Today’s blog by Maddy and Estevan!
This morning, Caroline came to talk to us about colleges! Caroline is the director of the Salish Sea program, and coordinates all of our activities. She also buys us lots of ice cream, which we appreciate greatly. Although it can seem pretty daunting, Caroline helped demystify the admissions process and answer many of the questions we had. She outlined how to choose your college, what they look for in an applicant, scholarships, essays, and much more. She gave us tips and tricks on how to write essays, even giving us some practice prompts to complete. This exercise really allowed us to be more introspective, and see what aspects of ourselves we want to show in essays.
Although there are so many things to consider when looking for colleges, she emphasized that the most important part is keeping your interests and loves in mind.
Following Caroline’s talk, we went straight to the lab, where we processed the eelgrass samples we collected yesterday. Morgan showed us how to rinse the eelgrass in freshwater, place it onto the clear sheets and label it with the necessary information. Meanwhile, Maddy began to scan the transparencies and turn them into images that can be used later for a variety of purposes, such as disease prevalence surveys. Although it was tedious, these data are contributing to a yearly monitoring of eelgrass health at Fourth of July Bay (and it’s really helpful to Maddy’s project)!
After lunch, we returned to the lab yet again. This time, Derek talked to us about statistics, and the various ways for us to present the data we have. It was really informative and a little mind boggling to see all of the programs and possibilities! We then brought all of this newfound information into project development time. We’re all working really hard in order to finish our projects before the week ends!
Finally, as the day came to a close, we met with our lovely guest Dr. Billie Swalla. She studies evolutionary biology, genomes, embryos, and a lot of other really cool stuff, particularly with marine invertebrates. She is also passionate about diversifying science and making it more accessible to everyone! Her enthusiasm was infectious, and we learned so much about little creatures most of us have never heard of.
A highlight of her presentation was a video of an Ascidian embryo developing; it was fascinating to watch and hear her explain each stage of development! Lastly, we tied up the night by unveiling our tie dye t-shirts. The colors and patterns are each so unique and beautiful, almost like a reflection of ourselves.