Blog by Orrin Spiess, Anisa Singh, Isabelle van Thiel, and Violet Marshall

After months of anticipation, we finally all arrived here on San Juan Island, one way or another. Some of us drove directly to campus, others flew in from across the nation to be picked up at the airport or along the way by our wonderful directors, Caroline Grauman-Boss and Tom Grauman. The commute to our dorms took us across the Puget Sound on a scenic ferry ride and a short walk through the charming town of Friday Harbor. We got to know our roommates and peers for the coming month over a pizza dinner and some recreational time walking around town.

After a somewhat tumultuous but restful night of sleep, we woke up to a blinding sunrise at 5:30am and our first day of life at camp. After everyone ate breakfast and reaquainted themselves with each other, we made our way to the common area for an informative orientation with Ms. Caroline. Having much more knowledge inside our heads, we got into our groups and began exploring the harbor with a scavenger hunt in hand. Winning with 420 points, Team Sunny Calirado ended up crushing all of us; although one team was late while allegedly helping an old man across the the street.

Entering mid-day, we packed our lunch and were off to at South Beach for a sandy and hot lunch of PB and J’s–though to be fair, the view was amazing. Later, we made our way to meet up with Dr. Olivia Graham, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Cornell University. She introduced us to the importance of eelgrass through a hands-on data collection and presentation experience. We then spent around 2 hours out on the 4th of July Beach collecting data on eelgrass populations: seedings, flowering, and alike! We also met her gorgeous dog, Michi, and Vidita surviving an attack from a fox (Adam chased it away). Having had a great time, our quest was sadly terminated as we left to go back to the dorms. Some time spent toiling away in the kitchen, we were able to enjoy exactly 21 baked pototoes with a glorious, amazing, beautiful, spectacular, jaw-dropping, mouth-watering, and scrumptious bean sauce with cheese.

Soon after our feast, we headed to the annual Illg lecture by Dr. Leslie Babonis, an assistant professor at Cornell who got her Ph. D at the University of Florida. We learned why particular sea anemone cells don’t sting and the future possibilities regarding RNA, CRISPR, and how modifying genes can change whole organisms’ biology and/or morphology. Following a quick walk back to the dorms, we arrived at the dorms to be met with some free time to eat some ice cream; soon, we were in bed and dreaming of the next day.