Who am I?

Found this little guy crawling around the old nursery a couple of weeks ago.

Queen conch have been drastically over fished throughout the Caribbean, so seeing one up close (and friendly) is rare! I loved his furry shell covered with algae!

New Additions!

Up until now, I've been setting up the coral nursery and filling it with tissue from colonies found in surrounding patch reefs. Now it's time for the fun part- experimentation!

While the knubbins grow in the nursery, we are setting up some other types of nurseries that are used around the world to determine the differences (if there are any) between "gardening" techniques.

Like in the Dominican Republic, we set up some small A frames and simply attached the coral fragments directly to the frame with cable (or zip) ties. This is a space saving technique as you can fit quite a few fragments on one frame. However, when dealing with multiple genotypes (or parent colonies), it's a little more difficult to keep track of the fragments.

There has been some evidence that using rope nurseries increases their growth by creating movement due to waves, currents and swells which either 1) discourages predation by fish or 2) by increasing potential food availability (corals can feed on small zooplankton within the water column by extending their polyp tentacles).

She's a Beauty!

After some work on my new bike, she went from totally geek.......

.....to totally chic!

Life at 33!

Wow- it seems like it was just yesterday that I was taking a cooking class in Thailand for my birthday and now it's already a year later!

I spent most of my birthday traveling home from Hawaii, but arrived back in Miami around 5pm. Just in time to make it home for a pizza making party with friends organized by my wonderful roommate, Brittany! A good way to relax with friends after a long day of traveling!

Remy doing his "pizza" dance

The best part.....my roommates and labmates surprised me with an awesome beach cruiser to tour around on in the Grove (I think Britt got a little tired of carting me around on the back of hers!). Sweet! Needs a little paint and some accessories (it's not a true beach cruiser without a bell and basket), but it's a great ride!

My new bike!

Here's Travis....trying to figure out how to stretch the pizza dough!

Brittany made cupcakes and Roxane brought home an ice cream cake (decorated by party participants)! My favorites!

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday such a great day!

Steph's Hawai'ian Adventure

I miss Hawai'i. I miss the weather, the mountains, the food, the amazing blue water and, most importantly, my friends. So, when I found an amazing deal on airfare, I bought myself an early birthday gift and took a vacation....to Hawai'i!

I arrived around 8pm on a Friday, just in time for first Friday celebrations in Chinatown. Annette, Jeff and Paula came to pick me up from the airport and we met up with a bunch of friends at JJ Dolans.

Paula, me and Annette in front of the fountain in Chinatown.....hey, it's tradition!

Annette and Jeff at JJ's

Molly and Paula are so excited, they can't contain themselves!

We spent the evening hopping around to our favorite places and even got some dancing in. Paula discovered the joy of street vendor hot dogs and BBQ beef at 2 am!

Saturday morning, we had brunch at the Waioli Tea Room in Manoa. Cute little place that has been around since the 20's. I had the french toast and a wonderful iced coffee.

Then it was off to get pedis at Rainbow Nails in Kaimuki where the girls continue to get their pre- and post-cruise pedis! I love the fact that the ladies who work there recognize us!

Afterwards, we headed to Waikiki for a girl's night out on the town!

Waikiki/Diamond Head- you can never have too many photos of Diamond Head!

We started with sunset cocktails at the Surfrider on the beach. Then it was off to the Rooftop Lounge while we waited for our table at Sansei. The Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll is to die for! Next, we moved on to The Yardhouse who is known for having the World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer. We ran into quite a few friends and had a great time! Especially with Kevin, my boat crush and movie quote partner!

Kevin and Paula start the Yardhouse Pose Off!

Kevin and Amanda (sorry Paula, Amanda won this pose off!)

Me and Paula

Impromptu Photo

Paula thought she was only taking a self-portrait.....she didn't realize we had lined up behind her until after she took it! We couldn't do that again if we tried!

Annette and Kerry.....say Ahhhhhh!

Kerry and I- always available for a laugh!

Paula started a dance-off with an Elvis impersonator........check out those moves!!

After a quick trip to Kelley O'Neil's for a pint, we headed to Mac 24/7 for some macaroni and cheese and banana chocolate walnut pancakes! I have never seen pancakes this big before. It took two carry-out containers to hold the leftovers!

On Sunday, we headed out to Bellows Beach for a BBQ and some boogie boarding! One of my favorite weekend activities!

Casey- such a sweet pup! Annette and Jeff are fostering this cutie for a member of the armed forces who was unexpectedly deployed. What a good cause!

Paula chowing down on some ribs! Not quite meat on a stick, but close!

Beach BBQ at Bellows? I'm excited!

The gang's all here: Cristi, Ben, Coleman, Jeff, Megan, Jake, Molly, Tomoko, Paula, Annette and Me!

The waves were a little too messy for boogie boarding and the breeze made it chilly in shade, so we had to sun ourselves to stay warm!

Such a great beach- very fond memories of hanging out here!

On Wednesday, Annette took the day off and we drove up to the North Shore. We started the day with a hike along the Kaunala Trail.

The trail winds it's way in and out of several gulches with great views of the North Shore and the Waianae Mountain Range.

These are paperbark trees which have light, spongy bark which peels off.

Lots of native and introduced flower and plant species are found along the trail.

The elevation was only about 600 feet, but after being in Florida for 8 months, even this looked tall!

Couldn't resist a little tree climbing!

The North Shore.

After our hike, Annette and I grabbed some sandwiches to eat at the beach and relaxed in the refreshing waves of Waimea Bay (which consisted of a couple of rogue waves which subsequently washed over our towels and clothes!).

After our trip to the North Shore, Ben and Cristi had us over for Indian food and a tour of their new apartment!

On Thursday, Kerry, Molly and I braved hiking up to Koko Crater which is a cinder cone from the last active volcano on Oahu. This trail is also known as "The Death March".

It's only 1100 steps to the top! The trail consists of old railroad ties used to transport military equipment to the lookout on top.

Step One!!!!

The hike gives some excellent views of Hawaii Kai and Makapu'u Head. At this point, Kerry wonders if it's too late to turn back! Kerry had already made this hike once, but was brave enough to do it again!

This photo is not a trick, this is the actual pitch of the trail! The scariest part was the bridge, where the ground disappears and you have to walk across nothing but the railroad ties!

Beautiful Hanauma Bay!

I made it! The views from the top are amazing and the strong breezes were awesome!

There wasn't much vegetation along this trail (probably because it's in the blazing sun), but there were some really cool cacti!

On the other side, you can see the ridge leading up to the crater.....

.......and look across Molokai'i channel to see Moloka'i and Lana'i. The water was magnificent from this view! It would be a great place for whale watching!

We had some much deserved dessert after our hike.....Bubbies! Oh how I miss mochi ice cream!

After some relaxing at Kerry's pool, we headed out to Indigo's for martinis......they were out of chocolate liquer though, so I had to settle for a strawberry and lychee martini. But we did, make it to Little Village for the best chinese food in Chinatown.....the eggplant and walnut shrimp are so yummy!

Paula hosted a great BBQ at her place on Friday (grilled pork loin and Annette's guacamole) and then I spent most of Saturday relaxing and packing and not wanting to come home!

I had such a blast hanging out with my girls and spending time with other great friends! Mahalo to everyone for opening up your homes, taking time off work, letting me invade your lives, and making this a great vacation!

I love you guys!

BioBlitz

Britt, me, Rolando and Diego at BioBlitz 2010!

Since 1996, National Geographic sponsors BioBlitz every year to bring hundreds of local scientists, naturalists, community leaders, schoolchildren and volunteers together in a 24 hour race to discover and record plant and animal species living within our national parks. This year, BioBlitz came to Biscayne National Park and was the first marine-based BioBlitzes which created interesting challenges!

Our lab holds permits to work within Biscayne National Park and our coral nurseries are located within park boundaries. So, we were asked to help out and lead some snorkel trips out to the reef to help show local schoolchildren the cool things that live just offshore and also document various coral, invertebrate and fish species found on the reefs.

It was an early day for us- we had to be at the park by 7 to catch the shuttle into the park and then board the snorkel boat. Each scientist on the boat was in charge of up to 4 kids and we were armed with clipboards, underwater paper, pencils and field guides. Energy was high, but unfortunately, so were the waves! The boat was taking 4 foot waves over the bow drenching the 9th graders before we even made it all the way out to the reef. They were troopers though and most got in the water (either before or after being sick off the stern!). Getting them to ID anything was tough though and we basically had to do a mental count of what we saw to document later! Good thing I have a photographic memory! I think the scientists actually ended up being more of babysitter/lifeguards than mentors!

So, I'm hoping we didn't ruin the concept of marine biology for those kids by taking impressionable young minds out in not so pleasant conditions, but it did bring to light that it's not easy out there! I don't get to just swim and dive around leisurely while soaking in the sun and getting natural highlights.....I'm usually cold, tired and somewhat seasick, but I have to do my job (and I wouldn't want it any other way!)

For more info about BioBlitz, check out:

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/bioblitz-2010/

Earth Day 2010

For Earth Day this year, I had the unique opportunity to go diving with Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This year's Earth Day focused on restoration and since our coral nurseries are NOAA funded, Dr. Lubchenco traveled to Key Largo to take a tour of the largest coral nursery within our program.
There are currently 6 coral nurseries in South Florida ranging from Fort Lauderdale all the way down to the Dry Tortugas. The nursery in Key Largo was established in 2001 and is therefore extremely more advanced than the nursery that I work in (but ours will be that big one day!). Each nursery has a project coordinator (me, etc.) and we were all stationed around the nursery working on the various tasks that is involved in running a coral nursery: measuring, fragmenting, building platforms, cleaning algae, etc. Dr. Lubchenco and other dignitaries were then escorted around the nursery by the project PIs (my boss, etc.) so that they could see all of the work that goes into propagating coral fragments and outplanting onto reefs. Dr. Lubchenco even used my brush underwater to help scrub away some of the algae from the coral platforms!

Here's a link to a video that was filmed during the Earth Day visit. If you pause it at 3:58, I'm the diver kneeling next to the platform facing the camera! Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/11229959