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