And So It Begins: A [very] Brief Look at my Thesis

This might not be a super exciting blog post to many of you, but I am too damn excited to care! I just bought the first materials for my thesis work and my first outing is this Saturday. But before I am run away with my emotions, let me explain what exactly I'll be doing.

Remember this blog post?
http://sharkysauge.blogspot.com/2013/03/marine-plastic-post-about-raising.html

Yeah...I didn't think so. It wasn't very popular because, well, let's be honest, it was boring. It wasn't about saving the whales or global warming or even the 'island of plastic in the Pacific' (which isn't a thing, btdubs). it was about the little-itty-bitty plastic pieces you find along the high tide line, kinda like in the picture below. (Exactly like in the picture below.)



Well folks, I'm sorry that I'm not sorry, but this is what I'm interested in. Plastics. Micro- and meso-plastics that is. Roughly translated, small flipping plastic pieces! This is what I'm doing my thesis research on. Here's a full explanation.

To start I will tell you that I had planned on using my SEA research for my thesis, but seeing as how that research completely bombed, I switched gears to something else I was deeply interested but was a whole heck-of-a-lot easier to do. Basically I am going to visit 7 different [popular] beaches on 7 different occasions and collect small plastic pieces out of the high tide line. Then I'm going to stare really hard at these plastic pieces until they tell me everything they know. Things like how big they are, what color they are, what type of plastic they are, etc. I'm going to science the crap out of those pieces and see if there are any correlations. Which, who knows? There just might be. Any data is good data.

There are a couple good things about this research that I'm also super stoked about. 1) It's easy to do and doesn't involved living creatures, which can be a pain. 2) I can continue this research long after my thesis 'ends'. 3) It's easy to teach and easy to understand, which is why I'm going to popular beaches; maybe someone will see me... 4) It's important. Marine debris, and plastic in particular is a big deal and we have yet to discover what it's actually doing in the aquatic environment. 5) It's basically community service, and I am more than happy to help.

My first trip is scheduled for Saturday February 1st and I will be hitting
1) Seaside
2) Cannon Beach
3) Rockaway Beach
4) Pacific City
5) Lincoln City
6) Depoe Bay
7) Newport
before heading back home to Dallas.

Like I said, I'm very excited and I'll be sure to give y'all an update on Sunday sometime!

p.s.--Thanks for all the love everyone. It's exciting to know people actually read your blog and follow you! Make sure to "officially" follow me if you have a Google+ account!

Random thoughts of a girl who's trying to sleep

Since I've been back a lot of people have asked me how my trip was. Some were truly interested, but most were not, and only asked to be polite. So, soon after I start telling them, they lose interest. I can't say I blame them as very few people can truly live vicariously through others, I know I can't. It's hard to hear about someone's amazing experiences, especially when you might feel like you haven't done nearly enough with your life. I'm here to tell you, "Who cares?" Who cares about what you have or haven't or have yet to do. If you are happy with yourself at the end of the day then you are better off than a lot of people, and if you aren't, change what you are doing. Do something you love, no matter how small. But please, for the love of whatever god you believe in, don't ask somebody about their experiences if you're not truly interested. And I can't stress the word truly enough. It's not fair to the person who's taking the time to share something with you and it just makes them feel like crap. 

Home

Wow. I cannot believe I've been home from SEA and sea for over two months now. Almost as long as I was gone. Time sure is weird though, because my time with SEA feels like it lasted a lifetime. Honestly, looking back it feels like I was living a different life, or like it was a dream. It's weird to think about, but I can't say I don't miss it. Because I do. A lot. Especially being back in 'regular' school now, nothing quite compares to learning whilst aboard a sailing vessel. My classmates can back me up on this.

 When I was on the boat I was complaining constantly, especially toward the end. My classmates can back me up on this too. At first I was sick, so I was miserable. Then I was cold, so I was miserable. Then I was hot, so I was miserable. Then came sleep deprivation, followed by the stress of performing [failed] research while on a ship, followed by writing a paper about said research, followed by the fact that I was cut off from my husband and sweet baby-dogs for 5 weeks. Add all that up and I was miserable. But, as with most stories, there are two sides.

To this sad story there is the happy side. The one about the girl who couldn't wait to depart from the dock, only to hit open ocean (which would make her sick). About the girl who so badly wanted to start her watch rotation even when they were telling her to get a good nights rest because it would be the last one for 5 weeks. About the girl who experienced the warm breeze of the Gulf Stream as she was on the helm, steering the ship and frozen to the bone. About the girl who was overly ambitious to start her extremely complex science project involving plastic nanobead ingestion by copepods. And about the girl who could feel herself getting stronger and more confident with each passing day.

But here's the stupid part though, and my biggest internal flaw: I can never seem to be happy in the moment. I said to my dear friend Zoe when we were both sick and hanging over the leeward rail, about to puke our guts out. I said, "If I had a ticket home right now, I would take it. Hands down, no questions asked." And I wasn't lying. I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be sick. I wanted to be home with my family. Home, warm and not on a flipping boat. She looked at me and said, "Not me. I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. I know that this is going to be one of the greatest experiences of my life." She said this to me, with a green face. Sicker than me she could still see this opportunity for what it was; an opportunity to sail on the open seas and perform important scientific research and to learn and to create friendships which will last a lifetime. She is wiser than I will ever be (and much more beautiful too. Love you Zoe!)

That interaction will stay with me forever and whenever I feel myself being a whiny bitch I will think back to that moment and I will strive to cherish the moment I am in right then and there.

SEA has done more for me than I ever thought imaginable. It's more than words can describe. But I hope to let you all in on a little bit of those memories, ever so slowly, and through this blog.