Monday, October 1, 2012

Ocean in a High CO2 World

The scientific conference went amazing, as did the film festival.

Monday, the conference opened, and schedules were determined. This was a very biology-heavy conference, as expected; it is really important to understand how specific organisms will react to Ocean Acidification (OA). However, my research deals in a tangential field (chlorophyll modeling), so I found I was  available during sessions dominated by organism-specific topics or coral calcification.

Opening Ceremonies


Monday, therefore, I was attending some Industry Seminars at the Blue Ocean Film Festival, broken by organisms-specific light/chlorophyll interactions on the science side. The evening was spent watching a cute movie about sea otters, after listening to Jean-Michel Cousteau and Sylvia Earle speak.

Tuesday was mostly science. I learned about specific diatoms, multiple stresses (e.g. CO2 and Temperature), and gave my poster presentation. A lot of people were impressed with the length and breadth of data my lab had collected, and a few suggested some directions to take it.

Wednesday was split between the science and film. The science had a couple of really neat sessions on OA policy, while the festival had some self-help seminars on balancing work/life. A luncheon discussed OA monitoring off of California, and dinner was in the Monterey Bay Aquarium (future post for pics).

Alisha's Mom was in for the Film Festival


Thursday, I drove home to give a talk on Friday at the International Meeting for Students in Physical Oceanography (future post). The RAV4 performed admirably once more.

Fisherman's Wharf


Somethings Interesting:
--Each restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf is approximately the exact same place (moderately priced seafood). They offer free samples of clam chowder, drink deals, and free appetizers to draw in customers; still they're often found empty.

--I made some conference friends; people from other institutions who you create a connection the first day, stand with during coffee breaks, and sit with in sessions. They seemed pretty neat, especially a French Canadian dude named Robin, but I don't remember some of their first or any of their last names.

--This conference had a ticket system for providing beer; AGU and ASLO both just have beer until it runs dry.


I've got a good little car, here at my hotel



Mayor of Carmel, a position formerly held by Clint Eastwood

Jean-Michel Cousteau's sweet tie

Sylvia Earle

Jean-Michel Cousteau
Sylvia Earle

Scripps Folk

Plenary, day 2

Showing off my poster

Google Earth hooked up to five Giant Screens

Farmer's Market Strawberries

As of this posting, I'm hungry

Making slides about science while listening to science

Closing Ceremonies




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