Sunday, June 29, 2014

Week 1 - Hannah Lyons

I am Hannah Lyons and I attend Portland Community College and will be transferring to Portland State University in the fall. My studies at PCC lead me to find my passion in Biology. After taking a few amazing field studies classes at PCC I knew I wanted to pursue a career in field research. I am so happy to be here in Newport learning more about the scientific process and how to conduct field research.
At the Hatfield Marine Science Center I am working with Dr. Brittany Huntington and Stacy Galleher of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. I am working with them on monitoring the marine reserves off the Oregon coast and public outreach. After being introduced and oriented here at ODFW we took the boat out! We collected four SMURFs (Standard Monitoring Unit for Recruitment of Fishes) on the reserve and four from a similar control site. The reserve is a "no take" zone and fishing is not allowed. The control site is chosen in an area that is still being fished for comparison. The SMURF is collected by wrapping a net around it and is swum back to the boat where we collect the fish. Data is meticulously collected on biological and environmental factors. The fish are bagged and labeled very carefully. Organization and precision are very important in field work as it is easy to be overwhelmed or scattered when you are soaking wet and freezing on a rocking boat in the ocean! Very exciting first week and looking forward to the rest of summer.
Collecting the SMURF

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