First Day: Vaquita
SUBJECT:
Means little cow
Gulf of California, Marine Reserve
Did you know this little marine mammal, that has black spots which makes it look like a cow, is the tiniest Marine Mammel that exists?
Did you know its entire species is being surveyed by helicopters and protected with machine guns?
Why? Because it’s about 4-5 feet long and SO CUTE! They’re shy too.
Did you know only 80-150 exist and soley because humans keep accidentally killing them? Yes. They’re actually quite resilient to natural changes….but humans can harm even the most resilient of creatures.
STORY:
(Disclaimer: I want to blog in a different way, so please give feedback while I experiment)
As I sat in the darkened conference room learning about the situation between shrimp trawlers and the extremely endangered Vaquita , I finally had the chance to reflect upon my packed day.
The day was not stressful by anymeans, but I began my internship with 53 other Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) interns around the nation. In my department, we were 3 which started today.
I began my day taking the bart to work, right into the famous financial district. The first things I noticed: people’s shoes. Females in business clothes were wearing a range of cowboy boots, flip flops, and lots had on sneakers. Luckily, my housemate (who has been living in the city for a while) stopped me on the way out and gave me Shoe 101: wear comfy shoes to work, and switch to painful shoes before you enter the office. JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIES! I’ve lived in places where you suffer the painful shoes or you drive to work, so I’ve never experienced this transitory shoe system before.
As I walked towards the marble security station in the main lobby, with my heels clipping on the pristine floor, there was adrenaline. My work gets the best view on the pent-house floor, but getting there is a stomach jostler (28 floors in what feels like 10 seconds).
As for the actual day, meeting my supervisor, my new teammates, took up most of the morning.
We also shared a webcast meeting all the other interns from around the nation where we introduced ourselves.
We interns are a very impressive group of people. I am still in shock that I am here, but I know I am just as qualified.
Also, what I initially thought I would be working on was entirely changed.
I am no longer working on data-poor fish stocks (which I spent 2 weeks reading up on and what I’ve been broadcasting to the world), but instead I will be working on three OTHER projects.
One involves the vaquita- that project is fixed.
For the summer, I will be focusing on two projects as my personal projects where I will have deliverable products, however, my whole team (the Research and Development team: loosely similar to the show “Better off Ted”) will be innovating solutions on how to solve the ocean problems as they occur. An example of this is the Vaquita case:
These endangered porpoises are being accidentally caught in shrimp nets, and while we want to save the porpoise, we also understand that these fishermen also want to eat and earn money to survive.
Eventually, I stopped reflecting on my day, and I was able to ask poignant questions to prove my alert attentiveness during the presentation. I am then assigned to work on supply chains and biological data indicators of this shrimp versus vaquita problem. My supervisor Rod Fujita, started my experience with an “intake interview” so he could have an idea of what I wanted to achieve this summer. Therefore, the problems set before my team: Research & Development, can be attacked efficiently by our available skills and passion.
REFLECTION:
Passion I have, skills I am still building but I think I have a decent amount.
MIIS, you have prepared me well my first year to be fully engaged in my internship: Data analysis, GIS, International Environmental Laws, Economics, and exposure from my colleagues and their interests have me set for a good start (one colleague presented about her interest in RARE in Indonesia, and now we may be asked to work on helping RARE in Indonesia!).
So, Vaquitas, I will now try my best to save you (while remembering the livelihood of fishermen and related ecosystem also matter).
Posted by Cynthia Yeh on June 13, 2012 at 1:15 am | Comments & Trackbacks (0)