never staying put

It is often said that the years we spend in college are the best times in life and also a time for personal growth. In response to this claim I have decided to keep a blog documenting momentous events in my college life. Last summer I blogged while exploring foreign countries in the Balkans and learning about international politics. This summer I have taken a drastically (but perhaps not so) different path. After suffering an injury that decided my job fate this summer, I accepted a job working at the UNC Institute of Marine Science in Morehead City, NC. I was quite ecstatic when I was standing on St. John over spring break listening to the voicemail that I had been accepted to work. As a non-science major, it was certainly a surprise. But the whole story on how I even decided to apply for this internship is a perfect example of how sometimes in life things just fall into place. This time it was my environmental science TA who told me she worked at the IMS over the summer and sent me information about the internship and the help of my professor in critiquing my application.

The Job:

I will be working as an assistant to a graduate student, Rachel Gittman. Her project is related to salt marsh restoration techniques. She is hoping to assess whether or not the sill method of restoration is in fact producing positive results. Her project will be ongoing for about two years. This summer she will focus on mapping out the sites and assessing the plant and animal species that live at each location. There are approximately 30 sills located on the NC coast (from Wilmington to Hatteras). I fit into this equation as the dirty work assistant. I will be responsible for vegetation and sedimentation sampling. She has also asked me to do some independent research on fiddler crab habitat preferences in the marsh area. So crabs and plants it is! I’m avoiding fish because oyster reefs plus fast moving creatures plus and dysfunctional knee equates to possible harm.

The location:

Morehead City is arguably my 3^rd home in the US (behind Pensacola and Chapel Hill). I have spent the past 10 or so years venturing down there to my grandparents beach house and then to Camp Seafarer where I was a camper. I LOVE the area. It’s not too developed, has a quaint harbor area, is home to pirates, wild horses, great seafood, and awesome sailing. It’s the setting of Nicholas Sparks books and is the a reminder of small town America. As a child I would go out on research vessels and help dredge the bottom for ocean creatures. I dreamed about working at a marine lab in the area. Well, sure enough here I am.

Our work will take place primarily in the Morehead City area (both in the field and in the lab). Work in the marshes is muddy, humid, and on a micro scale (juvenile fishes and species). But I am very excited to have such a great opportunity to learn about this area and potentially help preserve its beauty for the future.

SO here begins a new type of journey. I really have no idea what I am in for nor do I have any real expectations. All I know is that I am in a familiar place and am prepared to soak up as much knowledge as I can.