Semester Reflection #2

•What is the greatest challenge facing your generation? I think the greatest challenge that will soon affect students in our generation is the ability to be self sufficient and to think for themselves. I came from a public school that did absolutely everything for their students. Life situations and life examples weren't recognized for the students. At our school, we're given the freedom to think for ourselves and we're given opportunities to understand what the real world will be like. I really understood this through Darren's American Life project. I know that the recession is really affecting families right now and doing this project really gave a sense to me what it will take in my future. No one really pays attention as a teenager to all the bills and costs that are needed in daily life but doing this project really gave me an idea of how difficult and how much i really need to work. • What in the world do u care about and what are you doing about it? I can literally say that I am passionate about a world project and that I am actively participating in it. I participate in the US State Grant Global Connections Exchange Program with students in Afghanistan. I'm a part of the group of United States students that talks and chats with them over Facebook. They ask questions about education and what it's like in the United States, and I answer the questions for them. I'm passionate about helping these girls pursue an education for their future and I have been doing so by participating in the GCEP Program for the past 2 years. •Describe your vision for yourself in pursuing higher education. After I finish high school I want to go to a 4 year college and study biology. I've always been passionate about biology. I've wanted to study and major in that topic since I was in 5th grade. After I finish my under graduate degree, I am going to get my graduate degree. I'm not sure where I want to go to college but I'm interested in going to USD, UC Boulder or Boise State. •Besides grades what motivates you in school? I'm really motivated about doing my best and becoming an overall well rounded person. I had no drive at my last school. I did what I was required, if that, and I knew it was time for a change of school after my sophomore year. I'm really driven at this school. I want to show that I can do my best. I strive myself off of being the best for my parents and for myself. I know that if I do good in school I will go somewhere in life. And if I do good in school, I will become a better over all person, especially with the projects at our school. I'm very motivated with the projects at our school. They capture my attention and light an interest in me.

Semester Reflection #1

•What have you learned about the way you learn, work, and/or collaborate? This year was my first year at high tech high media arts and it was my first year at a project based learning school. I had always been alright with working with others, but this year I really learned how to work in a group and learned how to finish a project that was amazing with the help of multiple people. I also learned about myself that I work very well with being given freedom to finish projects, assignments, and come up with my own idea for what I want to do a project on. I learned that I can’t wait for a deadline to come around to actually get the work done. I was notoriously known to procrastinate on my work last year and this year I made efforts to get everything done on time and do my best on it. •What project was most valuable to you, and what have you gained from it? The most valuable project to me this year was the Media Saves the Beach project. I’ve always had a love for the ocean. I knew in 5th grade that I wanted to be a marine biologist, so working on this project was something that I was really passionate about. I knew I wanted to work on the calendar project and be apart of the team. It was a lot of work but I gained experience with working with a closely knit team and trying to manage our time to the best of our ability. We had many dead lines that we had to meet and collaborating and working on something with four different girls was a little difficult. The humanities part of the Media Saves the Beach project was valuable to me because I learned about the beaches, the tides, ways to improve the environment and how to work as a team and make a final printed/published project. The biology part of the project was meaningful to me because it gave me an opportunity to really get out into the environment and try and do something about the pollution and what was going on. We learned about the pollution issues going on in the oceans and at the beaches but I never really completely understood this whole concept until we actually went out and did the water testing and collected the data for each of the samples. •Describe one valuable mistake you made this year. This year as a new student, I really wish I had done more getting to know people when I first transferred to the school. I’ve been playing volleyball since 7th grade and I went to one volleyball practice for the school team here at Media Arts and I never went back to play. I also knew that I wanted to participate on the yearbook team and ASB. I know I made this mistake about not doing what I knew I wanted to do and not pursuing what I wanted, but I made these decisions based on the fact of being a new student and acclimating to the new school, while trying to make new friends. I eventually started playing volleyball with the team, I went to a few ASB meetings. And I now know what I want to do next year as a senior. It took a year of being a junior to decide what I wanted to do at school and where to make a difference. I stepped up to the bat and took some leadership roles in the class this year, but I wish I had participated in more.

Writing Reflection

At the beginning of this school year I came in not really knowing what would be expected of me in the writing department. The first writing assignment that I was given was the American Icons project. Below is a link to my final My American Icons project: http://thesearemyshannanigans.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-7-final-draft-american-icons.html I’ve re-read this piece of writing that I started out with this year and I see it as a good starting point for what I’ve learned this year so far. At the beginning of the year we hadn’t really learned many writing tips. The first week or so we learned about the loop which is starting with a strong idea, having support detailing in the middle and then ending again with that strong idea. We also learned about make meaning early and concerts not pancakes. This concept basically says to have the information at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph. When there is a verb or a main idea at the beginning of a sentence then the piece of writing will have a good chance of being stronger. Looking back at this article, I can see how much my writing has improved throughout the year. In my first piece of writing I can see that I didn’t have evidence, any back up information or even a strong idea that I really actually focused on throughout the entire piece. My most recent piece of writing was my Ampersand article. I personally thought that this was one of my best pieces of writing. Throughout the entire year we learned many different writing tips. I applied each of them to the best of my ability in this article. The amount of drafts and rewriting I did for this article is unbelievable. I think I had about 10 people read my article over and over again to try and make it perfect. I had a new draft nearly everyday. I learned that quantity improves quality. The more I worked on my article, the stronger it was. I’ve never really written something that had to do with a life experience of mine, so coming up with an idea was a little difficult for me. Having the freedom to choose what we wanted to write about was refreshing but I had to search my brain for an idea that I felt passionate about and was interested in writing about. When I did come up with my idea, I knew exactly who to go to so I would have precise and exact information for my article. I had primary sources and even someone to talk to about the whole program that I was writing about in my article. I’ve learned that writing about a life experience of your own produces better quality of work. I know that being able to put my input, thoughts and ideas into an article was ten times easier than writing about an informational topic that doesn’t really relate to yourself all that much. With Ampersand I was really able to express myself through writing. I was able to write about something that I care about and then input my ideas in about education. Ampersand is my piece of writing that I am absolutely proud of. In the future, I am really hoping to improve upon my writing. I’ve always been one to keep up with my writing with journaling all the time. I never really put that much effort into my writing prior to this year. I’ve learned different tips, techniques and how to set up an outline for producing a good piece of writing. This year I really learned how to write. All the concepts from before were put together and producing a good piece of writing was the goal for the year. I succeeded with this with my Ampersand article. I want to keep writing and also improve upon it. I’ve never really thought about actually writing, but being told that my Ampersand article was amazing really inspired me. I’m hoping that in senior year, I’ll have more opportunities to learn more about writing. The most important piece of writing that I will need in the next couple months will be my essay for colleges. I’m hoping to produce an amazing piece of writing and I know all of the tips that I’ve learned this year will contribute to that.

Historical Reflection

If I were to meet anyone in college that we have learned about in class, I would definitely choose to meet President Ronald Reagan. I think that I would want to have him as a professor and have him for at least one lecture. I’ve always been inspired by Ronald Reagan. I remember doing a project on him when I was as young as 3rd grade. I think I would want to hear about his ideas of stimulating the economy. I would want to hear about how he used tax cuts to help reduce government spending and helping the economy. I admire that Reagan made a friendship between the dictator Gorbachev and persuaded him into changing to a diplomatic government, further ending in the breaking down of the Berlin Wall. I would choose to meet Ronald Reagan because I think that he was one of the best presidents in the United States and in my eyes he was the reason for the end of the Cold War. "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" “I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s no purpose and worth to each and every life.” “There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.” “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Literary Reflections

If I were to bring any character from any of the books we have read this year, I would probably bring Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse 5. I would meet Billy Pilgrim as a student in one of my classes. In Slaughterhouse 5 Billy Pilgrim always had the best luck out of everyone. He miraculously survived in situations in the war where he was supposed to die. Billy Pilgrim is in my classes after he has been deployed in the war and he wants to receive a further education. I would probably think that Billy Pilgrim is close to insane with his ideas of the Tralfamadorians, but I think that some of his philosophies that he picked up from the aliens, I would find really intriguing. Billy Pilgrim speaks about some of the Tralfamadorian philosophies. He talks about how you can life never ends, you are always alive at some point in time so you are never actually gone. The memories that you had and lived in are what keep you alive. He talks about how you can live in only happy moments if that’s what you want. Billy Pilgrim says that the Tralfamadorians do not see life with negatives, but that you can live your whole life in happy memories. He says that there is always a destiny and that no matter what you try and avoid in life, it will happen because your life is already laid out completely. If someone were going through tragedy and someone had died, Billy Pilgrim would tell them not to be sad because that person is always alive at some point in time in their life. To Billy Pilgrim, death is about sadness, it just means they go to a different part in their life that they are living.

I would quickly become friends with Billy Pilgrim. Half the time of my friendship with him, I would wonder if he was completely on his rocker and if he was not insane. I think I would be really intrigued by his ideas of the Tralfamadorians. A lot of the philosophies of the Tralfamadorians are about happiness of life and living in the happy moments. I think everyone needs a little reminding of that sometimes and I think that if Billy Pilgrim were a friend of mine, he would tell me to think of the happy moments in life if I were going through a hard time.   

Post Trial Reflection

1. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

On the prosecution side, they used information that had to do with Civil Rights, Natural Rights and what was morally correct. They used amendment 4, 5, 10 and 14 as well. There was information about an event that occurred a couple weeks ago about a young woman that was arrested and racially profiled as an illegal immigrant when she in fact was a US citizen. The witnesses for the prosecution were John Adams, James Madison and Raul Grijalva.  

2. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the defense. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

The defense argued that the case with using the new senate bill and saying that they were not racially profiling. There witnesses were the Arizona Senator and Governor as well as a worker from Ellis Island. They stated that the illegal immigrants were here illegally and should not be here because they must become citizens prior to coming here.

3. What was the most significant piece of evidence, in your personal opinion?

I think the most significant evidence was the story about the young woman who had been arrested when she was a legal citizen. That caused some tension and stress for the other team because they weren't really sure how to come back with that without saying it was racial profiling. They used the senate bill as their evidence and it was certainly good evidence.. but it made it worse for the opposite team at certain points. Some of the witnesses got a little caught up in what they were saying and the prosecution was able to get them to say what we wanted. 

4. What was the most significant argument made, in your opinion?

The most significant argument had to do with the racial profiling. Being on the prosecution, we were able to get the witnesses on the defense to say what we wanted a lot of the times. The other team was saying that all illegal immigrants were dangerous and that was how we were able to decipher if they were illegal or not. At one point in time we actually got one of the other witnesses to say that they were profiling people to arrest. So the racial profiling was a very good argument many times throughout the trial.

5. What do you personally believe the correct verdict should be? Do you agree with the jury? Why or why not?

I'm a little torn between the issue. I don't think that illegal immigrants should be in the country unless they go through the process of becoming a citizen because that is what all of us here in America have done.. but then again in Arizona, the fact that they are racially profiling is unfair completely. 


I think I deserve a 45 out of 50 points because I was a large contribution to the prosecution team. I researched a lot of information and I helped out with the questions and statements as well as played the role of James Madison.  I thought that I did pretty good when I was on the stand. I think I could have done a better job with my answers though. We were on time constraint and I didn't get my questions sent to me until the last second so a lot of my answers were improvised on my behalf. I also helped a lot with some of the questions having to do with the cross examine as well as when the witnesses from the other team were called up for a recall.

WWII Letters

I am a nurse that is stationed after the Normandy battle. I chose to be a nurse in WWII because I didn't really want to stay at home and do nothing for the military. I figured it would be a better choice to want to be there in the war. It sounds sort of scary, because of course it is, but I think it would have been more exciting to be helping over seas with the men in the military. I would rather be helping the soldiers one on one rather than staying at home.

In my letter I want to write to my husband thats in the war in a different part of the world. I think that would be interesting. I want to write about how the nurses were sent in 4 days after the Normandy battle to go and help the soldiers that were in need of help.


http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM

Semester dos blog #15

International organizations and agencies (like the UN)

I would like to learn more about the international organizations and agencies that started after WWII. I don’t really know that much about the United Nations. I’ve always heard about it but I don’t really know how it began and what the importance of this organization is also. I know that the UN was formed to create peace between the different countries in the world but I think that it would be an interesting topic to learn more about. 

Semester dos blog #14

I think some of the most interesting aspect of WWII was how it began. I didnt really understand all that went into it with the power hungry leaders wanting to take control of different areas in the world. I didnt know that there was continuous fighting in between the two wars between countries in Europe.

I'm hoping to learn more about the battles in WWII. There are so many and I always get lost trying to remember which ones had different importances in the war.

The wars helped shape the modern world today. There no longer is a USSR and most of the countries that were in WWII are allies now.

Semester 2 Honors Novel#2

As the Joad family progressed in their journey in The Grapes of Wrath, the tone of the story became more and more upsetting and sad for the reader. Steinbeck portrayed the Great Depression very well through the Joad family and he used many situations that occurred during that time period. The emphasis on all of the bad occurrences during their journey was a little dramatic and made the tone of the book not only sad but also sort of depressing.

Starting off to set the tone of the book, the Joad family is completely out of their home and have no where to live really. I know the story is about the Great Depression, but illustrating an image of the place they lived and that they’re home was foreclosed really gets the reader to understand what is going on. As the story progresses the reader learns that the Joad family is traveling to California to try and make a new beginning. Even just the thought of leaving your home for your entire life is upsetting especially for a family that does not know what to expect at all in California.

When the journey to California begins all seems well, but then death begins to set in among the family. The story starts to become about the death and separation of the family rather than just making it to California safely to pursue their dreams. At the beginning of the treck the dog dies first and then follows along both Grandpa and Grandma. Rose of Sharon’s husband leaves the family completely and leaves his wife who is pregnant with his child. The journey to California starts off as good intentions and following their dreams to try and make a better life, but it turns into a disaster that brings the entire family down.

Even when the Joad family gets to California, it isn’t all that they thought it to be. Finding a job is very difficult and the stereotypical remarks about the “Okies” makes it even more difficult. When things seem to start going the right way, it just becomes even more of a set back. When Casy gets taken away by the police, that is once again another set back in the Joad family expedition. The list of deaths increases when not only Casy dies, but also Rose of Sharon’s little baby.

Every time there is a death, a set back, or a fall out among the family it makes the reader have no hope for the Joad’s at all. The depressing journey never ends among the family. Its understandable that its near to impossible to have a happy ending while trying to tough out the Great Depression, but it seems as if Steinbeck clearly wanted to establish a tone that created sympathy and sadness for the Joad family. 

Blog #12

Public works projects are construction and engineering projects that are carried out by the state for the community. Some of the most popular public works projects took place during the Great Depression. The purpose of these projects was the re-stimulate the economy and to give people jobs. The New Deal project had many different construction type projects. They included building streets and highways, school buildings, canals, bridges, sewage systems, housing areas and hospitals. Some of the public works projects that would be beneficial to our society would include building roads and highways. Probably improving the roads more than actually building new highways. I know recently there have been many different road and highway projects and there have also been different schools being built.

Semester 2 Honors Novel#1

While taking place during the Great Depression, Steinbeck expresses the different political and social issues of the time with his characters of Cannery Row.  While the stock market fell and the people began to struggle, there was not much anyone could do at the time. In those moments of time, the people tried to create happiness among themselves and help make it easier for everyone to get through those times.

As a result of the Great Depression, it left many people in situations where money was tight and the class level among them dropped as well. Steinbeck expresses a story about the people of the lower class. He writes about Cannery Row many times throughout the book and it is emphasized that it isn’t the wealthiest or even the greatest place to live. It’s a run down town, but there are the different aspects of the town that makes it the place that it is.

One of the social issues that Steinbeck reflects in his writing is that World War II didn’t really do anything to effect the people that live in Cannery Row. After World War II, it affected most of the nation and pulled them out of the Great Depression. But from the sounds of it, Cannery Row didn’t change all that much after the war.  There was instance when Doc went to go and collect octopus for his experiments and he found a girl who was dead in the river. My opinion on what that had symbolized was that the Great Depression wasn’t over for them. The war had helped others find a way out from the depression, but when Steinbeck wrote about the girl in the river, it seemed as if he was writing about sadness and that it wasn’t quite over for them.

As for the characters in this book, they consciously try to make Doc happy and do something kind for him. And I think that they do that to try and get over the fact that life hasn’t been all its cracked up to be for them at that moment in time. Mack and his group of friends plan a birthday party for Doc. This is after they had they’re own party that Doc did not know about. Another way that they found happiness was through drinking. Doc really enjoyed drinking alcohol and that was sort of an “escape” for him.

The political and social issues of the time period weren’t expressed in depth throughout this book. It seemed as if Steinbeck was just writing a story about how the people of Cannery Row are coping with the struggles in their lives. 

Blog #10

I think that John Steinbeck did establish sympathy for the Dust Bowl farmers in the Grapes of Wrath. The author put almost too much of sympathetic occurrences in the whole story though. At some points in the book, it seemed as if he was greatly exaggerating some of the events that had happened to the Joad family. It seemed as if not all of the bad things that happened to their family would really happen in actuality. In the beginning of the story, there were many deaths and the Joad family had the hardships of moving across the United States and of course Steinbeck arose some sympathy from me. As the hardships continued in the story, it almost seemed as if it would be unrealistic for that many bad things would happen. Of course the author put in many different options of situations that occurred, but some of it was a point of where it was too much. 

semester 2 blog 9

With Ampersand I have my topic and I have the entire first paragraph written out in my head.. which I realize needs to go on to paper... but I will do that very soon. Realistically, this will happen in class tomorrow when we have work time! i find it hard to just sit down and write.. ive never been too good at that. haha. but i need to force myself to just get all of my ideas written down and then i can go from there and finish my piece for Ampersand.

Semester 2 blog 8

Obama and FDR are similar because FDR used the New Deal to make more jobs for people in America and to help end the recession. Obama has had attempts to do this, but he has not been so successful. With his 2009 stimulus package.. the nation has only increased in debt and we are still in a recession.

Honors History #1

Dear Mr. President,

For the past months our country has been struggling on multiple levels.  Let me begin by sharing a few of my ideas that could help during the beginning of our decade with the “Great Recession.” I understand you are using some ideas from Roosevelt’s New Deal and I do not think that is the right way to go about the economic struggles that face American families today. The New Deal increased government spending for government programs. While there are some government programs such as fire department, law enforcement and national defense, which are of value to our country, there are other programs that we do not need to fund.

The purpose of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was to create jobs, similar to the New Deal. Mr. President, the private sector is where the stimulus money should have been given too. Not only should it go into the private sector, the amount of money you have given has put our country in debt and caused the “Great Recession.” Not only will the debt caused by the ARRA effect our country’s economy today, it will take years for future generations to pay off this kind of debt. I would recommend returning the remaining money to the U.S. Treasury in attempt to stabilize our nation’s economy. I would also recommend tax credits be given to families so that more spending will occur and will help to pull us out of this recession. If the stimulus debt continues, there will most likely be a result of the devaluing of the dollar bill.

Also Mr. President, your health care bill is too drastic of a change for our society. While your thoughts for health care reform are reasonable, there is no need to overhaul the entire system when only minor fixes can be made to resolve the problems. Completely changing our entire medical system is insane and the government should not be controlling a private industry. The congress members should go home to their own states, discuss the health care bill with the people in their state and hear and listen to what the people want. The health care bill should be voted upon by the people, instead of having congress decide upon it.

You ran your campaign off of hope and change Mr. President, and I can assure that some of these ideas will ensure hope to many Americans and will change the economy with a positive result.

Sincerely,

Shannon

semester 2 blog 7

I worked at USD in the biology department... So I would probably have to say that I don't think they would have survived during the great depression. They may have.. but since I worked at a private university, I don't think that it would have. The fact that it has to do with education makes me unsure about how it would have panned out in the end. I would think that it wouldn't have done so well because it's a private school so tuitions and prices are way higher than those of a public university. I would need to look more into how education was viewed and if it was important during those times to be able to tell if it thrived or failed during those times.

Semester 2 blog 6

Joad!

"Homicide." "That's a big word- means I killed a guy. Seven years. I'm sprung in four for keepin' my nose clean."

"An old turtle. Picked him up on the road. An old bulldozer. Thought I'd take him to my little brother. Kids like turtles."

"Maybe I should have been a preacher. I been a long time without a girl. It's gonna take some catchin up to do."

"It aint the same. Looka that house. Somethins happened. They aint nobody there."

I chose the character Joad. And he spoke of how he killed a man in a fight and he had jail time. He's obviously thoughtful to have picked up the turtle to give it to his nieces and nephews. I think from the sounds of it, he wants a girl friend and is probably a little bit lonely.. although he likes the idea of being able to have sex with many women like the preacher does. And he hasnt been to see his family for a long time but it sounds as if he really cares about them and wants to see them because he misses them.

Semester 2 blog 4

Ampersand!!!!!

for my ampersand article i kind of want to do something about an article of the cheap thrills in life and how they helped me during my internship. I'm hoping that with this year's Ampersand book, our class will be able to have stories that are more interesting than those from last year. I think with this year we will be able have more entertaining pieces rather than have all of those about internship.

Semester 2 blog 5

http://kimloveseleni.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-3-interview.html

I really thought that Kim's mentor interview was really well done. She wrote in her introduction about her mentor and she did a fabulous job of that as well. She used concerts not pancakes in her writing too. Her writing was very strong in the beginning and in the end and then all of her interview questions were laid out well and good questions were asked.

http://ohmyinternship.tumblr.com/post/380372247/mentorinterview

Of course Constance's pictures look professional and that's what I like about with her work. Having to do with her writing.. everything is very straight to the point! Most of her writing is make meaning early and thats the good thing about when she writes. In her mentor interview she did a good job of giving a visual of the environment and then gave a brief introduction about what he looked like as well.

http://eleniloveskim.blogspot.com/2010/02/mentor-interview.html

Once again another good mentor interview!!! Eleni did a great job of setting up the visual scene. I really like when people use that in their writing.. and I used that in mine as well.

Internship Photo Essay!

Vernal pools are pools of water that fill for some parts of the year and are homes to crustaceans and other vernal pool plants and animals. They will most likely dry up for some parts of the year. They are important in the environment because they contribute greatly to the food chain and there are also endangered and threatened species that reproduce in the wet seasons. They are very unpredictable, meaning that the amount of time they are filled with water cannot be predicted ahead of time because they fill depending on the amount of rain that comes during the season. Vernal pools are biphasic, which means they have two seasons, a dry season and a wet season. They are located on the coastal and inland mesas and valleys of southern California. They are limited to only certain soil types that have an impermeable layer of soil at the bottom, which causes the pools of water to fill and not absorb into the soil. The sad fact about these vernal pools that are homes to thousands of little crustaceans is that they are gradually disappearing. 97% of vernal pools have been completely destroyed. Because of this, there are 20 vernal pool plants and animals that are listed as either threatened or endangered. The vernal pools are disappearing because of the construction and development of land where they are located.

Carmel Mountain Preserve was where my mentor’s most recent project has been based. It was finally the day where I would go out and help collect samples from the vernal pools that needed to be tested. The only thing that I was a little bit worried about was that I had no idea what I was doing.. at all. Katie who is my mentor’s assistant, briefly prepped me on the way over to the site. When arriving at Carmel Mountain Preserve I saw my mentor for the first time since internship had started. It was probably the most enjoyably day that I had during my internship experience. Over the course of the 3 hours that I was there, I learned every single step and method that is done in collecting the samples from the vernal pools. I learned about all the different species and the reasons behind all the collections.

The fairy shrimp are the special interest species among all the collections with the vernal pools. They are one of the endangered species that live among the vernal pools but are most carefully watched and monitored. The projects directed towards the restoration of the fairy shrimp population are looking into making and restoring the vernal pools that they live in. To help restore the populations of the fairy shrimp, data needs to be recorded about other species that live in the vernal pool and data such as the pH and total dissolved solutes in the water. All of this makes a difference because knowing that the fairy shrimp will survive in the vernal pool needs to be confirmed with the collected data. The fairy shrimp have a range of development from 10 to 14 days and then they live for 20 to 30 days on average. During this time they reproduce and lay cysts using a strategy called bet-hedging.  The strategy of bet-hedging is what makes it possible for there to almost always be fairy shrimp every wet season. They do this because sometimes there isn’t enough time to reproduce and die before reproduction occurs. Bet-hedging is when cysts are laid and will hatch at different times that they get wet in the wet season. There will be cysts laid during reproduction and when the wet season ends the cysts will remain in the soil of the vernal pools during the dry season. The next time the wet season occurs, some of the cysts will hatch. The key part of this is that not all of the cysts will hatch. The remaining cysts will hatch in the next couple seasons to come. The fairy shrimp play a big part in the food chain and that is why the importance in the restoration of them is key.

 Vernal pools are very unpredictable, especially the amount of time that they stay full during the wet season. The amount of time the vernal pools stay wet depends on the amount of rain fall during that season. The rain fall for that season cannot be predicted ahead of time so it is never really known how long they will stay full. Some of the times, the vernal pools do not stay full enough for the species in them to reproduce. It’s not only the fairy shrimp that do not have enough time, but the many other species that are in the vernal pools as well. The very first time I went out to the Carmel Mountain Preserve site, there were only 4 vernal pools that were still full. The second pool that we had collected from, we were fortunate enough to have seen baby spade foot toad tadpoles. These tadpoles are also endangered which was even more special about seeing them. After the huge rain storms we went out to go see if we could spot any hatched fairy shrimp in the vernal pools. The vernal pool that we had seen the spade foot toad tadpoles in was completely filled. It looked like a giant lake after the huge amounts of rainfall. When we started looking for baby fairy shrimp in this pool, we saw tons of tadpoles. The only difference was that these tadpoles were almost done with their metamorphosis and close to loosing their tails! Seeing the baby frogs was one of my highlights of my internship. I was out collecting data with Katie that day and she had never even seen the tadpoles get that big before. She said that the vernal pools would usually dry up before they reach that stage in their life. So obviously when the vernal pools are full and stay full for a longer amount of time than expected, different species can reproduce, grow and reach the stage where they live to their total expected life.

In the lab the samples that are collected from the wet season and dry season are cleaned and counted and the data is recorded. In the wet season there are samples collected from the vernal pools and the species that were collected in the net are stored in 70% ethanol and returned to the lab. When in the lab, each of the jars with the collected species is individually sorted and every different species is put into a different jar. This process is called “cleaning out” of the collected species. During the dry season soil core samples are collected to find the amount of cysts in each sample. This is important to see if the population of the fairy shrimp is increasing or decreasing. Most of my days in the lab involved very tedious work and it was all done under the microscope. Every day the only way to get by was by having the cheap entertainment from all of the students that were working in the lab as well. When there is that much time to spend working in the lab, its very refreshing to spend a couple hours sharing stories and cracking jokes.

Mentor Interview

Interview with Dr. Marie Simovich:

Saving the world, one vernal pool at a time

The moment you step into the Simovich research lab at the University of San Diego, there are students working under the microscope. Its so quiet you could hear a pin drop. From down the hallway there’s a burst of loud laughter and the voice of someone who speaks with enthusiasm and excitement. The chaos that comes from down the hall slowly moves to the lab. As the door opens a collie runs into the office and greets everyone with the friendly nudge of her nose. Dr. Marie Simovich comes in and the lab suddenly sparks to life. Dressed in a casual outfit with mud-covered boots, she talks about taking care of her horses before she could come in. She quickly checks in with everyone starting with her assistant Katie and as she starts to leave the lab she turns towards me to ask how I am. This is the first time I had seen Dr. Marie Simovich in her work environment at USD. Her work in the lab, field and teaching classes makes her the unique and clever individual that she is.

The first time I was fortunate enough to work with Dr. Simovich was at Carmel Mountain Preserve where her recent project is based. Her research work has to do with the protection and eventual restoration of the vernal pools that are quickly disappearing. Vernal pools are pools of water that fill during the wet season and are homes to endangered crustaceans and contribute to the food chain. Due to development and construction, 97% of vernal pools have disappeared completely resulting in 20 vernal plants and animals having been listed as endangered or threatened. The field is a common place where Dr. Simovich spends time collecting samples from the vernal pools. The outdoors is where she wants to be and that’s why spending time with her is so enjoyable. Dr Simovich is quick tongued, has a mind of her own and has an incredible personality that will make anyone around her smile. She not only has the personality that makes her the great person that she is, but she also has the intent of fixing an environmental issue that would save many species that live among the vernal pools.

Dr. Marie Simovich collecting samples from a Carmel Mountain Preserve vernal pool.

What university did you go too?

I went to CalPoly Pamona for my bachelors and masters degree and I went to UC Riverside for my PhD.

When did you first find an interest in the sciences?

I think I was always interested in animals and when I went to school, I didn't know if I wanted to be a history major or a biology major. I had a really wonderful wonderful teacher that just used to do drawings on the board of animals and make them totally come to life and he just really.. excited everybody about biology and about how organisms are adapted to their environments and how to save them and stuff. So I wound up being a biology major and he wound up being my major professor when I did my masters degree.

When did you first find an interest in the vernal pools?

When I was at UC Riverside I was going to do a PhD that was similar to my masters on fire ecology of reptiles. But then the people there were working on spade foot toads and they just sort of sparked my interest. So I wound up looking at a hybrid zone of spade foot toads out in Arizona and they were living in vernal pools out there and they were eating fairy shrimp. When I got this job, working with fairy shrimp that you could hydrate, it was a whole lot easier then working with spade foot toads that might not even show up for a couple years. So I wound up moving from spade foot toads to fairy shrimp but they were still in vernal pools.

What other projects have you worked on other than those having to do with the vernal pools?

Fire ecology.

How did you get started working at USD?

I was at some scientific meeting, presenting my information from my dissertation. My PhD major professor was there and he was talking to some friends of his who worked here and they said, we're looking for a population biologist, have you got any students graduating who would fit? And he said yes, I have one and she's right here! But I interviewed with a bunch of other people who interviewed for the job.

How do you manage your time between teaching and working on your research?

It's really hard. It's really hard, especially when your teaching a new class and you try to revise a class that you want to make changes in and it gets hard. I don't know what to say. It’s hard.

mentor interview!!!

The moment you step into the Simovich research lab at the University of San Diego, there are students working under the microscope and is so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Coming from down the hallway there’s a loud laugh and the voice of someone speaking with enthusiasm and excitement. The chaos coming from down the hall slowly comes to the lab and as the door opens a collie runs into the office and greets everyone with the friendly nudge of her nose. Dr. Marie Simovich comes in and the lab absolutely comes to life. Dressed in a casual outfit with mud-covered boots, she talks about taking care of her horses before she could come in. Quickly checking in with everyone including her assistant Katie, she starts to leave the lab but turns towards me to task how I am. This is the first time I had seen Dr. Marie Simovich in her working environment at USD. But her work in the lab, field and teaching classes at the same time makes her the unique and clever individual that she is.

The first time I was fortunate enough to work with Dr. Simovich was at Carmel Mountain Preserve where her recent project is based. She wants to make a difference with protecting and eventually restoring the vernal pools that are quickly disappearing. 97% of vernal pools have disappeared completely due to development and construction. The result of this is 20 vernal pool plants and species that have been listed as endangered or threatened. The field is a common place where Dr. Simovich spends time collecting samples from the vernal pools. The outdoors is where she wants to be and that’s why spending the time with her is so enjoyable. Dr Simovich is quick tongued, has a mind of her own and has an incredible personality that will make anyone smile. She not only has the personality that makes her the great person that she is, but she also has the intent of fixing an environmental issue that would save many species that live among the vernal pools.

What university did you go too?

I went to CalPoly Pamona for my bachelors and masters degree and I went to UC Riverside for my PhD.

When did you first find an interest in the sciences?

I think I was always interested in animals and when I went to school, I didn't know if I wanted to be a history major or a biology major. I had a really wonderful wonderful teacher that just used to do drawings on the board of animals and make them totally come to life and he just really.. excited everybody about biology and about how organisms are adapted to their environments and how to save them and stuff. So I wound up being a biology major and he wound up being my major professor when I did my masters degree.

When did you first find an interest in the vernal pools?

When I was at UC Riverside I was going to do a PhD that was similar to my masters on fire ecology of reptiles. But then the people there were working on spade foot toads and they just sort of sparked my interest. So I wound up looking at a hybrid zone of spade foot toads out in Arizona and they were living in vernal pools out there and they were eating fairy shrimp. When I got this job, working with fairy shrimp that you could hydrate, it was a whole lot easier then working with spade foot toads that might not even show up for a couple years. So I wound up moving from spade foot toads to fairy shrimp but they were still in vernal pools.

What other projects have you worked on other than those having to do with the vernal pools?

Fire ecology.

How did you get started working at USD?

I was at some scientific meeting, presenting my information from my dissertation. My PhD major professor was there and he was talking to some friends of his who worked here and they said, we're looking for a population biologist, have you got any students graduating who would fit? And he said yes, I have one and she's right here! But I interviewed with a bunch of other people who interviewed for the job.

How do you manage your time between teaching and working on your research?

It's really hard. It's really hard, especially when your teaching a new class and you try to revise a class that you want to make changes in and it gets hard. I don't know what to say. It’s hard.

Semester 2 Blog #1

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/24946866

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/30970585/jacobs_lautner_new_moon_werewolf_on_twilight_s_steamy_love_triangle

The interviews I chose were from the Rolling Stones. The interviews are good because of all the characteristics and emotions that were put into the writing about the person being interviewed. The writing includes what was observed during the interview about the person and the way that they acted and the way that they responded to the questions and if they were quiet or shy or outgoing. The interviews have questions that all relate to each other and work off of each other to tell a story about the person being interviewed. the interviews kind of just end with a final question that sums up what they think about a topic that is going to happen in the future

Internship #16

The End of Internship!

My most significant learning experience was when I went out and collected samples from the vernal pools. Prior to that I was given a bunch of papers to read and nothing made sense at all. I was reading the papers just to have them go in one ear and out the other. Everything made sense when I was able to go out and see the vernal pools and what I was contributing towards from a first person point of view. After the day that I went out and did the sampling, every day after that I absorbed so much more information and was able to understand everything in a new perspective.

Internship #15

Day in the life of the lab!!!!

In the foreground is the sink that everyone who works in the lab is all too familiar with. Dirt samples and every type of sample is washed out in the sink with the DI water which is made known with many signs to not drink. The boots that we use to go out in the field are kept on the back wall.

This is what I worked on my last day at internship! I was given 3 jars of collected samples to go through and clean it out and to put all the different species into separate vials.

I did not work on the soil core samples but I took a picture of someone else's that was in the lab. I was the only person other than Dr. Simovich's assistant that helped work on the cleaning out of the collected samples. I worked on the soil samples the first week I was there. Everyone else in the lab would work on the core samples while I did something else.

This is where all the supplies that everyone uses on a daily basis are located. When everyone is done with their vials they are placed on the rack for them to dry out and be capped and stored. And then the little booklet on the right of the picture is where all the data and everything found from each sample is recorded and then later in put into the data base on the computer.

Internship #14

MY MENTOR!

Marie Simovich
Researcher and professor at the University of San Diego

This picture was taken when we were out at the vernal pools and I thought that this picture perfectly describes what she does and who she is. My mentor is very outgoing and has a great personality. She enjoys the outdoors and what she does. This is her in her researcher setting. This was my favorite day as well! She is sampling the vernal pools for any crustaceans, insects or species that are in the water. Dr. Simovich is very outgoing and also very straight forward. I learned so much from her and am really glad I learned everything she taught me.

What university did you go too?
I went to CalPoly Pamona for my bachelors and masters degree and I went to UC Riverside for my PhD.

When did you first find an interest in the sciences?
I think I was always interested in animals and when I went to school I had.. I didn't know if I wanted to be a history major or a biology major, and I had a really wonderful wonderful teacher that just used to do drawings on the board of animals and make them totally come to life and he just was really.. just excited everybody about biology and about how organisms are adapted to their environments and how to save them and stuff. So I wound up being a biology major and he wound up being my major professor when I did my masters degree.

When did you first find an interest in the vernal pools?
When I was at UC Riverside I was going to do a PhD that was similar to my masters on fire ecology of reptiles. But then the people there were working on spade foot toads and they just sort of sparked my interest and so I wound up looking at a hybrid zone of spade foot toads out in arizona and they were living in vernal pools out there and they were eating fairy shrimp. And when I got this job, working with fairy shrimp that you could hydrate was a whole lot easier then working with spade foot toads that might not even show up for a couple years. So I wound up moving from spade foot toads to fairy shrimp but they were still in vernal pools.

What other projects have you worked on other than those having to do with the vernal pools?
Fire ecology.

How did you get started working at USD?
I was at some scientific meeting, presenting my information from my dissertation and my PhD major professor was there and he was talking to some friends of his who worked here and they said, we're looking for a population biologist, have you got any students graduating who would fit? And he said yes, I have one and she's right here! But I interviewed with a bunch of other people who interviewed for the job.

How do you manage your time between teaching and working on your research?
It's really hard. It's really hard, especially when your teaching a new class and you try to revise a class that you want to make changes in and it gets hard. I don't know what to say. Its hard.

Internship #13

Most significant experience as an intern:

Going out in the field is one of the most significant experiences during my internship. I've only gone out in the field 2 times.. The first time was second week that I was here and then today was the second time that I was able to go out in the field. This is really significant because its only happened twice!! And its also important.. especially after it had rained last week for a really long time. Samples are collected from the pools every 10 to 14 days but after it rains we are supposed to go out and inspect all the pools to see how big and if there actually are any fairy shrimp. We are supposed to record how big the fairy shrimp are and depending on how big they are is when we will go out to collect samples from the vernal pools.

Those are Katie's feet!!! And I'm sure she'll feel special that I chose to post this picture. We wore very stylish boots so that we wouldnt ruin our shoes.. The benefit of these boots is that if you arent wearing socks that are long enough.. they will completely shred up your ankles and give you blisters! I still have blisters from the first time that we went out to sample and after that I kept long socks in my bag in anticipation that I might go out into the field again. Most of the jokes in the lab are derived from the boots that are worn when we go and do sample testing. Luckily none of us got stuck in the mud today. I was fortunate to never get stuck in the mud when I went out to help in the field.

SPADE FOOT TADPOLES!!!!! These little guys are endangered! These tadpoles are huge! and Katie actually said that she has never seen the tadpoles this big before. At this stage they are close to metamorphosise and will probably loose their tales soon. That would be really exciting if they made it till they grow up and become frogs! Sometimes the tadpoles won't make it till they completed the entire cycle for them to become frogs because the vernal pools will dry up before they make it that far. The last time we went out to do sample collections about 2 weeks ago there were tadpoles and the pool didn't dry up because there were the rain storms that caused the pool to fill up even more. It was exciting to actually get a picture of the tadpoles because most of the little guys in the vernal pools are way to small to even see with the naked eye let alone a camera!

Internship #12

Collaboration! This is just me in the picture.. but Katie, Dr. Simovich and I all went out to do sample testing.. and I thought that would have been a good example of collaboration because we all worked together. It was a mighty long hike in so we all carried everything in and then we all worked together on recording all the data and collecting the samples and we also kept each other company as well which was a good thing when we're out in the middle of no where on a trail working. 

On a usual day I directly work with Katie who is Dr. Simovich's assistant. Then there are also 3 students who come in and work in the morning and then 3 other students that come in the afternoon. So I am here for both shifts.. or at least parts of both shifts to see about 6 other students everyday. Theres probably about 10 students that work every week.. there might be a few more but I'm pretty sure its 10. Different people work on different days and not everyone works everyday.. most do but some just work a couple day of the week. Each of us are working on our own thing when we are in here together.. but we keep each other company. I am working on my blog in the lab right now as everyone else in here is working and there has been constant talking between everyone for the past 2 hours. The collaboration that I usually deal with every day is keeping each other company and talking with each other when we are working on our samples in the lab. This keeps our work more enjoyable. I've been in the lab when there are 3 students in here as well as me but there is no one talking AT ALL. And when that happens the work is not enjoyable and it's just kind of trying to get it done. When everyone is keeping each other company the time goes by way faster and working on samples is definitely more enjoyable. For the future I know that while at work talking when its appropriate can make the work that we're doing easier to get done.

Internship #11

This week was really good. It went by really fast considering it was a shorter week.. I worked on something new this week!! I worked on cleaning out the samples from the vernal pools and sorting all them by species. It was kind of hard to sort them when I first started because they all looked so similar! I was given pictures of the 4 different species that I was pulling out of the sample.. and even though I had the pictures of them, it was still really difficult t distinguish which ones were which. On Thursday my mentor did not want any of us to come in to work because she didn't want us driving in the rain on the freeways because it was supposed to be one of the worst days with the weather. I stayed at home and worked on my powerpoint for my POL. The day before my mentor went over the overall project with me and showed me a powerpoint on the entire project that we're working on and explained to me all of the importance of each of the individual parts of the project we are working on. Wednesday was also the day that Darren came to visit me. It went pretty well and I enjoyed showing off what I've been working on while I've been there. On Friday I made my very own hydration system!!!! I was flipping out I was so excited! Basically the previous projects that my mentor has been working on includes collecting core samples and sometimes there are endangered species in the samples so we cant throw them away. So with the left over core samples we make hydration systems out of them.. which means filling a tank up with about 3 inches of water and pouring the dirt in. It then gets incubated to try and hatch the species that are in there. I wasnt allowed to use a samples that had any endangered species in it.. so I wont have any fairy shrimp in mine.. But I should have other crustaceans that will hatch. Hopefully!!

Internship #10

Today my work consisted of working on a new project instead of the core samples!!!! (yes this is very exciting) When we go out in the field to collect samples we keep a jar of the species that were collected in the net. That is the little jar in the picture. This process is called cleaning. I basically go through and clean out the jar and put each different specie into a different vial. There are fairy shrimp, copopods, cladocerans and ostracods. I go through all of the liquid in the jar and sort out the species for it then to be sorted by Katie who sorts them into the different subspecies that they are.. also whether they are male or female as well. When i first got started on doing this I messed up a couple times with the different species because they all look so similar under the microscope! All the same color and same size too! But I have become a professional with working on this the last couple days this week.

What university did you go too?
When did you first start to find an interest in vernal pools?
What projects have you worked on prior to the projects having to do with the restoration of the vernal pools?
How did you get started working at USD?
When did you know you wanted to be a teacher as well as a researcher?
How do you manage your time between teaching and working on your research projects?

Internship #8

Well the project that I am helping out with is a restoration project and we are trying to improve the vernal pools to restore the communities of species that are living in them. I didn't understand all the work that goes into these giant projects to try and preserve the endangered species that are living in these vernal pools. I have always heard about endangered species projects and working on trying to save a certain species.. but I didnt know that a crustacean as small as a fairy shrimp.. which is hardly even visible to the eye.. could be worth such the big effort that we are making to save them. I definitely have more appreciation for the nature of the food chain and something as small as a fairy shrimp could be the part of the food chain that keeps everything in order with all the other animals and species that are from and around the vernal pools.

Internship #7

Internship site: University of San Diego

Department: Biology

Project Title: 

General Description: species in the vernal pools and cyst density in the core samples

Learning Objectives: learning about the project that Dr. Simovich is working on... Improving the vernal pools and "communities" of species in the vernal pools. Increase of numbers and making a better habitat

Organization/Company Objectives & Benefits:

Schedule: 8-3/4

Academic Skills:knowledge of biology is required and reading the vernal pool previous study reports on the project being worked on now

Technical Skills: knowing how to work under a microscope and working in the field

Collaboration—Skills and Opportunities: field work 

Exhibition Plans: not sure yet..

Schedule & Timelines: written outline of project done this weekend.. I need to get data pages of the core sample information and going to go do field work next week which will give me the opportunity to learn more about the species in the vernal pools

My favorite part of this week was doing the site visit to the Carmel Mountain vernal pools. We went to 4 different vernal pools that were still filled with water.. all of the others had dried up. Hopefully this weekend there will be alot of rain to fill all the vernal pools so we can go out again next week and do more of the testing. We tested the waters pH level and also swooped a net through about one meter of the water that collected what ever specimens were there in the water at the time. We only found 2 fairy shrimp in the last vernal pool that we collected samples from. I was really sad because i didnt realize that we had to kill the specimen that we had collected.. but we did this so that we could count the number of crustaceans that were in the water so that there can be cysts or other plants that will help improve the environments of the vernal pools that dont have as many species in them. I learned so much this week and I am really looking forward to next week. I'm hoping that we will go out to the field everyday net week. I am not sure if we will yet... From the looks of things, we will because it is supposed to rain this weekend and throughout next week as well. To someone who has never had an internship before I would definitely tell them that they will learn A LOT of information.. of course depending on what internship they are doing.. but they will have to remember everything too and to also ask a lot of questions and if you dont understand how something is done then to ask questions and make sure that you do know what you are doing. In my case I am working on a project that has to do with research and everything needs to be precise and accurate.  

Internship #5

I am still trying to figure out what type of project I am going to do. I need to talk to my mentor about it... She was not in today but I will speak with her about it tomorrow. I know what the basis of my project will be about.
It will have two parts too it.. one revolving around the question of the different species in the vernal pools and the other question having to do with the density of cysts in the core samples that were collected. I'm hoping I might be able to set up a microscope with the samples that I work on everyday. I took a lot of pictures when I went out and collected samples from the vernal pools yesterday and I took pictures of the species that were dried up resulting from the dry season.. meaning no rain. So maybe I can do something with the species in the dry season versus the wet season.... not really sure yet. I hope I will be able to finalize everything by tomorrow when I talk with my mentor!!

Yesterday was amazing though. Best day EVER! I went out and collected samples from the vernal pools. It was kind of a long description.. I know my mentor wants me to do a protocol for the methods that we took to collect the samples.. So that would be a part of my project as well. I learned sooo much yesterday! and i will continue what i learned in my blog tomorrow because i dont have time right now!! hahaha

Internship #4

For my project I am going to do a power point/ speech/ poster... not really sure yet.. but it will address the topics of what species are in the vernal pools that we are testing in the wet season and also the topic of the density of the cysts in the core samples that we collected from the dry season.

Internship #3

I am working on a project with my internship that has to do with collecting cysts from the soil samples that were collected from last year. I don't really know if this will be enough of a project to do and elaborate more on the stuff I am working on everyday..

I am developing biology skills with this internship and I'm learning that to start out in the research field you must start as a worker for another researcher. What a coincidence! I enjoy learning about the fairy shrimp and the studies that have been conducted in the past couple weeks. I'm really interested in going out to collect some of the samples.. I dont know if that will happen. I also want to learn some more about the fairy shrimp and what we are doing collecting the cysts from the site samples. I am working with a group of college students because it is during their intercession time and they hadnt been getting as many samples finished.. but now that there are probably up to 6 of us that come in everyday, we are getting a lot of the samples done which might entail us to collect site samples!!!

Internship #2

Previously I had been given 3 packets of information that my mentor had wrote as lab reports and I went back and re-read those so I remembered what I had read before and know what project I'm working on right now. There are a couple college students that are working in the lab along with me and I have been talking with them about the project that we are all doing and working on. All of them are really nice.. I was a little shy the first day but I am still branching out in the right direction of talking to them and hearing what hey have to say about their college experiences and their experiences of working on the Simovich project as well. My mentor still is not back but I have been working with her assistant, Katie. I was kind of nervous talking to her and asking her questions but today I really started too andI've learned so much this past day because I finally asked questions!!! I am reallyyyy hoping to go collect some of the samples that we are collecting the cysts from. I'm not sure if I will be able to do that in the next couple weeks because there are so many baggies thats we still need to go through and finish up with. I am going to improve by asking more questions and talking with the other students that are in the lab working as well. I can't wait for my mentor to be back from her trip because she might bring us on a site visit.. possibly. But for now I am enjoying my time working in the lab with her assistant.
ENJOYING INTERNSHIP!

Internship #1

This morning I woke up at 6:20 and then got ready and I had eggs and cream of wheat. My mom first drove my brother to school and then from my brothers school I drove to USD with her in the car with me. There was actually a lot of traffic on our way to USD because there was a power shortage last night and all the lights were out. When I first got to USD I went to my mom's office because I had forgotten to bring one of the sheets of paper to get signed so I printed it out. I walked down to my internship site which is in the science building of USD. I went to the lab that I would be working in and I started to get set up with Katie, who is my mentors assistant.. my mentor is currently out of town. I am working in the science building and I am working in a lab on the main floor. The area that I work at is a lab table with a microscope. My mentor studies a species of marine life called fairy shrimp and I am helping pick out all the fairy shrimp cysts from the samples that were collected from the sites. I did that in the morning and in the afternoon after I came back from lunch. For lunch I made my own lunch and then I walked back to my mom's office to eat there. I'm hoping that sometime during internship I will be able to do a site visit with the college students and collect samples to be tested and such. I'm hoping that will happen at some time in the next couple weeks. HOPING FOR RAIN! If it rains then there is a chance that I will be able to go. I actually had some friends visit me after my first day of internship!!! I was so excited. My first day of internship was really good. I got the lay of the land and I know what I will be doing the next few weeks. My afternoon commute was very long. I fell asleep on the drive back home. End to a good day.



How is the recession impacting USD?
There has been a hiring and salary freeze among the employees and they are not raising the tuition which causes the freeze.

Where do you get your funding and how has that been effected?
The funding for USD comes from the tuition and donors of the school and it has been effected because there is less money among the donors and tuition is not going up so the funding is not increasing and actually decreasing a little bit as well.

Have their been cuts made to resources for the students in the university?
Although there are not as many positions to be filled among the campus, there surprisingly have been no cuts of resources for the students.

This is the entrance to the lab that I am working in. One of the strict rules is to not have any food or drinks inside so there is a little table to the left of the door where everyone keeps there drinks and food. The work schedule for the students that work in the lab is on the door and there is also some articles about the topic of study which is vernal pools and fairy shrimp. The door is ALWAYS locked which is  little frustrating sometimes when no one opens the door. haha. Most of the people in the lab listen to their ipods while working so the students usually cant hear someone knocking on the door. AND just about all the students who work have a key to get in.. where as I dont. So maybe I'm just the only one that gets locked out. haha. My mentors office is right down the hall way from her lab.

For my first day this is what I worked on. I worked on collecting cysts from the core sample that I was working on. I am to pull out all the intact ones as well as the broken ones and to also keep a tally of them. It's very tedious work to try and get every single cyst that is in the core sample. A dry weight is recorded, then going through the dirt to find all intact and broken cysts.. which is recorded as well. The vials which have the intact cysts in it are stored to be dried without the caps on.. and when they are done drying the cap is put on and the vials are stored for keeping data and possibly reintroducing the cysts back into the vernal pool they came in.. or putting the cysts in another vernal pool that doesnt have as many.