Melissa and Kelly's Fall 2004 Marine Lab Adventures

signing off...

2004-12-17T15:54:18Z

hello and thank you to all you diligent readers out there...thank you for staying tuned to the fun of the marine lab :)
since i am no longer there, i will not be posting updates here anymore.
happy holidays and i'll see you in the spring at Duke,
Mel

You know you're at the Marine Lab when, Part II...

2004-12-09T07:26:57Z

...there's a festivus pole in the hallway
...there's an awful smell permeating the campus and you can legitimately blame it on dead fish
...you wave your arms and expect lights to come on
...the beer bong is made out of lab equipment
...everyone gets all dressed up, waits until everyone is ready, and then moves to a party 5 seconds away in the boathouse
...you can spontaneously coordinate something with the entire population

marinekelfamel @ 2004-12-02T20:43:00

2004-12-03T01:44:49Z

You know you live on an island when:
-Just about anyone can tell you when high tide is
-You can hear whether anyone's in the dorm either from their voice or from hearing their door open or close
-You disregard the sound of explosions, since it's just the pirate firing his cannon at the tourist boats (yes, for real)
-A visiting dog is from "the next island over"
-You need to ask the pizza delivery guys if they can deliver to your location...and sometimes get no for an answer
-If you want everyone to know something within 24 hours, you can put up a single sign and everyone will see it

~Kelfa (with help from Melfi)

a deluge of franticness

2004-12-02T20:18:17Z

Wow, these are an INTENSE two weeks. So was last week.
I just gave a run-through of my independent study presentation to some of the people from NOAA who have been helping me. It's good to have that almost done, but tomorrow's when I give it for real and I know I'll be shaky with Carolyn, who's been my unofficial advisor at NOAA, wachting. I don't want to disappoint her or say something wrongly.

I also want to finish the rough draft of my paper tonight. Dr. Kirby-Smith, my true advisor at the lab, said if I give him a copy by tomorrow he'll look over it for me. So yeah. Last night I wrote the methods and actually feel pretty good about it.

So this is getting at least a little under control. It helps that, though I should, I'm not redoing the snail rasping data. Basically, I decided that it's too difficult to tell the difference between rasp marks and normal dead spots on the Spartina leaves.

So next week there are a few finals and finishing up SCUBA certification. But my major fish is the independent study paper. Hopefully I did well enough on the ecology mini indep. study to keep my grade up. Then hopefully we'll be able to schedule a dive near the end of the week, before we need to be packed up and gone from here by 9 am next Saturday. I'm trying madly to get all my study-abroad stuff for next semester straightened out.

Having my presentation mostly done helps me feel a lot more in control. Things are almost figured out, and things work out. Also, it's a gorgeous, relatively warm day, especially for December 2. Wow, and calming.

Time to end the franticness of this post
Kelfa

Feeling the rush of the ocean...

2004-11-16T03:19:41Z

And here we are with only a few weeks left in Beaufort. I'm trying to soak it all in, but it's rough. End of the term projects and exams get in the way, and things like tides and weather and office hours and work days and other peoples' schedules ultimately limit what I can do when.
Looking at the calendar is scary, not just because of all the things that are due in the coming few weeks (including the insane ecology lab report that took up the entire weekend), but also because I've kinda gotten used to living here on the island.
Meanwhile, I continue to be conflicted about homesickness. By now, I'm stretched out between New York and North Carolina. And while I'm at the Marine Lab I'm homesick for the city and for Duke. But I also dont want to let the days pass here because this is definitely a special place and I really love the hands-on learning environment and the research opportunities and even the homey atmosphere of the dining hall.
I guess I can reconcile it all sorta by the feeling I have that I've spent a satisfying amount of time here, by the sea, and knowing that I'm ready to see family and friends back home for a bit, and then get back to friends and academia at Duke's main campus.
And I'd say I'll miss my horsies, but at the moment, I cant find them...

A Complainy Sorta Week

2004-11-11T05:21:35Z

Warning: This entry is rambly and complainy. Stir well before ingesting.
I have stitches in both feet. First time ever getting stitches, and guess why I have them?
I was out in the marsh between Town Marsh Island (where my horsies USED to be) and Carrot (where we figure they've migrated to), and sunk in a foot of marsh delightfully sprinkled with infectious oyster beds. Once you've got one foot stuck, and your shoe gets stuck in the mud, you pull your foot back up and then while you're balancing all your weight on the other foot, it gets stuck as well and then you're doomed, and on the way up pulling one foot up or another, you inevitably get cut by those nasty oysters. Or at least that's what happens if you're me and it's Tuesday and you cant find your horses so you're already not such a happy camper. And yay for getting a tetanus shot. And for dizzying antibiotics.

We did get new evidence about why the horses may have moved. At low tide on Tuesday, both watering holes were dry, indicating that the saltwater we got there last time was probably just what washed over from high tide and did not actually come from the ground. Running out of freshwater would sure be a good reason to move!

In happier news, I had a very hectic weekend and on Sunday we set up a scavenger hunt for Cirse's 21st b-day. It took her around the island and eventually ended up at a fancy restaurant where she could get her nice glass of wine or two :) I think we had as much fun setting up the scavenger hunt and watching her figure it out as she did doing it 0:)

Hope your week is going better than mine is,
Mel

A free moment

2004-11-05T17:03:14Z

At last a free moment between marine ecology exam and lab in what's been a whirlwind of a week. And what shall I do with this free moment? Update, of course :)
Yesterday I attended another meeting of the Shrimp Advisory committee to the Marine Fisheries Commission. They're charged with task of making management recommendations to reduce bycatch/habitat destruction from shrimp trawling, and maximize fishermen's profits in an industry plagued by foreign imports.
This is for my Marine Policy class, in which I chose the topic of shrimp trawling for my policy paper. I figure since it's a big local issue and all, I might as well pick something that further immerses me in the "abroad" culture of where I am. Another facet of my shock maximization theory ;)
Woooo too many theories in my head right now, and graphs from that exam lol sorry about that.
Anyways so this afternoon we have the last of the trawling ecology labs, where we go out and trawl in different locations and record the species of fish that we catch.
Between the trawling labs, the advisory committee meetings, and trawling with the kids at Smyrna, I feel like I'm diving head first into learning how fishing works.
And after lab today, I'm headed to Durham tonight for the weekend-- Saturday I'm doing a poster presentation at NC state on my summer air toxics rule-making research. I'm psyched especially because the whole point of my research was that citizens should know how the rule-making process works, and how they can get involved, and this is my chance to spread the word :) Now let's hope I can remember all that stuff I learned this summer ;) Tho I'm beginning to think that once you know how one bureaucracy works, you pretty much know them all. What I know about air toxics rulemaking in the state is definitely similar to the process for fisheries rulemaking.
Oh and I now own an autographed copy of Hard Times and a Nickel a Bucket, because on of the members of the shrimp advisory committee is a professor at ECU who's good friends with my policy prof. I think that's sooooooo randomly cool. At the end of the meeting he was telling the chairman he had to go, so he could get me a copy of the book from his car, and the chairman goes "why dont I get a free book?" and he replies "you can pay for one if you want one, and contribute to my scholarship fund. i give these books out to students like peanuts." Hehe I like the special treatment, a rare occasion at a bureaucratic meeting. But then again I tend to stick out like a sore thumb because the only other people there at the meeting are a few fishermen (whom the committee members already know) and employees of the Division of Marine Fisheries and members of the Marine Fisheries Commission.
You know there are so many times at these meetings that I have an impulse to raise my hand and jump right in on the discussion. It's so exciting to me to have the potential to create policy that will make a difference! I can deal with the whole bureaucracy part, right? lol.
Have a great weekend everyone :)
-Melmelmel

Happy Halloween!

2004-10-31T06:55:34Z

Reflection from a few days ago...
it's so strange to me, and so novel, to soak in the differences between here and home. it's even scary at times, how different things are culturally.
yesterday, for example, i was out on a shrimp trawling boat for a lesson with my 8th graders, and they all pointed out what boat in the harbor was their dad's, and said hello to other fishermen as they went by. one student's father who happened to be out fishing offered the teacher some bluefish. the students talked about each other's pets and their pets' names. and three of the students on the boat, out of ten, all in the 8th grade, share the last name gillikin. the road on the way to the school contains two streets named after the gillikins, and one cemetary with their namesake. everyone is white, everyone is christian. the signs posted outside of the three gazillion churches read like billboards advertising G-d. and no one ever leaves this town. it's sheltered and it's what they know. it's why there are at least 10 more gillikins in that school, other than the ones who were on that boat.
last nite i got out of my last class, and noticed a sailboat at the marine lab dock. a huge one, never seen anything like it before. everyone was congregating around it, like the boat was invading our island, our space. and you know, this is our island. what a concept, to have so much space. and to be so enthralled by new things and people arriving, when every day in nyc you see thousands of faces and thousands of new things, just walking down one street. such a different way of life.
-Melmelmel

I <3 my digital camera...

2004-10-23T15:56:58Z

Here's the link to some updated Marine Lab pics:
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=167746418103&page=1&sort_order=0

And to pics from Fall Break:
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=394163479103
(Picture titles/descriptions coming soon.)

And now I'm off to a beach clean-up in Shackleford...
Signing off,
Mel

pics

2004-10-20T03:04:43Z

Hey everyone!
I've put up some more pics (mostly the month of September) at my photobucket site.
I didn't have time to label *all* of them, but there are a bunch from a boat lab that we had, a bunch from my first (Open Mic) and second (bagel brunch) trips to Durham, ATH girls visiting here, and more. Hope you enjoy them!
Kelfa

blueberries and storms

2004-10-19T18:51:35Z

So far, so good.
Unfortunately I forgot about all our midterms next week. We'll see how this and next week work out. Things tend to. My mom's coming this weekend.

Yesterday evening (well, evening being somewhere between 10 and 12) there was an awesome thunderstorm. I stood on the porch with Al and Brian as the rain came down in torrents and, even pressed against the wall, got wet. The thunder was the kind that just rolls on and on, and the lightning lit the whole sky. Wonderful storm, though shortlived. This morning I woke up as it started pouring again, sometime around 7-8 I think. It sounded wonderful, though it kept me from getting back to sleep. When the rain died down the wind picked up. It had mostly died by breakfast, but was glorious while it lasted. I love storms.

I also love blueberries.
I started the second round of chlorophyll analysis today, and will go in again tomorrow am. Tomorrow we also teach the 5th graders some more about fungus -- that should be fun. I'm slightly worried about getting in NSF hours, as Margie hasn't been needing us lately plus Mrs. Robinson didn't need us last or this week. It'll work out.
Happy Tuesday to all!
Kelfa

The weekend, from sunset onward...

2004-10-17T16:23:52Z

There's a really awesome spot behind the dining hall from which you can watch the sunset over the water. Friday I took the time to actually watch the whole thing, and let me tell you it was beautiful. Like awe-inspiring, poetry reciting, writing/reflecting beautiful. And thus Charla, Cirse, and I have iniated the Sunset club lol.
"When the sun goes down, we'll be groovin when the sun goes down..."
Then we went to Clawson's (keep in mind that two marine lab kids work there so that makes it extra fun :)) to celebrate Luna's 21st b-day. A particularly awesome quote:
Luna (to the waitress): Can I get two martinis?
the waitress: for who?
Luna: For me and my RA.
After Clawson's, Charla, Cirse, Hayes and I went to a cute coffee shop in Morehead. It had comfy couches. And coffee shops remind me of home. And the hours upon hours spent in Starbucks, and the great conversations and games that have taken place there over the years.
So on Saturday we decided to carry over the coffee shop goodness by walking into town (Beaufort) and chillin at a different coffee shop. The weather was absolutely gorgeous: perfect breeze, and that "blue true dream of sky" that e.e. cummings must've been talkin about in "i thank you G-d for most this amazing". And Beaufort was pleasantly bustling. It continues to give me the feeling that I'm inside the Gilmore Girls' town. And I enjoyed watching Anna converse with the locals, and the local musicians who picked up their guitar, bass, and vocal chords to entertain us for a bit.
Then a pleasant walk back, a leisurely swing in the hammock, dinner, and then it was Lunau (or rather, Luna's birthday luau) time. For which there had been much preparation. In short, there was limbo and leis and salsa dancing and those cute little cocktail umbrellas and ohhhhh yummy baseball.
Todays agenda: books, beach, and baseball :)
Out like trout,
Mel

Mountain-y Goodness, and Shock Value

2004-10-13T06:02:17Z

So I've decided that my mode of approaching life is now to immerse myself in situations that I'm completely and utterly unused to, and see what kind of shock reaction, if any, they induce.
This explains how I've adapted to living in the TOWN of Beaufort, in the SOUTH, at the BEACH, and now admit to actually liking some COUNTRY music. Though I admit that MULLETS still strike me as disturbing.
And this past weekend I went backpacking and camping! So much air, so much mountains. 20 miles of trail, 6000 ft of vertical elevation, 5 mountains, 40 lbs, 3 days, 1 gorgeous sunrise at the summit of Pilot Mountain.
And guess what? I didnt freak out sleeping out in the tent near the summit of a mountain under the stars with the sound of crickets in the background! But I think that's mostly because I was exhausted :p
So for my next attempt at freaking myself out, I'm gonna have to go to a GUN SHOW or something...
stay tuned lol
-Mel
P.S. - Have you heard the one about the Russian, the Bulgarian, the redneck, the New York Jew, and the token Asian who walked in to the gas station in podonk North Carolina where the guy behind the counter had a mullet...(realization) oh wait, that's us

Happy Fall Break!

2004-10-07T23:19:42Z

Wow what a whirlwind of a week! So much stuff going on, I dont think I remember it all!
I love how fall break always seems to come along just at the right time :)
This past week's highlights:
-tony and lauren's awesome stir-fry
-excellent all-day concert with better than ezra, sister hazel, edwin mccain, five for fighting
-finally purchasing Gavin's cd (it comes with a free studio version of the whole thing where he does lots of cool improv :) ) and listening to it at least 8 times
-5th graders, nuff said. so freakin inquistive, it's awesome. i love that curiosity and energy, not apathetic in the least. so excited. and i'm excited too :)
-observing my horsies all day tuesday, and following them around the island and getting to know them (cue song from The King and I- Getting to know you, getting to know all about you), and getting all excited and naming them (Lightning, Half and Half, Pristine, Pretty Boy, Half Moon, Blondie, Scratchy, and Ringleader) according to distinguishing characteristics and personality traits, and getting to take lots of pictures of them and getting to be outside all day and have it be research and following them through the brambles dodging spider webs and getting mistaken for a horse that might be following and trying to join the band (or just get to the females) and did mention seeing lots of horsies? :)
-you know how I'm more black than Katie and more Asian than Yi? well, now I'm also more Hispanic than Cirse! yay! i'm so multicultural lol. that's right, kids, i'm REALLY FREAKIN tan again ;)
-Krista's story about driving to see Mt St Helens "erupt" ash
-watching the sunset in a perfect breeze during a surprise phone call from Abdallah
-jenna's phone call from the dashboard concert, "hands down" !
-learning that steph's applying to be at st.andrews next term with sue! so when i visit it will be awesome and abdallah will be in england and sarah and heather will be in germany and i can see everyone and have an awesome europe trip in may :)
-chris' wild horsie card
-getting psyched about living in arts house next term!
-seeing some nutrition pamphlets laying around in Margie's classroom and asking her about it and what class was learning about it, and now i'm gonna make up a lesson plan for the 7th graders about nutrition and body image and thereby apply what we've been trying to do for a while now in ESTEEM, which is expanding the reach of our programs to local schools...and this is also great cuz i love getting to do something with the education training i have even while i'm here and not able to teach programs on main campus :)
-make your own sundae in the dining hall
-getting psyched about backpacking for the first time ever, over fall break, and finding out that yi's coming too!
-after a disappointing time of 8th graders and minerals, watching them in contrast totally shine with the rocks lab to cap off the week of teaching, ahh now that's a gratifying feeling :)
-being so busy that it precludes doing reading for class 0:)
-roomie bonding, hallway bonding, all around feelin the love :)
-feeling like i need to go to the beach again soon, it's been a few weeks
-my sis Ari getting into Cooper Union's high school program! if words could only describe how proud i am!
-my new baby cousin being born, Brandon Frese :)
-the yanks' comeback win!

'sall for now, as i need to take a nap. it's been a long day of teaching (8am), then project work, then 4 hrs of independent study progress powerpoint presentations (though it was cool to hear about what everyone's doing, being in the same room for that long of a time is tiring), then ecology lab which was luckily cut short (and really funny because we were all SOOO out of it)
and maybe watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (again) later tonite :)

Today

2004-10-07T03:26:18Z

-I remembered that I don't like waking up before dawn when the reason I'm waking up doesn't matter until it's at least somewhat light outside. This summer it was for bird counts; they don't sing until dawn. Really. Today because I needed low tide pictures of my sites, which happened in the morning, and we were leaving for NSF. It has to be so light out before pictures work.

-Working with the 8th graders on minerals got somewhat frustrating since some of them had no motivation or interest.

-Working with the 5th graders was great. We taught them about cells and microscopes, looked at the cells of an onion membrane (which was the first lab I ever did, in 5th grade) and at organisms from a salt marsh. They got really into it and it was fun. Next week we'll teach them about fungus. I'll need to do a bit of research for that one.

-Today was fall. I wore long pants, there was a little bit of chilliness in the air, and it was nice. Fall's my favorite season, and Charla and Cirse agree with me.

-Good roomie talk. And yay for excitement about horses and the graphs representing their activities. Not as yay for my microalgae graphs that have no real statistical significance.

-It's been a busy day, and I still have some stuff to do before sleeping. But every once in a while you need a break.

-Lab Friday afternoon was moved to Thursday night, which means we don't have tomorrow night to prepare stuff but also means that we have nothing on Friday (class was cancelled) so we can leave a LOT earlier for fall break. I'll be going to Durham, to be picked up and taken home from there. Because of the way rides are working, I'll get to see Fish! Yay! And other people! Huzza!

-Enough for now. Peace, love, and Happy Wednesday to all. Tomorrow morning I take samples. Busy day, rewarding ending. Please let me do well on my independent project presentation.
~Kelfa

Yay transpiration!

2004-10-05T02:37:16Z

For Marine Ecology we need to come up with a mini independent study, and in a lightning-bolt of inspiration Charla and I came up with one in about 10 minutes! And it has to do with plants! *wiggles.* We can try to see if there's a difference in the amount of transpiration between mainland and barrier island live oaks. In my mind, it would make sense if the island oaks had adapted to somehow conserve water, which is scarcer for them. It's way easy to measure transpiration rates: we could do what I did in high school, sticking branches in graduated cylinders with water and oil on top to prevent evaporation and measure how much water is gone after X amount of time. Alternately, we could stick bags around branches, tie them off tightly, and after X amount of time measure the amount of water in the bags. Yay and fun! I hope this works, and I'm way excited that it came to us so easily! Yay!
Much love and Happy Monday to all!
Kelfa

Hangin in there

2004-09-28T14:09:34Z

So I havent posted in a while because, as I'm sure you guys are experiencing, it's midterm madness over here. All that procrastinating I've been doing 0:) has culminated in a bunch of stuff I now have to do.
Some of it is exciting, it's just also overwhelming because there's a lot of it.
This week I need to go out and spend a full day observing horse behavior (the way we decided to do it is I'll be observing the bachelor males and Carlos will be observing a large band and we're going to compare), but unfortunately I cant do that today even though we planned to, because of the rough weather associated with the storm passing by. Wouldnt want to be stuck on a barrier island when that happens, though the horse behavior I'd see would certainly be interesting...but alas safety outweighs research potential. Next week we have to give presentations on our research progress....ahhh! But alas I <3 powerpoint :)
Actually something interesting happened during last week's horse survey...we saw and counted one band of 7 horses, and then saw another band approach, containing 8 horses. Of the band of 8, one horse went over and communicated something to a member of the first band, and then trotted back over to his band and moved on. We wondered if this might be a territorial negotiation, or some plotting against us annoying humans who keep disrupting their daily activities :p but the latter is unlikely since there's lots of barrier island-going humans around Town Marsh Island this time of year anyways. Which means we might have actually witnessed a dominance interaction between two bands! Way cool! And now I need to organize my horse pictures again :) If anyone wants to see them as I go through my research, I can continue posting them to my Ofoto page. Just let me know if you're interested in that.
I also get to pick a topic in marine policy that I want to explore in depth- how the policy process works and who the players are- and that's exciting because it means that the class is going to do exactly what I wanted it to do- give me a parallel to my air policy experience from the summer, because this is essentially the same kind of analysis I did for my summer internship with the NC air toxics program, applied instead to marine policy. Hopefully this'll put me well on my way by the end of the term to have a better idea of whether I want to pursue air or water policy issues. We'll see.
In the past week, I also:
-had a wonderful and refreshing time of High Holy day-ness.
-attended one half of a workshop with pratt fellows on integrating science and engineering in developing NSF lesson plans
-really had it hit home that I am indeed in the South ("I cant attend the first part of the workshop, it's Yom Kippur." reply: "It's what?" and driving one hour to the nearest synagogue, where the rabbi refreshingly had a bit of a NY accent that made him sound like my Grandpa "Baruch ataw" hehe)
-read some more of Chaim Potok's "The Chosen"
-spent 4 hrs (no exaggeration) swinging in a hammock :), writing, reading, and reflecting
-used eBay for the first time ever
-had a lot of fun putting together Madlin's prank b-day present
-went seining with ecology lab, saw pinfish, shrimp, herring, grouper, and lots more and learned how to pick up fish
-tried to release a fish from the net after it was measured, threw it out to the ocean and threw it a bit too far and high and accidentally fed a herring gull, oops after all my env. babble about how u shouldnt feed gulls cuz there are too many of em and they'll eat anything including baby piping plovers, which are endangered
-decided that country music aint all that bad (dont worry I'm still a city gal)
-been told I'm not a "NY driver" lol
-got pulled over for driving 75mph in a 55 zone, but luckily got off with just a warning, phew, and then got way surprised looks when i told ppl about it cuz they didnt believe i would speed lol
-had a great conversation with my sister, that brought us a lot closer
hmm that's what i can think of for now..
-Melissa

some serious tidal action

2004-09-26T04:05:50Z

This afternoon I went to the beach with Charla, Cirse, Lindsay (and later joined by Chris, his dad, and McKinley) and though the hurricane isn't upon us the waves were amazing. Charla and I had walked a ways up the beach to go in the water the first time, and had a lot of fun being battered by the waves as we were swept back down to where we'd started. It was pretty controlled, though once or twice I found myself riding waves I hadn't intended to. The breakers were way taller than me, but we didn't even get close to them for the strong current and smaller ones re-breaking near shore: we couldn't have even swam to them if we'd tried. It was amazing standing there a little below waist level and having it change to neck level on the back end of each wave. So many! And so strong! What a current!

We got out the beach and walked even further upcurrent to get back in. In the meantime, some sort of coast guard guy was riding up and down the beach in a 4-wheeler telling people they weren't allowed to surf and discouraging swimmers. We got in, and even in those 10 or 20 minutes it had gotten amazingly stronger, to the point that I didn't really feel safe much deeper than my calves. The waves had carved the beach to a crazy angle, with spots where the waves would converge on themselves and create mini rip-tides. Every once in a while you'd get caught and end up "sand surfing," as we called it, when a wave in the shallows knocked you into a crouch then, with your feet and one hand on the ground for balance, you were pushed over the sand by the water for up to about 5 seconds. It was crazy and amazing. And when I got back there was a LOT of sand in my bathing suit. :o)

Today was the Marine Lab Triathalon and also the Nicholas School Grad Student weekend, so it was mostly grad students from main campus with some from DUML racing. We had "Team Undergrad" plus Chris doing it individually, but it was a fun event to have here. It was just after lunch before the tide was as bad as it later got, but even so the swimmers had a job swimming back from the bouy -- Greta was here and was saying how she and all the others were swimming at the turnaround point and after a while looked up and they hadn't gone anywhere. Often enough when I'm swimming I'll just stay in one place and get a pretty good workout in itself. Fun to watch the event go through.

Though I hadn't looked forward to the NSF workshop they threw at us this weekend (They only told us about it on Thursday, which really frustrated me and stressed me out) it was interesting in itself. We joined up with some Pratt teaching fellows and, between yesterday and today, are making lesson plans that combine "our" type of science with the more engineering/mathematical stuff. Eventually they'll be published.

So, that was today, or at least a lot of it. Right now I'm feeling somewhat like a loser not joining in the Grad party at the boathouse, but am not much in the mood for it and think I'll go to bed in just a few minutes.
Anyway, Happy Saturday to everyone!
Kelfa

NSF

2004-09-17T03:17:09Z

For the most part, I'm loveing the Teaching Fellowship more and more every day!

My favorite class so far was teaching the 5th graders about plants. I'd put celery in food-colored water, so that they took up the red in their xylem, making them easy to see. They thought it was pretty cool, shredding the celery, eating the celery, and talking about what wetlands are and why they're important for filtering water in the ecosystem. We also did lima bean dissections to try to show them where a plant comes from -- that the whole thing is packaged in the little seed. I felt slightly unprepared in that I hadn't known how much they already knew or how much the teacher wanted us to go into, but the kids were so excited and interested that it made it really great! I love it when they get involved!

The 8th graders I don't enjoy working with *quite* as much. They have that "cool middle schooler" complex going, plus we're more assisting with the class than teaching it. I feel like we only have so much power/authority. The other day, though, we were helping as they researched and prepared projects, and I was working with a girl who you could tell was really getting a lot out of having someone help her, especially in terms of things like how to research, how to understand what you're doing, what plagarism is, etc. It felt pretty good.

I've just finished coming up with a lesson plan for the 5th graders on porifera (sponges) and cnidaria (things with stinging cells, ie jellyfish, anemones, corals) and I'm psyched. We can do all sorts of hands on things, demonstrations, etc, and I love it. I'm really excited to go and get the kids excited! Yay for teaching biology!

Tie Dye!

2004-09-15T04:37:53Z

Kelly and I were just commenting to each other about how it feels like we've been here for so long, because of all of the exciting activities going on, but it's really only been a few weeks.
Highlights of the past few days:
- tie dying: we set up a bucket and equipment outside our dorm, and lotsa ppl tie-dyed various garments :)
- wading thru muddy marshland almost up to my knees, once unexpectedly for ecology lab, and once while surveying the islands where my study horses are
- having a sock-bopping fight with chris in the bowling alley, where we played the silliest games of bowling ever (and they only cost $1 each), and we figured why not bowl left-handed for the heck of it (I bowled a left-handed strike once! and it's weird how i noticed i needed a completely diff style of bowling when switching hands. i also noticed how much weaker my left forearm is than my right :p) and kelly vowed to use her left hand for the rest of the week except when writing...but forgot about that oops lol.
- teaching, like actually kelly and i were responsible for the class, a 5th grade class on plant growth and ecosystems, complete with kelly's prepared celery with red food coloring for the xylem and lima beans for the kids to dissect. the kids' great questions and real interest. and the fact that in one lesson we were able to discuss kelly's focus (plants) and mine (ecosystems/a bit o'policy) and tie it all together. the satisfying feeling on the ride home, ocean breeze blowing thru the moonroof and rolled-down windows.
- perfecting the art of procrastinating
- taking lots of pictures of beautiful horses as part of my independent study ;)
- walking two seconds from the dorm to the dock at nite and watching the lights from beaufort reflect on the water. looking the other direction and seeing the islands where i study horses, dark and mysterious.
- crashing the catholic student center retreat to frolick on the beach minutes from here at midnite with armando and lisa, and stealing their graham crackers and remembering how good graham crackers are
- not believing that the new year is coming already (this wed at sundown), because time flies when u're having fun, but loving the peace of mind that this time of year never fails to engulf me in

time to get to bed, as we've gotta be up at 7 tomorrow to help the 8th grade class with their research on fish species,
-Mel

NSF

2004-09-13T14:43:05Z

Friday was my first day of being in the classroom for the NSF teaching fellowship, but it was Saturday that I really enjoyed.

Allison, a graduate student, and I went to a place called Camp Seafarer and led nature walks during a mom and daughter day. I love natural history, and it's great to spread it to other people. That Duke's Campus Crusades were also there threw us off for a while, but it was interesting seeing vaguely familiar faces walking around. The first group we took on a nature walk was rather large and I really enjoyed doing it. I talked about a lot of trees, some fungi, and whatever else I saw that I felt like talking about. We got done a little bit late, so hopw our tardiness didn't turn anyone away from the next tour. The second and third groups were small, consisting of people who, when we asked if anyone had been waiting, thought they'd take a break from shark tooth hunting and join us. We didn't take either of these groups on the full trail, but took them a short back way (less interesting) and pointing a few things out before leaving them at the treehouse or to look for sharks teeth.

In the morning Allison and I had left pretty early -- 6:20. We got to see the sun rise as we were waiting for the ferry that would take us across the Neuse River, and it was gorgeous. It took us a while to find the nature trail: it eventually worked that, following a path to some cabins, we saw another trail through the woods, bushwhacked to it, found out it was the low ropes course, and saw the desired trail from there. We accidentally found ourselves on a moving platform at one point. :o)

Enough for now, perhaps more later, but in short I really really enjoyed that. That's the sort of teaching I love most -- telling people about the world around us and trying to get them to appreciate it.
Happy Monday, and peace and love to all,
Kelfa

Zipline Antics

2004-09-08T15:37:12Z

So last nite I climbed in to one of the hammocks out front, and experienced for myself exactly why it was so hard for people to get out :p
Suspended in air, rocking gently back and forth, closing my eyes with guitar and buzuki strings in the background, I could have fallen asleep right there.
But alas, more exciting things were underway...
At 11:30pm, the construction of the zipline began. It went on for about two more hours, until the scene looked like this:
The rope was attached to an anchor on the side of the storage building, and reached to the roof of that building, where it was wrapped around some cinder blocks and an air conditioner, and came out of that loop facing the water. When the rope reached the edge of the building, it descended at about a 30 degree angle, over a concrete platform, a railing, oyster beds, and finally attached to two wooden posts at the edge of the dock (which we're not supposed to use because they're part of the boat dock)where it stopped in open water.
At least 10 people were standing/sitting/walking around and examining the situation. I quickly learned that most of them were trying to convince the constructors of the zipline not to use it. This included standing by the side of the building, coming up with potential schemes of where it would hurt the most to fall, and where the rope would be most likely to give way. Basically, it was crystal clear that if a person were to go down that line, and fall off or have the rope break anywhere before the end of the line, he/she would be seriously injured, either by colliding with the overhang, the railing, a bed of oysters, or some gruesome combination of all three destined to make someone into human soup.
So they decided to send down a "test run" first. The object for the test run was a large bucket of water attached to a few cinder blocks. Somwone should've captured this test run on film. The objects fell just as people had been predicting. First, the second that the objects were placed on the line/pulley, they fell straight down as the rope sagged, and the cinder blocks hit an overhang, some cracked into pieces, and hit the railing right over the oyster beds before the objects continued to plummet into the water about halfway down the length of the line. At the halfway point, the objects began to creak along just a bit, and then stopped. We all stood there being infinitely grateful that that hadnt been a person!

-Mel

Peter Pan and Hook...I wont grow up...

2004-09-07T05:40:46Z

Well we promised you adventure...
The art of hammock-hanging has been taken to a new level, or, shall I say, new levels.
There are currently three hammocks hanging out on the front porch (and negotiations are occuring to invest in at least one more for the dorm), and they remind us of Peter Pan. So cute. And earlier, lots of people climbed the tree that the hammocks are attached to at the same time and looked like a bunch of peas in a pod...or happy family in a tree...And since one is hanging above another, people set up a sort of pulley system to get up and down. This is all very intriguing to me, because I dont exactly have room for a hammock at home lol.
(Not to mention the zipline that some of the guys want to set up from the roof of one of the buildings over 150ft of ground and into the water...which is reminiscent of Hook lol, and hopefully not too dangerous). More updates on that when they attempt it tomorrow nite. They've already got the supplies.

Good nite!

-Mel

P.S.- Jacquie, as per your comment I have supplied a new song to get stuck in your head. I know, I know, you're welcome, anytime ;)

Things I am currently (as in right this moment) excited about, in other words, a sampling:

2004-09-06T03:53:37Z

- the intersection of science and policy, as an integrated approach presented by my Marine Policy prof…and how it meshes so well with my personality/perspective/goals
- policy as a means of enacting change, of gauging and affecting human
behavior, as a part of a cultural ecology surrounding the issues at hand
- the view from the dock during sunset while talking casually on the phone when I *should* be reading, but whoever liked the phrase “should have” anyways?
- getting to work with kids, the whole idea of environmental education, and the fact that we’re currently preparing a debate on whaling, where the kids will do research and present the interests of the different constituents, that ties in at least two of my classes here-- Marine Mammals and Marine Policy – and finding out cool facts about bowhead whales
- wonderful visitors! And showing them wonderful things that come with living and learning hands-on next to the ocean :)

-Mel

marinekelfamel @ 2004-09-05T21:48:00

2004-09-06T01:51:08Z

I love that, mixed in with all the other music, people will blast the Circle of Life (Lion King.) :o) And everyone else will gather in the hall on hearing it. *grins*

There was a bonfire last night, which I really enjoyed. Somewhat small compared to what I'd encountered at RMBL (for those interested, RMBLKelfa) but I had a lot of fun. Chris was teaching us some Scottish dances, and they're a lot of fun plus he's a really good lead. There were one or two group dances then we were doing waltz to some Celtic music and I really enjoyed it. I'd had dancing cravings for a while.

~Kelfa