Research Assistantship

I have finally decided on what RA I will be doing this semester. I will be working with Dr. Tyler Smith (quite an awesome guy) on the effects of increasing sediment loads on surrounding reefs. Basically, there are multiple road restoration programs that are going to take place on St. Thomas and St. John over the next few years and this construction will cause a larger volume of sediment than normal to be washed into the ocean and onto the reefs. My job will be to monitor sediment traps along the land/sea gradient and to analyze the collected samples. I will also be monitoring established coral reef communities before, during, and after the restoration events to try and determine what effects the sediment is having on the aquatic biota that is essentially being dumped on. It's all quite fascinating to me but I will refrain from getting into too much detail because I know not everyone is as interested in these things as I am! All you really need to know is that I'm quite excited about making an original contribution to my field and that I will be having some fun over the next two years playing with dirt, corals, and fish!

The other day was quite an event. I tried to put up curtains in my room. I did not realize that this was going to be an all day event and test me to the limits of my patience. I also didn't know that around the walls of my windows there is a metal plate of some sort only 1cm under the wall. This makes drilling holes practically impossible. Need I say more? It was an awfully frustrating experience! And to make things worse I didn't have a handy Dad to do it for me. (Speaking of Dads I think mine should come visit me soon!) I did manage, with the help of a friend or two, to get the curtain rod and curtains on the wall. They have not fallen off the wall yet so I suppose the event was a success. They do look rather pretty and add a homey feel to the room.