"Selfish" Giving...is there such a thing?

So today on NPR there was a thought-provoking story titled:

'Selfish' Giving: Does It Count If You Get In Return?

(Click link to read story)...

This story caught my attention because I've grappled with the same notion. When is "giving" - gifts, money, time - truly altruistic. Is it ever? Or is it always? The story deals mostly with giving money for a cause - donations in the name of a company, person, etc. But they touch on volunteering as well. I guess maybe since I'm currently looking at my devastated budget and wrapping Christmas gifts for my niece and nephew that this hits home (the money one at least!)

In my humble opinion, the act of "giving" - even if it is for selfish reasons - is still good (and counts). Maybe it's because I was raised Catholic and went to Jesuit schools, where community service was important. I clearly remember spending one Christmas Day morning during high school at a soup kitchen in Tacoma, ladling out food and laughs to all the people who showed up. Did I choose to be there? Not really. I was kinda forced to go because of my mom, and kinda guilted into it by my peers. But I feel like the benefits of that experience - I still remember it 15 years on! - outnumber any selfish reasons that may have motivated me back then. The life lesson that everyone - even a homeless, alcoholic, down on their luck, person - has a story to tell. They weren't born that way. They may have never lived the life I had growing up, but they certainly deserve respect and support just like anyone else.

But there are some interesting points in the NPR story. Take for example all the "Pink Ribbon Crap" as I like to call it. You know, buy a product with a pink ribbon and support the fight against breast cancer. This one (of all the colored ribbon fundraisers) in particular hits home since my mom fought breast cancer for 17 years before dying due to complications from treatment (that's a whole other story!). One of the most egregious examples I've seen was pink cream cheese - in a pink plastic container. Really?! I appreciate the notion of supporting a cause, even if it's pennies on the dollar that probably goes to overhead to run a non-profit, rather than actual research. I know, I sound a little angry. I'm not, but it does irk me that an issue that is so personal, but yet affects so many families, has turned into a pink parade. What happened to a focus on prevention of cancer? Studying links between pollution, diet, lifestyle? And what about when links are made (chemicals) - what's happening to change our ways? I don't like the focus being completely on the fight and the cure. It's such an aggressive word. I guess it's easier than focusing on the "why" of how we got to this point. Which brings me back to buying stuff that supports this cause. It's easy to buy the pink tote, hat, pin. But I purposely choose not to. I'd rather see my money go more directly to the group that I want to support.

That said, I see where large corporations can get into a little trouble. By making it clear they support a certain cause, donate a little money, etc. they clearly are using marketing to attract certain customers. Is this bad? I guess it depends again on the intent. But even if the intent is to sell more stuff, doesn't some group somewhere benefit? All I'm saying is that the smallest actions - volunteering your time, buying a pink tote, donating to a cause - creates a tiny little change in your thinking - even within the biggest companies. You chose to do something, support a certain cause, help someone out, and therefore your actions reflect something you care about - no matter who else takes notice. And that can be called selfish, I suppose. But I think it's more accurate to call it being an engaged, thoughtful person.

Cosmic Panther Land Band...

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Blog Action Day 2009

I found out about this event through a couple of environmental groups I am a member of. Today is a day of global activism, virtually! Should I say e-activism? Essentially the idea is that today, Oct. 15, 2009, bloggers around the world, from all walks of life and with completely different topics and passions, will all blog about the exact same thing. This year's topic is particularly appealing to me, both as a marine biologist who's job is impacted by climate change, and as an engaged global citizen. So, while I'm being an e-activist, I thought I'd add my two cents to the topic of climate change.

First off, there's debate as to the term "Climate Change". Some argue that this phrase is a watered down version of "Global Warming", which was replaced by those who are still not on the bandwagon (there's still people out there?!?). Some people want to use the word "Global Warming" instead, as it tends to pique people's interests and fear of impending doom more than the more PG-rated "Climate Change". As for me, well, I prefer climate change. I suppose that's because I'm a scientist, and therefore trained to thoroughly consider hypotheses and theories, conduct rigorous analysis, and when I make a conclusion, continue to maintain a level-head. No running around waving my hands and screaming "the world is ending, everyone run!!!". Plus, that's just not my personality anyways. Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty much on the mellow yellow side of life.

But seriously - global warming, climate change, whatever you want to call it - it's a reality we all need to own up to. I don't need to give any examples, as we are all aware of major catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina. For me, it's just weird to sit back and look around and know that I am living during a time of major change in the world. When my parents were born there were millions and millions (dare I say billions?) fewer people living on Mother Earth. The worries of their daily lives were so simple, looking back. I often wish I could go back to when I was a kid, when I could only watch TV for 1 hour on Sunday night (The Muppets). I read a lot of books, was curious about the natural world in my neighborhood (ants, trees, slugs) and that Jacques Cousteau talked of. A time when I wrote with a pen in my diary that had a little lock on it (protect it from my sister's eyes). I played outside and talked a lot to my sister, brother, and parents. I mean, talked in person, on the couch, at the table, at the beach, in the yard. There was no internet, Xbox360, iPhone, DVD's, Prius...

I know I am over-simplifying things, but sometimes it just seems that as I've gotten older life has gotten more and more hectic. There are more distractions, more work, more worries, just more. Some of this "more" is the cause of climate change. More development, more driving, more production of stuff, more people, more packaging...I am not telling anyone what to do, but I'm personally trying to focus on "less". Less stuff, less waste, less buying, less money...so then I can focus on the important "mores" - family time, reading, relaxing...I think that if everyone just stopped once and thought about "less" we'd all be a little more...

Do you blog? Get involved! (and check back here on October 15...)

Get involved!

C'mon C'mon!

Fresh from the garden

Okay, I know it's not much compared to some people I know (http://tahomafarms.blogspot.com/) that are actually organic farmers by trade...but still!

Earlier this spring I set about with an idea to try growing something of my own. I wouldn't say I'm a master of the indoor house plant realm, but I was ready to step outside and try growing something I could, well, eat! And that needed a little more work than most of my indoor potted plants. So, I cleared out my backyard area (which, conveniently, had a raised bed-like area already built in). It's much simpler said than done (ask my dad!). I bought some seed packets - sticking to those "beginner" types of garden plants including lettuce, cherry tomatoes, basil and sunflowers. I was also partly motivated by a side-project I found about using sunflowers to monitor bee populations (which are in severe decline around the U.S.). I did some online research, not much, but enough to get me going. And off I went! Planted some lettuce seeds, some basil, tomatoes...And waited...and waited...and watered...and waited...(thoughts of caprese salad danced in my head...)

Finally, some teeny tiny seedlings sprouted (rejoicing!), at which point I was ready to consider my endeavor a success! But I kept with it, nurturing the seedlings along, trimming back the first leaves (as instructed), thinnning out, moving to larger pots, etc. etc. Amazingly, the plants kept growing! And growing they did. Some with greater success than others, to be sure. The 10+ sunflowers I planted resulted in exactly 4 plants, none of which have actually bloomed yet (and the tallest topping out just below my 2-year old niece's shoulders - small!). But the tomatoes, oh the tomatoes! If I had higher ceilings in my greenhouse/mudroom, they'd keep going! 6+ feet and going crazy! And finally, finally, there are actual small little green tomatoes on some of the vines! Could it be? I actually grew something from seed to plant? And the lettuce - one seed of about 50 actually sprouted and made it to salad-sized pieces - not too great, but hey, free food? I'll take it any day! I might even have some caprese salad by October!

The Gods Must Be Crazy

July 28, 2009

A day to remember my mom, Judy. She died 3 years ago on this day. It's a date I will never ever forget, because it's the day my entire life changed. I now think of my life as "before my mom died" and "after". It's a very distinct line in the proverbial sand - July 28, 2006. The "after" is very different from the "before", in many many ways. Not that different is bad, it's just that so many things have changed. Sometimes it seems like 10 minutes ago that I found out mom died, other times 10 years. But inevitably, always right around the end of July for the last couple years I get blue, want to spend more time with my family, and miss my mom. It's such a strange feeling, in the middle of summer, to be so sad. It's usually bright and sunny, lots of fun activities are planned, but yet there's an underlying heartache that won't go away. Compound that with my pending birthday in early August (and my mom's, that we used to celebrate together), and it's like turning on the blender of my emotions.

But now, we have a reason to reflect on the amazing cycle of life. Out of this very sad, memorable day comes a reason once again to be happy and celebrate. My newest nephew, Liam Christopher, was born on the exact same day, 3 years after my mom left us for the next world. The significance of this is so deep that I haven't fully comprehended it yet. I won't let myself, I don't think, until I am able to be with Jill and Liam and Frankie and the rest of my family. All I can say is that the Gods (or at least my mom and her mom, both together and watching us and laughing conspiratorially) are crazy. Crazy in a way that's right on.

Spotted at Astoria Sunday Market

Ah, nothing like a tranquil Sunday morning, sun's out, music is playing, people are milling all around the downtown part of Astoria, talking with friends, picking up local produce, checking out the "quaint" watercolors of Oregon coast scenes...And WHAM! I spot this booth, curiously set up across the street from the end of the market, but nonetheless inviting some interested locals...

Gotta love a town that embraces all freedoms in this country...even if I don't agree with them...

Springing into Summer

Just a picture to entice visitors to visit me on the Oregon Coast!

Whoa, I can't believe it's already June. Let's see...what have been up to as the time has been flying by?

Well, a lot of work. Being a marine biologist and all, my "busy" season is spring and summer --- when birds are nesting, fish are spawning, animals are migrating, the ocean is upwelling and plankton are blooming...You get the idea. And the weather improves! Always a bonus when your job requirements include "spend 30-40 days at sea every year".

So after my last stint at sea chasing killer whales in March, I was out at it again for 8 days at the end of May. Not necessarily the chasing whales part, but still on a big boat on the ocean! Substitute NOAA cushy research cruise ship with the Canadian fishing vessel the R/V Frosti, and viola! I'm fishing for salmon! It was my first time on a *real, live fishing boat* (cue oohs and aahs). Okay, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a dork. But ever since I turned down a job offer to work as a fisheries observer in Alaska circa 1999 (post-WWU biology degree in hand), I've wondered what I missed. It was very cool to be on a working fishing vessel - and quite a contrast to the NOAA ships. For one, the crew (there's only 4) work extremely hard, even when they're chartered by us to fish at certain locations. They call our cruises with them "vacation". But they're still up sunrise to sunset, sometimes longer. We worked transect lines that run East-West off Washington and Oregon about 20-30 miles offshore in search of the elusive Pacific salmon. And boy did we find them!! There are about 7 stations on each transect line, where we stop the boat, take water samples for chrolophyll, plankton, and temperature, and lower a CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) instrument to the seafloor to get a record of what is going on at every point of the ocean directly below our boat. Once we have done all of this, we put a trawl in the water and tow it for 30 minutes at the surface, catching salmon and many other fish species. It was very fun for me to see so many fish up close and personal - species like black rockfish, anchovy, sardine, herring, dogfish, and of course salmon!!



P.S. something else "springing" into summer! Whoa, my favorite succulent plant sprung a 2-foot stalk!? It's now dying, it spent all it's energy on spreading it's seeds to my rug...

Top 10 pics from my research cruise

***Not that I have to tell you, but please don't use these for "unauthorized" purposes...

And...I'm back!

Can you believe it? I can't...it seems like it went by so fast. I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest. I generally relish going to sea so that I can "tune out" and disconnect for awhile - catch up on books I've been meaning to read, write in my journal, reflect on life... I did get some of this accomplished, but I think the fact that the cruise was a mere 3 weeks prevented me from fully embracing this - oh and the fact that we had virtually 24-hr access to the internet! D'Oh! But this did keep the "inbox" from overflowing...

Anyhoo, I am now back on dry land. Well, I should just say land. Arguable about it's dryness (although today was a very nice sunny day on the Oregon coast!).

The cruise was very successful for all - we had numerous sightings of killer whales! Primarily along the Washington coast, but we did venture south into Oregon waters for a bit, too. And to top it off, the mammal scientists were able to locate a number of transient (mammal-eating) killer whales, in addition to the resident (salmon-eating) whales. We even got to see a pod of transients kill a sea lion! At one point the sea lion was hiding under the stern of our ship!

But, I digress. As I am now a seabird biologist, I must focus on the success of this aspect of the cruise. And success, we had! I had a great team of birders with me - Ryan and Terry are true birders (I'm a mere mortal) and I learned a lot from them. Ryan, at the tender age of 24, has virtually memorized the Sibley Guide to Birds - a feat I doubt I'll ever master - even if required in some intro to birds class I never took.

Anyhoo, with these two birders, our eagle eyes spotted some veeery interesting and rare birds on the survey transects. In particular, over 100 Parakeet Auklets! These small alcids (see link) are not very common at all in Washington waters, so to see so many was quite remarkable. Remarkable enough that I am now tasked (with some colleagues) with writing a scientific paper about our sightings. And the cool thing is that not much is known about these birds after they disperse from their breeding colonies in Alaska. We have a whole suite of oceanographic data (sea-surface temperature, salinity, depth, prey) to examine and see if there are any correlations to where we saw the birds. Other rare birds we saw include Manx Shearwater, Tufted and Horned Puffins, Northern Fulmars (my personal fav!), and the ubiquitous Common Murre and Sooty Shearwater.

I'm now back on terra firma, prepping for a busy field season messing about in boats!

Click here for a link to see the highlights from PODS 2009...

And...I'm off!

After returning from Japan, I'm jumping right into the busy field season. First up, a 3-week research cruise along the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. I was supposed to depart a mere 5 days after returning from Japan, but thankfully the cruise was delayed. I now depart March 23 and will return April 9.

The cruise is with NOAA on the Research Vessel (R/V) McArthur II. The main goal of the cruise is to find the Southern Resident Killer Whales. By "find" I mean use big eyes (huge binoculars mounted on a stand) to search the ocean for these animals. The researchers have spotters on shore keeping an eye for the whales, but it may be a crap shoot. Why, do you ask, are we plying the mighty Pacific for a small group of whales? Well, these whales are part of a small population of killer (orca) whales that are very common ("resident") in the San Juan Islands during summertime (remember my old whale watching gig? Same whales...). They feed exclusively on salmon, and thus tend to follow salmon runs. They also recently were listed as an endangered species. Thus, a lot of money and effort is going into describing every aspect of their ecology to determine why the population is declining, especially in the winter months when they are not in the San Juan Islands. Hence, we are going to be collecting as much data as possible about the habitat they are found in, their diet, behavior, etc. while at-sea (assuming we locate them).

Where do I come in, you ask? Well, I will part of the seabird team, recording all of the seabirds we sight along the way. This gives us a better idea of the species composition of seabirds in March along the coast, as well as abundance and location. We can identify "hot-spots" for seabirds - areas of high productivity, a lot of prey, etc. One of the main seabirds I study, Sooty Shearwaters, migrate to the West Coast from New Zealand in late spring and summer. I'm hoping I will actually get to document their arrival to the West Coast on this cruise. They generally migrate within days of each other, and they are one of the most abundant seabirds in the Pacific Ocean. Millions of them are common in the spring/summer. If we're lucky, we'll go from seeing zero shearwaters, to 10's and 100's per day, to 1,000's! It will be pretty cool...

Stay tuned for updates!

Sea otter at mouth of Columbia River!

Sea otter - Copyright Bryant Austin

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, my boss, Jen Zamon and I were doing a monthly survey of seabirds and marine mammals from the North Head Lighthouse in Cape Disappointment State Park on the coast of Washington, just north of the Columbia River.

As I swung the scope through our survey area, I saw an animal floating on it's back, rubbing it's face and body, rolling along. I immediately thought "That's a sea otter", but at the same time thought "No way, they're so rare here, I must be seeing a river otter". But I kept the scope focused on the animal and saw it's lighter colored head, broad and fuzzy, the grooming and rolling behavior and knew it was a sea otter. My boss confirmed it and we documented as much about it's location, behavior and any other observations that we could. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures of the animal through the scope, but nonetheless, very exciting!

This sighting may be the first one in this area since 1913!

Read about it here:

http://www.dailyastorian.com/Main.asp?SectionID=2&ArticleID=59218

Asa-ichi Fish Market

Before I move on from Hakodate, I need to show some pictures of the main fish market. It's hopping early in the morning, when all of the vendors are selling pretty much everything that ever lived in the ocean. Kind of shocking, actually. It was freezing cold, but I was warmed up when a young merchant handed me a hot-off-the-grill chunk of crab to eat!

Link to all Japan photos!



Breakfast! (It was actually great on a cold morning, and kept me full all day!)

Japanese adventures - Part 2

Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

So I finally arrived in Hakodate, after a massive snowstorm that shut down the airport, thus diverting us to Sapporo airport. I didn't understand what was really going on, as most announcements were not in English. However, when we landed on a runway covered in packed snow (I mean, absolutely no exposed concrete anywhere - they groove the snow instead for traction in winter!) I figured it out. They gave us free train tickets to Hakodate (about 3 hr trip), so I got my train trip (and sightseeing from the window) started early! One big bummer, though: everyone also was traveling by train (due to snow), on Sunday afternoon, so the train was packed with people - my glasses immediately fogged up to major-dork level! Oh well...

So, the Pacific Seabird Group meeting was well underway by the time I finally got to Hakodate, but luckily there were still 3 solid days of talks. My talk was scheduled for the last day, very last session of the conference, which is great for re-working the powerpoint slides, but horrible for stress levels! There were a number of very good talks, a lot of interesting Japanese and Asian students, and great networking. I met some really great scientists and had a really fun time! (If you want to know more about my talk, ask sometime - no need to delve into it here). The highlight for me was on the final night, at the closing banquet. I had just used my last two drink tickets to negotiate getting an entire bottle of Asahi (large bottle) and spun around to announce this to my friends when right in front of me was one of the most preeminent seabird biologists, Dr. John Croxall (working in UK, former leader of British Antarctic Survey). I gracefully offered him a refill of beer (he was drinking sake) and before I knew it he said "I wanted to come over and tell you that I really enjoyed your talk today. Your work is very important and you should really publish these results. You mentioned at the end that you are now in Oregon - what are you doing?" To which I responded, "Um, thanks!" And blathered for a bit about my work, how great he is, etc. It was so surprising and exciting! We ended up having a great conversation about seabird bycatch in commercial fisheries (that was the topic of my talk) and it got me inspired to keep up my work!

After the conference, I had a couple of days to travel. It was great to be in one place for a couple of days and settle into Japanese culture, but I was ready to sightsee, too!

Downtown area of Hakodate, Hokkaido (after the snowstorm!)

Views of Hakodate, Hokkaido

Japanese adventures - Part 1

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin. I've been decompressing from my trip to Japan for about two weeks now, and still haven't organized my thoughts enough to post a neat blog!

Oh well, I'll give it a go. I traveled to Hakodate, Japan, a "small" port town on the southernmost part of the Northern island - Hokkaido. By small, I mean 250,000 people. That's nothing compared to Astoria (pop. ~10,000)! To get to Hakodate, you can fly from Tokyo, take a train (and go thru the 53.9 km underwater Seikan Tunnel - world's longest submarine transport link), or take an overnight ferry. Given that I was traveling alone and had never been anywhere in Asia, I opted to fly to Hakodate after arriving in Tokyo (quickest, convenient). I figured I'd work out the rest of my plans once I got to Hakodate.

Did I mention I was going for a seabird conference? The 2009 Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meeting, to be exact. This was the first time they were holding it in Japan, and when I heard about the location I immediately knew I had to find a will and a way to get there. I saved up my Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles, my money, and went for it.

Here are some pics from the arrival - although Japan is similar in latitude to Seattle, the northern island gets a lot of Siberian storms, and therefore tons of snow and veeery cold temps.



Sapporo train station (my plane was diverted from Hakodate to Sapporo due to heavy snow, so we had to take a train after all!)

The train timetable...go ahead...read it...

Those are actually the train tracks! The train arrived by we got delayed again due to a "snow bank blocking the tracks". The Japanese are actually pretty blunt with their translations (e.g. "Don't use cell phones on the bus, as they annoy your neighbor")

Snow storm in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Japan, man!

Speaking of travel, I just returned from 9 days in Japan. So fun! I have many many pictures and stories to share, but you must check back. I need to organize my pictures and life a bit first...

Suffice it to say the land of snappy dressers, automatic toilet/bidets, raw fish, highly efficient trains, amazing temples and karaoke is a land of fun and adventure. Not to mention amazing birds and science (I was there for a seabird meeting after all)!

Best Travel Day Ever.

So, I am a card-carrying member of AAA (American Automobile Association). More specifically, California AAA, since I signed up when I lived there. It's great for random towing, flat tires, etc. I also get their lovely quarterly magazine - Via. There's actually some good travel articles, however they're primarily California-centric. I didn't take issue with this until I moved to Oregon and now I don't want to hear about any more @#$!# wineries or spas in Northern California! Like rubbing salt in the wound...

Anyhoo, in the last issue there was a Via Dream Vacation Contest - write an essay on your best travel day ever and win a $2,500 certificate for travel! 200 words or less. Easy...right? I got the creative juices flowing and worked on my little essay for a couple hours over two nights, really working on tweaking the words, clarifying my statements, etc. etc. I was feeling pretty good about it. I went to submit it online and quickly glanced over the rules of the contest, with one in particular glaring at me: "Contest only open to residents of Northern California, Nevada or Arizona". Whah!? This is like a bait and switch! I spent so much time on my essay (okay, not really), I felt it actually had a chance of winning! It was a sad day. So, now for the one and only time, I will submit my essay online here instead. I still think it's good.

One Day, Day One

I turned to wave one last goodbye as my mom smiled, tears streaming down her face. Confidently, I boarded the plane with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. I had dreamed of this day for years, and at twenty I was finally going to study abroad. As the reality of my departure hit like a tidal wave and loneliness set in, I focused on the immediacy of my travel, navigating through three countries with two large backpacks. My resolve strengthened the closer I moved towards my destination, with each friendly face, each stranger’s kind gesture. I became independent, engaged, and fascinated with far-flung countries with exotic names. I cried my eyes out, made new friends, laughed like a child, and discovered my character. The first day I set out to explore the world on my own, one day at a time, is my best travel day ever...

...beth

I've seen fire and I've seen rain...

But I never thought that I'd see - SUN - again!

Oh yes, it's still cold as ever (upper 30's during the day) but it's been sunny! And warm (sorta)! I've been soaking up the radiation whenever I can, even if it's through windows at work. My plants have all survived the dark winter and cold temps, and are going strong. I think I'm kinda like a plant, I need water and sun to grow. Luckily, the sun is coming up earlier and staying up later, and there's plenty of water around here! I'm a happy camper...

Let it snow!

Some pics from the last couple weeks around the Oregon Coast and Pacific Northwest...




My home all pretty and snowy (including barn across the street and bamboo surviving the freeze!)





Highway 30 along the Columbia River towards Longview, WA...




A lovely view from I-5 in Seattle of two buses that slid down a hill from Capitol Hill and gave freeway-goers a scare!