By Ryan Fields, MLML Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab
Ryan Fields serves as lab technician to the Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab (FCB lab), where he also studied for his Master's degree. As a technician Ryan continues to participate in lab projects that include California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program and the development of new video lander tools to improve fisheries management of Pacific rocky reefs.
This October, the Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab completed a month-long research cruise along the California coast testing a new video camera tool designed to survey fishes. This was both a fantastic project and trip, and I want to share a few highlights from video we collected. The main goal of this project was to design, build, and demonstrate the feasibility of deploying a video lander tool at a scale that is useful for fisheries management agencies (i.e. a coastwide survey). We were very successful in meeting this first goal, and in 24 days we conducted 419 visual surveys across 295 miles of coastline between Half Moon Bay and Anacapa Island.
MLML researchers recently participated in a collaborative research project orchestrated by the Office of Naval Research to study stratified ocean dynamics in the Arctic (SODA). Two seas were examined for this project, the Beaufort and Chukchi seas; with the MLML team exploring the former.
One of three encounters with polar bears as we were ice breaking toward the three ice instrument cluster sites around 80 N in the eastern Beaufort Sea. This was a mother and second year youth. (Photo Source: Dr. Tim Stanton)
Congratulations to the eight students that presented results of independent research at the annual Western Society of Naturalists (WSN) meeting in Tacoma, WA this November 8-11, 2018!
WSN is a scientific society with a strong focus on ecology, evolution, natural history, and marine biology. Beloved by scientists primarily from Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, and Mexico, the annual conference provides a supportive environment for graduate students to present their research each year.
This year's student presenters from MLML included:
Jacoby Baker* (Ichthyology Lab)
June Shrestha (Ichthyology Lab)
Kristin Saksa (Ichthyology Lab)
Melissa Palmisciano (Ichthyology Lab)
Katie Cieri (Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab)
Taylor Eddy (Invertebrate Zoology)
Rachel Brooks (Ichthyology Lab)
Lauren Parker (Ichthyology Lab)
*A very special congratulations to Jacoby Baker for winning the highly-competitive Best Student Presentation Award in Organismal/Population Biology!
Please continue below to read more about everyone's research.
MLML students representing at WSN with fearless leader & advisor Dr. Scott Hamilton
The author, Sierra Helmann, as Julia Platt in Monterey Bay Aquarium’s summer production “Turning the Tide: The Story of Monterey Bay” Photo Credit: Cat Chiappa
This week's post comes to us from grad student Sierra Helmann. When not studying phytoplankton for her thesis research, she works in guest experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and takes great pride in exposing young audiences to marine science. After starring in our Open House play for the last two years, she took the lead role of Julia Platt in the aquarium's summer production of "Turning the Tides: The Story of Monterey Bay."
Acting is a very unique branch of science communication that taps into the power of imagination. Here, she speaks to its importance in engaging the public and acknowledging the historical contributions of women (HERstory).
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Not all heroes wear capes, some wear dresses and their secret power is using a microscope. Women are often under acknowledged and under appreciated in the scientific field. There are many women who made discoveries that were vital to the advancement of science. These were women of impact who were seldom acknowledged for their heroic acts. One of these women of impact is Julia Platt. She was first and foremost a scientist. As a woman of her time, she couldn’t study and practice marine science as much as she would have liked; instead, she turned to policy to make an impact.
Julia Platt is celebrated in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s summer deck show “Turning the Tide: The Story of Monterey Bay.” This summer I had the opportunity to portray Julia Platt. “Turning the Tide” brings the cultural history of Monterey to life with historical reenactments set against the backdrop of beautiful Monterey Bay.
An important message of the show is conservation. One part of the show discusses the rise and fall of the sardine population and consequently the sardine canning businesses. The show addresses how the advancement of fishing and canning technologies allowed people to fish and can fish faster than the fish were able to replenish their populations. Julia Platt, the mayor of Pacific Grove at the time, decided to set aside Marine Protected Areas of Monterey Bay so that the ecosystem could be protected and revived. Even people without a science background can appreciate marine conservation when the ideas are presented in an entertaining format. When people understand, they can be inspired, and inspiration can lead to action.
Photo Credit: Cat Chiappa
Not every child is going to grow up to be a marine biologist, but every child can be inspired to conserve the ocean and to protect natural resources. “Turning the Tide: The Story of Monterey Bay” is unique because it provides the perfect opportunity to share important information in an informal way. The secret lies with how the information is presented. Theater and storytelling are ways to connect with people and can be a way to share important messages of conservation and sustainability. People are more able to remember information that they connect with or when they are entertained. If you have a topic you are very interested and passionate about, consider theater as a way to share it.
As a young girl, women scientists were heroes to me as they solved some of the largest problems that our world faced. I am so pleased that we will have more than 100 women joining Congress this term. I can’t wait to hear the stories they bring to the table. I just want today’s young people to know that a woman’s place is in the lab, contributing to the field of science, a woman’s place is on the stage, a woman’s place is in Congress, and a woman’s place is wherever she wants it to be.
One thing is for certain -- women play an important part in the sciences and history. Portraying a woman scientist (Julia Platt) of the past while a graduate student of Moss Landing Marine Labs was very special. “Turning the Tide: The Story of Monterey Bay” combined my passions for science, policy, storytelling, and the theater arts in a seamless show. I was able to connect with young people who had their own stories to tell. Perhaps a little girl sitting in the audience of “Turning the Tide" this summer will have been inspired and will grow up to make HERstory!
Students here at Moss Landing Marine Labs recently founded a local chapter of the Society for Women in Marine Sciences (SWMS). While this group has been doing great work on the east coast for several years, we are excited to bring its success to the Monterey Bay area. Kim Elson is one of several students on the inaugural leadership committee, but she was also the driving force behind the initial push to bring SWMS to Moss. We recently held our first event, a trivia night! Here, Kim offers up some insight into SWMS's history and its future under the new chapter.
By Amanda Heidt, Invertebrate Zoology & Molecular Ecology Lab
Amanda Heidt was recently selected as the 2018 KQED-CSUMB Fuhs Science Communication Fellow. The Fuhs Family Foundation provided funding for a one year $10,000 scholarship and a paid summer internship at KQED Public Media in San Francisco. She spent the summer living in the city, navigating the BART, and making a map of all the food she needed to eat. At work, she split her time between covering stories for Science News and researching story lines for the popular 4k Youtube video series Deep Look.
She recently returned back to the lab and caught us up on what she learned from her crash course in science communication. You can also skip forward here to see her KQED portfolio.
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(Am I dating myself by referencing a movie from the 1930s in the title? Maybe. But don't worry, I'm also hip to the #scicomm lingo.)
I applied for this fellowship on a whim, because the application was only 250 words and the scholarship would be enough to cover the rest of my research costs. Like many people, I think science communication is important, but actually doing it can be completely overwhelming.
But surprisingly, as I cleared the various hurdles they set for applicants, I started to get more excited at the thought of really going for it. I had to summarize a dense scientific paper in 250 words. That was hard. I had to interview with my would-be bosses. Always a nail-biter. And immediately after that, I had to go blind into a two-hour writing test, the details of which I am barred from explaining. It was challenging, but it gave a taste of what it is like to have a quick turn-around on a story.
And I did have some quick turnarounds. My summer fellowship fell right in the middle of an intense fire season in California. As a result, much of my coverage revolved around covering stories related to fires. In these cases, I would be called into my editors office and assigned a particular angle to investigate. For example, the County Fire early on in the summer closed Lake Berryessa businesses during the 4th of July, one of the busiest weekends on the lake. I had three hours in which to find people to interview, call them, transcribe the interviews, write the draft, and go through edits.
My first Deep Look experience was working on nudibranchs, with which I am only mildly obsessed! (Photo credit Josh Cassidy|Deep Look)
But there were other pieces -- longer and more personal -- that took weeks. I was able to be thoughtful in who I chose to speak with, targeted in the questions I put to them, and a bit more lyrical in the way I spun the narrative. I drew from past professional relationships to get at different perspectives. With Deep Look episodes, I formed ongoing relationships with researchers as I came back to them with more questions -- always more questions. While I enjoyed the challenge of a tight deadline, it was clear to me that I was drawn more to the deep dive into a particular story. Maybe I should have guessed as much; my podcast and book choices tend to skew long-term, in-depth journalism.
I think what surprised me most about the fellowship was the diversity of tools in the science communication toolbelt. It isn't just writing. Or even one type of writing. There is, for example, a huge difference between writing a feature piece and drafting a script for a Deep Look episode. A traditional article would largely be a conversation between myself and my editor, but a scripting session was a group affair, with a half-dozen people crammed into a cubicle slashing at a word document as yet another person leaned over to comment from the desk next door.
And beyond the writing, I learned how to photograph and film, how to edit video, how to conduct interviews in-person or over the phone, how to put together a podcast, and how to record a piece for radio. I took photos of people taking photos (it was very meta). I dove with our videographer so we could see where the wild things really were. I wore slacks and a nice blazer to meet a scientist at California Academia of Sciences and then went directly to the beach and soaked myself to get a perfect opening shot.
I loved that there were so many avenues to get the word out. It was fun for me to get to learn about new things, to be a journalistic chameleon for a time. A news story is meant to be factual and timely, while a Deep Look episode is silly and surprising. The immediate gratification of publishing several news stories during my ten weeks is different to the slow-burn of Deep Look releases. My first episode credit released on my last day. They each pull at very different creative threads.
Science communication came to me slowly. Even five years ago, I would never have thought to do anything like this. But similar to the way I think everyone should know the basics of computer coding, I think everyone should have an understanding of how to put words to a page. It's not really so revolutionary a thought; all through school we are expected to learn math, science, literature, history, art. It's only really in college that we move away from what does not come naturally to us.
People invest in what they care about. This, to me, is at the heart of why it behooves all scientists to take communicating their work seriously. Set aside that it can be fun to bring the wonder of discovery to fresh eyes, and you're still left with the fact that we need the broader public behind us to drive forward with our work.
Videographer Josh Cassidy and I challenge the assumption that no one can look good in a wetsuit as we gear up to film sand dollars at Breakwater. (Photo credit Laura Anderson)
Coming back to the lab, I feel invigorated. And I especially feel affection for this blog, this space that was really my only exposure to writing about science for a wide audience that I had for a long time. Blogging as a legitimate means of sharing information has really only come about in the last decade or so, and I think they retain some of their image as a renegade platform where the words can be yours and yours alone. I am excited, and I hope others are to, to explore the benefits of this creative space. As Erin reiterated in last week's post, this blog has always been for the students, by the students.
Below I've linked to all of my pieces. The application for the next Fuhs Fellow recently opened and will be due in February 2019. I highly encourage any CSUMB-affiliated student to apply. It is intense, but it's also a great way to really jump in to science communication with good oversight and resources. Feel free to email me with any questions.
My initiation to the MLML Marine Mammal & Sea Turtle Stranding Network was by fire. Actually, by a 200-pound dead harbor seal that we had to drag up Spanish Bay and load into the backseat of Jenni’s Ford Focus, amongst an onslaught of concerned tourists who had just paid to take a leisurely drive down one of Monterey’s most beautiful roads. Surprisingly, despite all the awkward and concerned staring, only a handful of people approached to ask what we were doing. I assume that, like me, everyone else was too shy to ask what the hell we were doing and will forever wonder about that big blue body bag that was suspiciously getting pulled off the beach by two women in flip-flops.
As official dead-thing-touchers (yes, we have the permits to do so – and yes, you have to have a permit to do so), we find that only a few brave individuals will approach to ask questions about what we are doing, and I can only assume that others might be left wondering why two people in a kayak were sampling blubber from that dead humpback whale off Lover’s Point or putting that dead sea lion pup into a plastic bag in front of a class of baby kayakers on Del Monte Beach. So here are the answers to the top six questions we get:
This year we are celebrating The Drop-In's ten-year anniversary! That’s ten years of working hard to give our readers a truthful account of what it means to be a student of marine science conducting our work here in the Monterey Bay.
Photo: FishBio
There are some exciting posts lined up in the coming weeks, but we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the blog’s purpose and the audience it supports.
Erin Loury was one of the co-founders, and she paused in packing for her trip to southeast Asia to chat with me about what motivated her to start The Drop-In.
But first, a bit about her: Erin was originally a masters student in the Ichthyology lab, but she knew right away that her ultimate goal was to attend UCSC’s Science Communication program, a one-year masters degree she describes as “journalism bootcamp for scientists.” As part of her program, she held paid internships at the Monterey County Herald, MBARI, and Science News, the online news arm of Science Magazine.
As she prepared to graduate, she admitted to feeling anxious over her desire to pursue communication without totally foregoing her scientific background. She didn’t want to just be telling the stories of other people, she says, but actively contributing stories of her own.
Erin has now been working for FishBio – a fisheries and environmental consulting company – as their Communications Director for six years. She is able to travel as a fisheries scientist to help with their work abroad and to draft their scientific publications. But in addition, she manages their website, blog, newsletter, and social media channels, prepares press materials, and assists with video production and community outreach.
All of which began with a desire to share stories and a blog that continues today. Below you can read our discussion regarding the blog’s formation and the importance of educational outreach efforts. It has been edited mildly for clarity and length.
What was your motivation to start the blog?
The first was I wanted to create a resource that I wish I’d had when I was a student trying to decide if I should go into marine biology. There are so many young kids that want to be marine biologists, but they don't really have any sense of what that would look like, their families don’t have any sense of what that would look like. They think of being dolphin trainers. But what can you do that kind of degree?
The Open House design that inspired the blog's name.
The second aspect was wanting to know specifically what it was like to be a graduate student at Moss Landing. I was trying to encourage the students here to tap into that storytelling and creative side and just being able to share those amazing experiences. Because even just talking to my classmates and my friends, I was hearing about all these incredible trips that people were making into the field and these encounters that they were having with wildlife. It's just such a unique opportunity that we have as marine scientists.
Another important role that The Drop-In can play is helping people understand the scientific process. One of the main things you learn in communication is “show people, don't tell them.” Immerse people in the world of science and help them understand what it means and how challenging it is. It's not just, “Oh, you answered this question, you know everything now.” There's always more questions or sometimes it's hard to answer the question you thought you'd answer. So being able to show people the nuance and the challenge of science as a process is also important.
Where there any challenges to getting the blog running, and if so how did you address them?
In the beginning it was definitely a matter of identity. I think over the years we kind of pared it down to the essence: the students at Moss Landing and sharing their stories, which is ultimately the primary goal of the blog.
But around that time in 2008, there was this growing question of “should scientists be held responsible for doing science communication?” Should they be encouraged or is that solely something that journalists do? And so I think we were starting to see some movement on this idea that we could actually train scientists to be communicators and that some of them are actually really good at it and you don't just have to rely on the journalists to get it right. If you could give young scientists tools to communicate, you’d be turning out better science leaders in the future.
Photo: Investigative Biology, Cornell University.
I think there was a concern about potential challenges in the beginning because this was kind of a new thing and I think especially among some of the faculty they just didn't have a clear idea of what it would look like. It was a time when not everyone just automatically knew what a blog was.
One of the things that people were concerned about was comments and the idea of the Internet. What if we got negative feedback and how would we deal with that? And then another was just wanting to make sure we were scientifically accurate. So for a time we had a faculty adviser looking things over, but in the end I don't think we really needed to run anything by her. Once they saw that it was really just us trying to share these stories, that it was promotion for the lab, outreach for the lab, we didn't have any real challenges with that.
What is the value of science communication, and why should scientists care to do it?
The systems that we study as marine scientists are profoundly affected by other people, whether we like it or not. So it's in our interest if we'd like to continue to study the animals, the plants, and the ecosystems that we care about as scientists to be able to get the support and the funding to do that. It's in our best interest to be able to share with other people why we care about these places and why they should care about them and why they're important. I think especially now, when there's so much misunderstanding and a lack of trust of science, that communication can show scientists as people.
That's one of the things that I've learned from the communication world: that people care about other people, you know, they care about the environment as well, but sometimes it's through the eyes or the journey of another person that they come to learn and care about something that maybe they didn't naturally have any interest in.
Amanda Kahn was another of the co-founders, and she is a great example. She studies sponges now. They’re a total snooze-fest to most people. But she is just so animated and excited, she can get just about anyone to care about sponges because she cares about them so much.
What would you suggest to people who want to get some experience in science communication?
Social media is a great tool that you could use to take some baby steps into science communication. I think especially if you're out in the field, Instagram is a really great tool for taking pictures and infusing a little bit of science into your captions. Same for your Facebook posts.
Using social media lets you share your science and humanize yourself as a scientist.
And if you aren't so much into the tech side of things, finding any opportunities for outreach or volunteering where you're interacting with students or with the public, things like Open House. I love working with kids because they're always really excited and very forgiving if you mess up! You have a fun audience to test out your science soundbites on and to help test engaging ways to talk about your science.
Every time you tell a non scientist about the work that you're doing in ways that they can understand, you're doing science communication.
Any parting words of wisdom?
I'm just really excited to see that the blog has been able to continue over all of these years.
I know it can be time consuming when people are so busy in grad school and doing a thesis, but for me having a creative outlet was something that I really valued. Just to feel like you're using a different part of your brain. It can be a fun way, especially if you're dealing with some of the challenges of doing science, to be able to take a step back and reconnect with what drew you to science in the first place. That sort of wonder, that aspect of discovery and learning about nature. I would definitely encourage people to get involved with the blog and use it to test out how they could tell their stories and raise awareness about the amazing work that they're doing.
It was so great to see that Erin was able to find a path that provided so much of what she had wanted going into her professional career.
Coming up, we are putting together a few posts to highlight some of the work our students did over the summer. The script gets flipped for graduate students, as summer is often a time of intense work when field data is collected for analysis in the fall. It is also a time when students participate in short-term fellowships and internships with other agencies.
Let us know, what does science communication mean to you? As a scientist, are you making efforts to share your work with the wider community? As a reader, what would you like to see from us here at The Drop-In?
I recently returned from a field expedition to assist PIs Dr. Diana Steller (MLML) and Dr. Matt Edwards (SDSU) research rhodolith beds on Catalina!
What are rhodoliths, you may ask?
Rhodoliths exist around the world, yet not much is known about them. They are a calcareous red alga that provides relief and habitat in otherwise sandy soft-bottom stretches of the nearshore coastal environment, supporting invert and fish communities.
They have been a hot topic in recent years due to implications of ocean acidification on their structure, as well as the fact that they exist in areas with lots of boat traffic and moorings. Interestingly, they are not usually included in habitat characterizations or taken into consideration during MPA designations (which maybe they should!).
A rare rhodolith bed, found at only 6 bays/coves in Catalina. (photo: S. Gabara)
Collaboration in Action
The recent research trip was truly a collaborative effort between multiple institutions. Our team was composed of great minds and divers from MLML, SDSU, and even Kunsan National University in South Korea. The research team also featured the one-and-only Scott Gabara, previous grad student at MLML, who is now continuing his research on rhodoliths at SDSU in the Edwards Lab for his PhD (check out his previous Drop-In post about rhodoliths here!)
Further Reading
SDSU Graduate Student, Pike Spector, recently wrote a couple of fantastic blog posts about our work from this trip. I encourage you to check them out for more great pictures and descriptions!
Every two years, students and faculty of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories embark on a field studies course in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The field course is intended to give students the opportunity to lead independent field-based research projects in a new environment while promoting international exchange and collaboration. The 2018 class recently returned from Isla Natividad, located off of Point Eugenia on the Pacific coast, with many stories to share! Linked below are the blogs that each student wrote highlighting their experiences in Mexico.
1) Island Life on Isla Natividad
By Jackie Mohay, Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab
"Imagine; you live in a small community on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean where a hardworking life is simple and fulfilling. One day you are told that a group of 20 will be travelling to your island to study it, using your resources and living amongst you for over a week. The people of Isla Natividad welcomed us with more than just open arms" Read more...
2) And for something completely different... A healthy southern kelp forest
By Ann Bishop, Phycology Lab
"Like their terrestrial counter parts, kelp forests reflect the impacts of the human communities who rely on them. Isla Natividad looks the way it does today because of the careful management practices and intense love the people have for their island. The willingness of the co-operative to learn, flexibility to adapt, coupled, with their ability to exclude poachers has resulted in the rich underwater world we were permitted to visit." Read more...
3) The Journey to Isla Natividad
By Vivian Ton, Ichthyology Lab
"Diving on Isla Natividad was an amazing experience. There were many habitat types such as rock reef, sandy bottom, surf grass beds, sea palm and kelp forests. There was kelp everywhere, the most they’ve had in the past 10 years. Along with the kelp, there were also so many fishes (especially kelp bass) to be seen and quite a few of them were massive in size."Read more...
4) Catching Lizards... For Science!
By Helaina Lindsey, Ichthyology Lab
"Every inch of the island was covered in my chosen study species: Uta stansburiana, the side-blotched lizard. At first glance these lizards are unremarkable; they are small and brown, infesting every home in town and scattering like cockroaches when disturbed. However, if you’re able to get your hands on one, you’ll see there’s more to them than meets the eye. They are adorable, managing to look both impish and prehistoric, and have a brilliantly colored throat. They are heliotherms, meaning that they rely on the sun to maintain their body temperature. I aim to explore the nature of their behavioral thermoregulation, but first I need to catch them." Read more...
5) Life Was Simpler on Isla Natividad
By Katie Cieri, Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab
"The simplicity of life that results from a unique combination of isolation and intense focus is one of the utter joys of field work. I had toyed with such bliss before... but my elation in Baja California Sur dwarfed that of previous excursions. Perhaps I have matured as a naturalist, or perhaps, as I suspect, Baja is a truly transcendent place." Read more...
6) What does a Sheephead eat?
By Rachel Brooks, Ichthyology Lab
"For my project, I was interested in exploring the variability in diet of California Sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) across the island. Once we were suited up, our dive guide Ivan, dive buddy Laurel and I flipped over the side and began our descent through the lush kelp canopy towards the bottom. It took only a matter of seconds before I saw my first Sheephead swim by. Eager to get my first fish, I loaded my speargun and zoned in with little success. It took what seemed like an eternity (20 minutes) before I got my first fish, but when I did, I was overflowing with excitement." Read more...
7) Best-made Plans vs. the Reality of Adjusting to Field Conditions
By Hali Rederer, California State University Sacramento
"My fellow students and I were immersed in rich practical “hands on” experiences integrating scientific field methods with experimental design. This course was comprehensive and the pace was fast. Designing and carrying out a tide pool fish study, in a very short time frame, in a place I had never been, presented challenges requiring flexibility and creative approaches." Read more...
8) Vivan Los Aves!
By Nikki Inglis, CSU Monterey Bay - Applied Marine & Watershed Science
"It wasn’t until the last star came out on moonless night that we heard it. At first, it sounded like the incessant wind whipping around the wooden cabin walls. We heard wings gliding in from the Pacific Ocean and a welling up of some invisible kind of energy. Within minutes, the sound was everywhere. The hills teemed, wings flapped frantically around us. We couldn’t see any of it, but the soundscape was three-dimensional, painting a picture of tens of thousands of birds reveling in their moonless refuge. Isla Natividad’s black-vented shearwater colony had come to life." Read more...
9) Recollections from a Baja Field Notebook
By Sloane Lofy, Phycology Lab
[Written from the point of view of her field notebook] "Hello! I would like to introduce myself; I am the field notebook of Sloane Lofy... As a requirement for the course each student must keep a field notebook so that thoughts, ideas, and notes from the field can be used in their research papers later. To give you a feel for what the trip to Baja was like from leaving the parking lot to coming home I will share with you some of her entries." Read more...
10) From Scientist to Local
By Jacoby Baker, Ichthyology Lab
"Every day we worked with locals, spending hours with them in the pangas, learning the areas where we were diving and what species we may find. Our relationships quickly morphed from strangers, to colleagues, and finally to friends as we shared our dives and helped each other with our projects. The diving was fantastic, but the chance to be taken in by the town and being accepted so fully into their culture was an experience that you can’t find just anywhere." Read more...
11) Snails and Goat Tacos: The Flavors of Baja
By Dan Gossard, Phycology Lab
"Science is not typically described as "easy". This trip to a beautiful, remote, desert island wasn't the easy-going vacation-esque experience one may have expected. Hard work was paramount to collect as much data as possible in a relatively short amount of time. Conducting science at Isla Natividad was a privilege that I greatly appreciated and I hope to return there one day to follow up on my research." Read more...
12) 600 Miles South of the Border
By Lauren Parker, Ichthyology Lab
"If there is one thing I have learned from traveling, it’s that nothing turns out exactly the way you plan it. Tires crack, caravans split up, radios fail, water jugs leak, and you realize that coffee for 20 people cannot be made quickly enough to satisfy the demand. However, beautiful things happen just as often as the unfortunate. Friendships form and others strengthen; new skills are discovered and developed. A flowering cactus forest turns out to be one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen. The wind slows and the sun comes out." Read more...
Eager to reminisce about previous trips to Baja?? Check out our previous posts:
Students here at Moss Landing Marine Labs recently founded a local chapter of the Society for Women in Marine Sciences (SWMS). While this group has been doing great work on the east coast for several years, we are excited to bring its success to the Monterey Bay area. Kim Elson is one of several students on the inaugural leadership committee, but she was also the driving force behind the initial push to bring SWMS to Moss. We recently held our first event, a trivia night! Here, Kim offers up some insight into SWMS's history and its future under the new chapter.
By Sharon Hsu, 
