Mt. Hood Stream Inventory job description

Exciting news! I received an email about a potential job next summer doing stream inventories in beautiful Mt. Hood! This is the description for the stream inventory internship for the 2009 season. This internship is run every summer, the only thing subject to change are the exact dates. As it states i'd be driving/camping between Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Columbia River Gorge Scenic area. Fresh water systems and watershed health is a crucial aspect in the life cycle (particularly recruitment) of many marine species. While soul searching and finding a place that feels like home it is also important to arm yourself with knowledge that makes you employable. For a oceanographer/marine scientist in the Pacific Northwest, that means fisheries. I hope this job pans out, it would be an amazing experience.

Job Title: Steam Inventory Internship for the Mt. Hood National Forest, Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (4-6 positions available)

Dates: Begins with training in Pendleton, OR June 15 – 19; Preferable end date: September 25. End date is negotiable but would like 12 week commitment if possible.

Compensation:

• $100/week stipend, paid weekly through electronic deposit • Free housing provided by government • Work-related equipment such as specialized wading boots, waders and general survey gear • One week of Stream Inventory Training in Pendleton, OR (paid for by Government) • Government vehicle provided for travel to and from work site and limited personal needs, i.e. grocery store • Initial reimbursement for mileage from home to worksite (inquire for details)

Work Schedule: 40 hours/week, Monday-Thursday. No work on holidays or weekends expected

General Duties:

• Crews, typically two people, work from mouth to headwater collecting stream data

• This includes data on stream habitats, stream and riparian conditions, fish presence (snorkeling), wildlife sightings, types of management activities (harvest units, water diversions, etc.) and recreational activities

• Substantial travel (using government vehicle) may be required from a main base as stream sites are spread over three forests. Camping may be used to cut down on travel time. Limited camping gear is available

• The job teaches data collection methods using a documented Stream Inventory Protocol and encompasses many disciplines such as fisheries, ecology, botany, wildlife, and hydrology.

Qualifications – Internship Requirements:

• Ability to hike long distances over varied terrain (brushy, steep slopes, etc.), including streams and slippery surfaces. Willingness to work in all types of weather conditions.

• Interest or education in fisheries, ecology, botany, wildlife, hydrology or any related field recommended but not required.

• Willingness to learn and desire to be an integral member of a survey team with the USDA Forest Service.

• Interest in gaining experience working in the forest and seeing the interactions of streams and the landscape.

Neglect and Reflect

It has been a long time. And it is much to my regret.

I have already apologized to some personally for my neglect of this website. At the time of my last blogging things were busy. When I arrived in Chile for the port call I began accumulating a lot of work and responsibility very, very quickly and my priorities shifted very quickly. One of my other responsibilities as I mentioned was to maintain the NCSU blog site, which I did a dismal job of as well. Neglect.

Right now I am ill. I've been running a low grade fever since Friday and my pesky chest congestion and hacking cough greeted me this morning with a sore throat and frog voice. The sad thing is I didn't notice my frog voice until about 4pm today. The first time I saw, and was able to speak to someone. I've had lots of alone time these past few days. These past few months actually. Almost too much. I've been putz-ing with my computer, sorting and organizing what now comes to 40Gb of music (a modest collection for many..) and 89Gb of Antarctic pictures and video (that is not a typo, and I don't even have the whole collection). My entire house and next door neighbors went out to the local pub run this afternoon. No one was in the house this weekend because everyone was at a tournament. I gave up ultimate for school. Most of my peers have graduated and moved on, or are just simply not in Raleigh right now. I spend a lot time by myself (what? but you're the quintesential social butterfly?) and it's something i've begun to think about a lot. Reflect.

I've seen and experienced a lot in the last three years. I've grown TREMENDOUSLY. That once carefree, silly, giddy, (and what I would consider lazy) girl is no more. I am not carefree. I'm still silly, but the enthusiasm I used to feel when facing the daily grind has evaporated. I am often cripplingly anxious. Given my extensive to-do list I am often so overwhelmed that I can not function. Period. Anxiety is not new to me. Friends perhaps know this better than family. You know who you are.

People often say to me, you are so young to have been to Antarctica! To have done and seen the things you have! To be honest, I am not as well traveled as some of my friends, but where I have been and the situations I have been in have given me a very real and abrupt awareness of how wonderful, beautiful, and absolutely terrifying this world is. I have heard complete silence... I mean complete and total silence more in the last 5 years than some people will hear in their entire life. I have experienced just how thin the safety net is between myself and mortality. I have worked beyond exhaustion to the point where your only motivation is the idea of motivation itself. I feel I truly understand what it takes to be a GOOD scientist (by this I mean I have taken my anal retentive attention to detail to a whole new level - good for doing science - bad for the whole anxiety thing). I have seen the Ice... I can not explain it to you and no picture will ever do it justice. And I've had to reconcile that this wonderful, amazing place that I feel is so much a part of who I am now, I won't be able to see again for quite some time (if ever again).

It's like in DOGMA, when Alan Rickman (Metatron) is explaining to Bethany his purpose as the messenger of God. That God's voice is so awesome and powerful that if [she] were to speak to us our heads would explode ('they went through 3 Adam's before they figured that one out'.. LOL). I'm not saying that grad school (and all associated sea-faring adventures) has been some sort of religious experience (awesome and powerful, yes) but i'm thinking that my mind might be far too feeble and nearing combustion.

So, let's run with the Catholic thing here. Pergatory. Caught between heaven and hell. I have lived in North Carolina my entire life (short of a brief stint in Alaska, and being either in Antarctica or at sea collectively comes to about the same amount of time). I am about to start my 7th (UGH!!!!!) year in Raleigh. Do not get me wrong, Raleigh has been good to me. But I need more. I need adventure. I need BIG mountains. I need to GET OUT OF THE SOUTH. The ideals are sometimes as stifling and uninspired as the heat and humidity. I find myself withdrawn from everything I once used to love. Ultimate, friends, but more than that being SOCIAL in general. I find myself latching on to those who live elsewhere, to ideas about my future, and generally all things related to 'jumping the gun' and 'putting the cart before the horse'. It is the only place I find solace.

But how then to achieve sweet ascension?

I had to return early from the beach to sign some paperwork and meet with my advisor last week. I am taking 8 hours of course work and I found out that I am TA-ing. (But Alyssa, you're being paid! This is a blessing!) Yes. In today's economy.. wah wah wah. I guess I was upset because this put a DEFINITE end to all fantasies about me graduating in December. I'm pulling for a March/April defense. It seems as though the fun and professional development will never end. A valuable lesson reinforced once again. Things will NEVER go exactly according to plan.

But being in 'purgatory' does inherently mean that I am in a state of grace, and on my way to a 'heaven' (of sorts). It may not seem like it but I will get there. It is amazing how simply writing this down helps. I WILL GET THERE. I recently shared some tales of misfortune with a friend of mine aboard a vessel in the Pacific. He was rehashing tales of oppressive heat, sogginess, and condescension by his superiors (as he too was the youngin' on the boat). While he is no amateur, it was his first job with their vessel and as a greenhorn he was treated as such. He also has humor that is astonishingly similar to mine and being 10 years everyone's junior made for dull, frustrating workdays.. 40 of them. However, despite this misfortune he instead chose to be motivated by an idea called 'pronoia'. For those unfamiliar with the term, it was thought to be first dubbed by Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow as the idea that the world is in fact a conspiracy on your behalf, trying to shower you with blessings and opportunity.

Hearing this from him I was shocked. I too had recently heard of this term (long story short, I was reading a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers who sited WIRED magazine who did a promotion of the pronoia meme in a 1994 issue - great book btw). It's a powerful thought. A smack in the face of Murphy's Law if you will. In a way I feel I had always subscribed to this paradigm. But then I came up against some pretty powerful adversity. And adversity can make a person pretty darn pessimistic.

But that's what this life is about isn't it. It's an awful, beautiful dance of suffering and joy. A phrase that always rings clear to me is the handsome voice of the Fairfield Four baritone acknowledging, "Father, we know that sometimes we need a little rain to 'preciate the sunshine".

It's rainy alright (and actually quite literally). But Sam Cooke said 'A change is gonna come' and pronoia says for the better. I'm counting on it.

Ciao Chile, Aloha Antarctica!

Hello everyone!
Sorry for the delay, internet access has been sparce and brief when I have had it. I've finally downloaded some pictures from my trip too so i'm finally able to blog a bit.

We are now in Punta Arenas and tomorrow is a very big day. I've been here since the 6th staying at the erratic rock hostel and have been working on the ship and purchasing some chilean sundries in preparation for our departure. Rebecca and I arrived here on the 6th after paddling for 3 days on the Serrano River, one of the more popular Patagonian kayaking excursions. We came face to face with both the Tyndall and Serrano glacier, traversing up, down, and across stream currents, and had the absolute time of our lives. We had perfect weather and a view of the southern constellations that will be hard to rival (ship lights prevent the Antarctic view from being as glorious as one would think). We were truly in the wilderness, free (mostly) of contact from other kayakers, and it was worth every freakin penny.


But as I mentioned, tomorrow is a big day. Today the pier was shut down due to persistant 30 knot winds, gusting up to 50. This made onloading cargo virtually impossible. Luckily we got our ordered supplies on the ship yesterday, so with everyone from ncsu and hawaii finally in town, today was manly dedicated to inventory and organization. However, not even half of our things are on the ship. Tomorrow we will all check out of our hostels and move our personal items on to the ship. Our issue gear will be brought to the pier and loaded, and all our supplies we've used from the previous two cruises will be onloaded is well. Our departure date is the 11th at 12, and while we will spend approximately a day navigating the straights of magellan, by the time we hit the Drake passage, everything must be organized and secured for the rough journey to Antarctica. We have a lot to accopmlish in the next 36 hours.

I'm going to be the lead on the ncsu blog while we are at sea so I am not sure how much I will be able to keep this blog up to date. However, if you do not see updates coming to this blog, please check the address http://antarctica-ncsu.blogspot.com.

Ciao!

It's business time

We leave Saturday and things are hectic to say the least. A lot of science prep is still going on and the task of packing is just as daunting, and still looming. To fill you in on what we're packing and why, i'll give a brief summary of what the heck we're doing down there.

The FOODBANCS Project
FOODBANCS stands for FOOD for the Benthic ANtarctic Continental Shelf and is a collaborative study run by Dr. Dave DeMaster and Dr. Carrie Thomas here at NCSU and Dr. Craig Smith and University of Hawai'i. In terms of oceanography, the continental shelf is the ocean floor region between the 'coast' and the 'deep sea'. This gently sloping intermediate region is associated worldwide with high levels of biological activity. In Antarctica, because the continent is holding such a heavy ice load, it has actually caused a depression in the earth's crust, making it one of the deepest continental shelves in the world, average about 600m depth compared with a global average of about 133m. Despite this depth the benthic region (contains animals living on the seafloor) still maintains a high level of biological activity, relying heavily on organic material raining down from the surface (phytoplankton).


The western Antarctic Penininsula has been experiencing extreme rapid warming in the last 100 years. This warming has influenced the timing and retreat of sea ice, and it is believed to be the most important factor in the timing, succession, and abundance of different phytoplankton species that bloom during the short non-winter season (about 4 months). This is likely to effect animals that live in the seabed, since they rely on the plankton for food. Photosynthetic phytoplankton convert CO2 to O2, when it sinks it removes carbon from the atmospheric system, and sediment feeders 'bury' or 'remove' the carbon from the ocean system into the sediment. A change in food source type and availability, which accumulates in the sediment year round (at least at the warmer stations) as a "foodbank" could have an important effect on trophic structure and elemental cycling, with potential impacts on the global scale.

We're doing a number of experiments and in order to get it all to Chile and ready for the boat there is a lot of prep work. Rebecca has been growing and harvesting algae for feeding experiments to see what the animals like to eat best. She is growing diatoms (Thalassiosira), prymnesiophytes (Phaeocystis) and cryptophytes (Cryptomonas) which must all be frozen at -20 degrees celsius and hand carried on the 24 hour transit to the southern tip of Chile.


I'm also interested in phytoplankton, but my concern is with its packaging and the fate it endures on the long trip to the seabed (either through feeding by zooplankton like krill, or microbial degradation that occurs as it sinks). I'm looking at the different pigments phytoplankton use to harness energy from the sun and seeing how they degrade to give some clue as to how much the plankton is being chewed on before it reaches the seabed. I will be looking at chlorophyll a using a fluorometer onboard the ship and (as pictured above) I have to have a lot of fresh, pure chlorophyll a to calibrate the fluorometer and it too must make the long trip to Chile without thawing. Here's hoping our journey is without delay!

I am also looking at diatoms in the seabed and will be sampling the kasten core to do that.

Here is what the Kasten core looks like going over the side:

Me sampling the kasten core for porewater:

In this picture, the syringes are 3 cm wide and spaced about 10 cm apart. To sample diatoms on the scale that we would like to resolve I will be sampling EVERY centimeter. My syringes must also be 1 cm, which is very small. In order to do us the syringes to sample the sediment you must cut off the tip and smooth down each tiny syringe (we ocean scientists often have to mutilate tools from other sciences to make them fit our needs). Since the kasten core usually comes out anywhere between 1-2m, thats about 100-200 samples. So for me, that means lathing and smoothing tips for 100 syringes. Talk about tedious.



Rest assured, all things will be completed and packed. We leave Saturday afternoon for Chile and I will update the blog as I go, so follow along.. things are about to get really exciting!

January Update

Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long!

The end of 2008 was eventful and involved a lot of visits. Pennsylvania was wonderful. I got to see Abigail and Erin, all the aunts and uncles, and a big thank you to Annie and Ricky for letting me stay in their home. I was also able to go to Philadelphia and visit a friend who I met in my time in Alaska. While now in law enforcement up in Fairbanks, she visits her family in Philadelphia every Christmas, so I try to take advantage of the opportunity to see her without traveling 4000 miles!

I spent the New Year in Emerald Isle with a great group of people. Ashely and Donald Waugh and my friend Jason who is home visiting from his job in the peace corps in Nicaragua. We made dinner, drank wine, played on the beach, watched the ball drop, and played 'No te enojado'.. the south american version of 'Sorry'.

The start of this semester has been very busy but productive. Logistics are coming together. Making our lists, checking them twice, arranging plane tickets, planning our side trips. We are still trying out the finer details, but as best as I can guess this is my schedule:

January 31st: Flight leaves RDU, Arrive in Dallas
- Leave Dallas for Santiago

Feb 1st: Arrive in Santiago, trudge through customs, head to Punta Arenas
- Arrive in PA, drop 'science stuff' at the warehouse, find the Hawai'i group and stay the night in PA

Feb 2nd: Hop on a bus bound for Puerto Natales. Stay the night a Erratic Rock hostel.

Feb 3rd - 7th: Plans fluid. We are arranging a 3 day glacial sea kayaking trip around Patagonia and if we have time we will likely take a day to go to the park and do some hiking afterward.

Feb 8th: Arrive back in PA to meet the rest of the NCSU and Hawai'i gang. START WORK!

Feb 9th: Load up the ship, check supplies, order lab space

Feb 10th: Continue working.. move on board the Laurence M. Gould and have final meal on land

Feb 11th: Bon Voyage! Head for the Drake Passage.. keep track of where we are using the SailWx website



This trip will be filled with a lot of fun adventures. We will be making a lot of stops. We'll even be on the eastern side of the peninsula at the site of the Larsen Ice Shelf collapses in 2002. Here is an interesting article about some new breakthroughs in the science ice shelf disintegration.

I will update again as plans firm up and I begin my journey.

And as promised... A WHALE PICTURE!

Antarctica blog update

The Antarctic blog was long overdue for an update. I took it upon myself to do so. It has lots of good information about the next trip!

http://antarctica-ncsu.blogspot.com/

Busy Busy

Well I am living up to my reputation. Negotiating how my time is spent is particularly challenging at this time of year and I am trying my best to keep up with everything. This past Saturday I had a doctor's appointment at 830am, house chores and laundry, an ultimate game in Holly Springs at 2pm, attended a Christmas party with my friends parents in Durham from 5-7, attended a game night with some ultimate coed teammates from 8-10 in N. Raleigh, and was supposed to go to a cocktail but by the time I got back to my house I just didn't have it in me don cocktail attire and pull together a dish and beverage to contribute. Instead I went downtown and spent some much needed quality girl time with my best friend Shelby and some other fine ladies. And that was just Saturday.

So to rewind a bit. Thanksgiving was wonderful. With each year, it becomes more precious than the last. It is a time of year where I set obligation aside.. rest.. and come back to the things that truly matter. I always end up reflecting on where i've been and what i've done since the last November. The family, the food, the Manhattans, the vegetation is absolutely essential for my soul.

I passed all my classes. My talk to the department went well. I've never worked harder or been stressed more in my entire life. I've grown more as an adult and as a professional than any period in my entire life. I'm in deep, and I love it. Without describing details you will probably glaze over, things are falling into place (and because everyone keeps asking me) after working my tail off this upcoming summer, I hope to be graduated this time next year. At this point I have been at sea 78 days since February of 2008 and tack on an extra 10 days or so in port and in transit and you can see how it might take me a little longer than the typical 2 year masters degree.

46 days until I leave for the next Antarctic cruise.. lots of work to be done but i'm very excited.

Will update more soon.. I am late to something as I write this.