ever traveled between cities by bus?

My mother is a self-proclaimed expert in the fields of ‘Worrying’, ‘Things That Can Go Wrong’ and ‘Worst Case Disaster Scenarios’, so if anyone has insight into this quandary, it would be her.
Her telling text message advice before my departure:

“Don’t talk to strangers, wash your hands, and put a towel down on the seat!!!”

She hits some pretty pertinent points.

  • Bus safety is questionable. These people didn’t go through rigorous scanning, frisking, and searching.
  • Sanitation is not a high priority on buses.
  • Always travel with a towel.

But how do buses compare to planes and cars in terms of speed, price, safety, and environmental impact?

I turned to the Internet for some quick answers. (Sidenote: always question what you read on the Internet, including here!)

Speed: Plane
For all but the shortest trips, planes are the obvious choice. There is no way that I am capable of driving by myself for 12 hours, so bus takes 2nd, leaving car in 3rd
Price:Bus
I bought my round trip tickets a week before departure. No airline could dream of matching the price and gas for a single passenger car would also add up quickly.
Safety: Plane
Buses follow closely after. If one bus can carry 100 people, it would take at LEAST 25 cars to carry the same load. That’s 24 more opportunities to get into accidents.
Environmental Impact: Bus
Lot of passengers and less fuel needed compared with air travel.

References:

As a grad student exploring new energy sources, I place importance on price and environmental impact. For me, taking the 17 hour bus ride is a no-brainer. I can spend riding time reading, sleeping, or people-watching. I can bring my own snacks and drinks. I can confirm that at the very least, the Phoenix station has goldfish crackers. Also, when I’m lucky the buses have free WiFi, another advantage over most airports.

Safety and time would be useful to consider for families and business travelers. The young mother with three little girls (including The Vomiter) was mostly likely grateful that she didn’t have to drive and handle her crew.  But once the eldest can entertain and watch over her sisters, then perhaps traveling by car will once more be practical.

Travel is always going to be give and take with time, money, safety and comfort, but when the destination is worthy you will find a way. Luckily, I don’t have to depend on funding from the government, international cooperation, and years of innovation to visit my friend. If we as a global community truly want to explore and visit Mars, we’ll find a way. We may have to pick and choose our priorities, and exhibit endless patience, but the destination is a reward like no other.

Question of The Day:
What is your favorite form of travel?
What is your limit for time spent traveling by bus?
What are your favorite travel snacks?