July 2, 2011
Saturday at the Lab
Since I had been regularly waking up before seven for the past couple of weeks I had no problem hopping out of bed with plenty of time to spare before the 10:00 am Saturday at the Lab, an open to the public outreach program run by Wrigley. Losing track of the time, I suddenly realized I was going to have to hustle to make it to Wrigley on time. Fortunately I had borrowed one of the Specialized mountain bikes, available at Wrigley, donned the requisite safety gear and hit the dusty trail, literally. The ride to Two Harbors, though uphill, was able to be taken at a leisurely pace and was quite pleasant. Unfortunately, being in a rush had quite a different effect on biking uphill on dirt roads. If I stood while going uphill the rear tire would spin without my weight pressing down on it and the downhills were rapid, causing me to fishtail both a harrowing and thrilling experience as I would take a couple of the hairpin turns along the road to Wrigley. Eventually I arrived at Wrigley in one piece, parked the bike and stopped by the office to talk to Sean Connor, Wrigley Manager, and met up with Sabrina and Alex. He talked over the general plan of Saturday at the Lab, gave us a cheat sheet to reference during the tour if need be and introduced me to Cheryl, a graduate student studying bacteria and protists who has been giving tours on Saturdays for awhile, and Wei, a graduate student joining Saturday at the Lab for the first time.
Once the visitors assembled Cheryl gave a history of the Wrigley facility and discussed the research focus of the facility. She then led everyone into the lecture room where she discussed her research of bacteria, including her worldwide travel and the shocking statistic that there are more bacteria in the ocean than stars in the sky. After fielding questions, Cheryl led the group through the lab facility discussing who can research at the facility and the benefits of having a Marine Protected Area right next to the lab. The tour then went to the touch tank, which the kids definitely loved, especially the “dancing” leopard shark. After the touch tank Sabrina, Alex and I gave a short discussion about island chaparral ecosystems, invasive species [with a piece of fennel for display] and our work as trail-builders. The tour ended at the Hyperbaric Chamber, a place to treat dive injuries run by USC and LA County. Karl Huggins gave the tour of the facility and is the director of the hyperbaric chamber and worked towards the development of the HUGI dive tables so that divers would not need to visit a hyperbaric chamber. Saturdays at the Lab are very informative and the people that come to Wrigley all seem to be very knowledgeable people looking to learn a little bit more about marine science and Catalina Island.
For more information on Saturday at the Lab click here.