That was the fastest and busiest summer I’ve ever had. Van life was a whirlwind that consisted of waking up each morning, jumping in the ocean, getting coffee, and then working for 12+ hours each day trying to balance developing our prototype, refining and practicing our pitch, meeting with everyone we possibly could, and working on the CBE – WWF Arctic Economics project! It was insane. So much work but somehow so much fun! And it all paid off in the end. Our pitch of Urbavore was extremely well received…we won the people’s choice award for best of show! And everyone loved all of the produce we provided at our booth; I never would have guessed people would be coming back for 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths for celery! But then again, that aquaponics celery is dam good. We’re still actively trying to find funding to move forward on several projects simultaneously. I like to say that we have all of the resources we need to make our vision happen, except for money. Read More →

This last month of my fellowship has been a whirlwind! My last update had me preparing to head off to Indonesia to begin to implement the study I designed for Pelagic Data Systems. Unfortunately, there were several complications in the fishery I was supposed to be working in, and as such plans had to change. But the change has been excellent!

I’m now splitting my time between two projects. I have resumed work for the CBE on the Arctic economics project with WWF. My focus within this project has been on the subsistence/indigenous economy, and I’ve been working to collect data and useful information to help understand how economic and environmental changes in the Arctic are affecting the indigenous populations. It has been a very interesting area to research, and I’m excited to contribute to such an important project!

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It’s kinda crazy that the first month of my summer fellowship has already passed by! It’s been an interesting month for me that has definitely required flexibility. Read More →