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Week One - miles of acronyms

     It’s been a brilliantly exciting week out here in Astoria. On Tuesday I was overwhelmed with acronyms and uses for the field instruments (CTD: Conductivity, Temperature, Depth. CT: Conductivity, Temperature. ADCP: Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler. etc.) and then taken out to set up a station underneath the Astoria-Megler Bridge. I have to say, I felt pretty cool setting up scientific instruments with all the cars rushing by above me. Wednesday started at 5:00am because we had to meet the boat and take the glider out to its first data collection point. It was fairly heavy to pick up and maneuver to the edge of the railing, but we managed and after taking pictures we finally released it into the water. Thursday was slightly more dry, but no less exciting. We set up a station out at the end of a closed pier at Tongue Point. The best part was rigging the radio antenna and improvising a mounting for it on our instrument shack. On Thursday I learned the extraordinary value of electrical tape and patience in field work. It was my job and Laurie’s (another field worker here) to thread three wires through a plastic tube in order to make them water proof. It took at least an hour and a half, but two methods, a bigger plastic tube, a bunch of electrical tape, and many tries later we actually got all of the wires through. Friday, though, has been the best yet. We went to the pool to do a dive check out test, since Michael, the head scientist here, needed to make sure we all actually know how to dive. It was just diving in a pool, but it was a lot of fun. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to dive in the river since I don’t have a dry suit, but if I do, I’ll make sure to write about it!

            As for my summer project, I’m not so clear on that yet, but I was informed that I’ll be working on gathering metadata about the stations and getting it online. So we’ll see how that goes.


Note: It really is my first week on the job here in Astoria, but due to lucky circumstances and helpful people I was given the opportunity to participate in the very end of the New Horizon’s research cruise. It was an awesome experience and I learned a lot about how research cruises work and about filtering water. I also met a few of the scientists that work in the labs in Portland, which was great since I won’t have the chance to work much with them this summer. And, I was informed by the crew that all my scientific goals are misplaced and my true calling is actually sailing. Who knew?