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.