Summertime

Well it's been about four months since my last entry. It feels like longer though. I even had a hard time remembering how to get to my own page! But now I am here and ready to take the time to post a brief update. It's getting hotter but living on top of crown mountain certainly has its advantages. The nights are not unbearable and I haven't even turned on the window a/c unit yet. I just have my trusty box fan at the foot of my bed. Of course, Ivan always lays right in front of it blocking my air! I guess being a black cat in the Caribbean can be kinda hot.

School is out for now. I've started working 40 hours a week at the university so I'm there every day anyway. It's not bad though, I like my job and it keeps me active. My thesis took a rather sudden turn last month. I didn't get the funding I was counting on so I've had to modify the experiment to make it cheaper. I'm no longer going to work with deep reefs but instead and going to do the same nutrient enrichment/herbivory exclusion design on nearshore and offshore reefs. This gives a gradient of human impact (mostly in the area of how much sediment is entering the water). Offshore reefs are less impacted by development and tend to be healthier in general. So hopefully my results will reflect this and the nearshore reefs will respond quicker and more intensely to the treatments because they are already compromised somewhat. I have no idea when I will get to start my field work. Hopefully I will get some small funding soon and I can go buy supplies to start making cages. I've accepted the fact that I won't be graduating next May but probably more around December 2011. No big deal though. That's what most people end up doing anyway at UVI. It just takes so long for things to get rolling in the Caribbean that it takes an extra semester, especially if you have time-dependent field work (which I do).

I've been doing a lot of recreational swimming and reading lately. It's nice to be able to just relax and do what I want instead of constantly working on the next deadline. I've even had time to start playing a video game on the wii!