Open doors

As I approached my senior year, I noticed I was seriously lacking the experience I wanted to have before entering the working world. I researched a lot of CI teams, interviewed with a few, but I found myself sparked with excitement at the thought of joining the Conservation of Marine Resources team. Not only would I be able to work under someone as passionate, knowledgeable, and fun as Dr. Childress, but I felt a deep connection to what the CI research stood for. It was real world research that was searching for patterns, and hopefully answers, on how to conserve the rich and magnificent world of our oceans. This lab offered me mulit-project experience and even field work in the Florida Keys! It has also allowed me to get my feet wet, literally, with hands on animal care. While apart of this lab, we have explored all sides of research! We have read and analyzed similar research papers and even attended conferences such as SEEC (Southeastern Ecology Conference). This lab has allowed us to evaluate our own teams’ research, produce posters, and also present our findings to public audiences. From beginning to end, this lab prepared me for what it takes to be a part of scientific research.  But despite how amazing the lab was at exposing me to the real world of research, the best thing this lab gave to me was a family. Dr. Childress, Daniel, Kelan, Ash, Kylie, Lauren, Jac, Taylor, and Randi are not just my lab mates but have become like a second family. I have not attended one meeting where there wasn’t some hysterical laughter or special moment. This lab is the best of both worlds. It combines cold hard science with a warm and friendly atmosphere. Joining this team has opened up so many opportunities and revealed new and possible paths to take in my future. As I get ready to walk across the stage at Littlejohn, I know that joining this team was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my college career. For some of you out there, this Creative Inquiry is just an unopened door, an unlocked opportunity to make the most out of your Clemson experience. My advice to all of you, is to open that door. You won’t regret it. 

DInner Time with CMR

It's hard to believe the school year and my time in the Conservation of Marine Resources CI is coming to a close. If the school year was a day then the table would be set, the food would be served and we'd be starting to eat. To properly review everything that happened since my last blog and bring closure to my tenure on the team, I thought it was fitting to do a best/worst for the year. As per usual, I'll start with the best:

3) FOCI: I was only able to get to one poster conference, but it was nice to witness the fruits of our labor and present our work to judges and "Taking a bite out of the reef" adoring fans. Unfortunately we were unable to achieve the same success as last years parrotfish poster, but I have to think that was do to our positioning in the back of the 3rd room.

2) Diving with a bull shark: I was lucky enough to go on census trips to the Keys two more times this year, first in October and then once again over winter break. Some secondary highlights of the trip include my first opportunity to dive with young Rhandi, becoming a life long bro with Shawn at KML, and watching a live performance of Juke Box Hero. To the average Keys diver this may be fine and dandy, but swimming with a 12' bull shark at 11' Mound took the cake. It was an exhilarating rush to see such a powerful and dangerous creature up close, and I got some footage to boot. Editors note: it was confirmed by Sarah who works with sharks that it was definitively a Bull Shark.

1) Animated Powerpoint slide: the list is long and impressive, but by far my crowning achievement for the year was when Jac and I dropped knowledge on the lab about parrotfish species of the Florida Keys and our census methods. They say actions speak louder than words and a picture is worth a thousand words, so a picture that moves and requires no words to explain what is going on must be very loud and verbose.

Now on to worst,

3) Lobsters: these little critters were the bane of my existence this year. One of them tail flipped and sprayed me with water when I was trying to feed him. Another one molted precisely a day before my feed day knowing that Daniel would but half the molt on top of the tank and scare the crap out of me when I glanced up. Big Joe was alright though.

2) Almost dying: I think I almost died at least a handful of times this year. Obviously the bull shark spared my life and could have killed me at any moment. Randi almost got into a car accident pulling in at AutoZone. Davy Jones himself almost took us and the SS Argus on our way to Porkfish reef. But alas I'm still standing, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger I hear.

1) Poisonwood: Allow me one throwback to the summer if you will, because this was one of the most annoying experiences of my life. No longer will I take having unswollen and pain free hands for granted, and never again will I touch Daniel's guitar. Simply put, man is not meant to float underwater with red balloon hands while trying to zip tie vexar predatory exclusion cages.

Between The Hedges

       On one March afternoon, a group of my colleagues and I caravanned down to Athens, Georgia to attend The Southeastern Ecology and Evolution Conference (SEEC).  Armed with a will to win and truckload of confidence derived from a 2nd place victory in a previous poster competition, my partner Jac Whitt and I had our eyes set on first place.  Athens however, proved to offer more than what can be gained from victory.

       We began our weekend with dinner in Athens as a group, then after a late-night board game session in the lobby of the hotel, it was off to bed to rest up for SEEC in the morning.  The first thing we all noticed when driving onto campus was the beauty in the architecture of UGA's buildings.  With stone archways and marble columns, it looked more like Greece than Georgia.  The next aspect of SEEC that swept us off our feet was the plenary lecture given by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni.  I believe she inspired us all to be better scientists and better people.  Following Dr. Nadkarni's lecture, there were talks being held all over about a multitude of different ecological topics and research projects.  It can best be described as an all you can eat buffet of science.  We attended several talks until noon, when we were served a box lunch provided by the SEEC organizers at UGA.  Following the meal, my Clemson colleagues and I took the remaining lunches to homeless shelters in the area.  While this was not associated with SEEC, it was a memorable and fulfilling experience that I believe deserved mentioning.  After the afternoon session of talks, the poster presentation began.  Strangely our cut-throat attitude and drive to win seemed to have faded in the wake of our experience thus far.  I believe it was then that we learned that conferences such as SEEC aren't about winning, but about fellowship with like-minded people from around the country.

       SEEC proved to be an unforgettable experience that renewed our appreciation for what we do.  We were able to present our research with perhaps a bit more pride than before.  We made new friends and shared new experiences with old ones.  I certainly look forward to returning to SEEC in 2016 with more research, a new poster, and a fresh outlook on science. 

-Daniel Coster

I have been an avid diver for about a year and fell in love with it from the beginning. I’ve done numerous dives along coral reefs and wrecks but I was looking for something more than just being a tourist of the sea. Then I got the opportunity to go to the Keys as a member of the Childress lab for spring break, which completely changed the way I look at diving.

To start from the beginning of the week, a group of six students from the Childress lab accompanied our graduate assistant, Kylie Smith, to Athens, GA to present at the SEEC conference. This was great experience to see the incredible research that other undergraduate and graduate students were doing. We got to see a very impactful keynote speaker who presented on her overlap of forest conservation and social justice. This inspired our lab to work on community outreach with our lab studies. We also got to present posters of our own research to graduate students. This weekend was a lot of fun for our lab group because we got to bond and become close in a way we weren’t able to before. We even delivered all of the unserved food from the conference’s lunch to a nearby homeless shelter. This was an enriching experience for us that brought all of us close to each other.

As the two day conference came to a close, I hopped in a giant truck and drove down to the Florida Keys with two other students and Kylie. It was a twelve hour drive full of singing, laughing and great conversation. The drive was a perfect way to kick off the week in the Keys and we were all so excited to get there. We began our mornings early and acted together to get the boat loaded and ready for the day’s work.  We did reef condition reports and parrotfish behavior analyses. This took my love for diving to a completely new level because, for the first time, I was diving for a purpose. I wasn’t just going underwater to look at pretty fish anymore – I was doing productive research for marine ecology. It was a hard day’s work as we visited multiple sites in one day. I spent half my time under water doing condition reports on our transplanted coral as well as following parrot fish around to observe their behavior. The rest of the day was spent on the boat loading and preparing gear, and assessing the water quality. The work was long and could be challenging at times but we kept good attitudes the entire time, laughing and joking around all day long. Most of the time, the work did not actually feel like work. It was just fun to be with such a great group of people in a beautiful place, researching something I am passionate about.

We had five days to complete our research but the three of us undergraduate students decided we wanted to get it done in three days so we could have time to play in the Keys. Kylie did not think this would be possible but we worked very hard and put in extra hours on the boat on the second and third day and shockingly we were able to finish by our goal! Our last two days in the Keys were incredible and I will never forget them. We spent our first free day doing some fun dives where we saw an incredible amount of turtles, nurse sharks, and even a sea horse! These dives were the highlight of the trip for me and we even got to spear some lion fish, which are horribly invasive to the reef. On our last day we went to Key West and had a great time site seeing, particularly watching all of the crazy street performers at the Sunset Festival! While in Key West, we sat down over dessert and reflected on the amazing week we had. None of us wanted to leave and we got to share our favorite part of the week. We all agreed it was difficult to choose only one event!

I think the best part of the week in the Keys was that the four of us did everything as a team. We grocery shopped together, cooked together, and spent all of our free time together. This allowed us to bond very quickly and, even though it was a long and intense week, we never complained or got sick of one another. This week taught me a lot about team work because we made all of our decisions for the good of the group. We were brought together by our love for diving and our passion for marine conservation but we established friendships that go far beyond that. 

 A beautiful day on the boat, about to go diving!

The view from our spring break house as the sun began to set. 

SEEC

         This semester, I got to attend my first major science conference, The Southeastern Ecology Conference. The lab had attended a smaller conference at Clemson earlier in the semester, but SEEC was on a whole different level.
         The weekend began on Friday, we caravanned over to Athens, GA. After two hours of trying to keep up with Kylie on the road, we arrived at our hotel. We all got checked in and we all began to get really excited! Since it was already getting kind of late, we decided to head over to downtown to get checked in for SEEC and eat dinner. We ate at Mellow Mushroom and all bonded over pizza. After hours of exchanging ghost stories (which weren't exactly my favorite) and quizzing each other with trivia questions, we headed back to the hotel to get rested up for the big day.
         Saturday morning began early. We all woke up and got ready and convened in the hotel lobby. As we headed over to the UGA campus I began to get really nervous and excited all at once. I had had the opportunity to present my work to my fellow Clemson peers but the crowd that was going to be at UGA was diverse and new. The morning began with a wonderful keynote speaker who talked about unique and innovative methods of reaching out to more people about conservation issues. Her ideas ranged from the Tree Climber Barbie Doll to hosting parties in the jungle inviting all different types of artists. Her topic was very interesting and relatable seeing as a major focus for all of us in the lab is conservation and conservation awareness. After the keynote speaker we got to walk around and attend different talks that interested us. My favorite talk was from a guy who studied fish who had symbiotic relationships with sharks. It was really cool to see all the different research going on in schools across the Southeast. After the talks, it was our turn to present at a poster session. Me and Lauren had a lot of people come talk to us about our poster and it was really fun to discuss our project to other ecologists and behavioral scientists. They provided us with a lot of good input and commended the work we had done.
          After the conference was over we all went downtown to eat. We were all pretty tired at this point but it was a great time to reflect on all that had happened that day. Overall, attending SEEC was a lot of fun! It offered us time to bond as a lab, learn about a ton of other research projects going on in the Southeast and ultimately share our project that we have worked so hard on with more people. I can't wait to attend my next big conference!
         

   A Handful of Divers and a Boat
     This summer I embarked on an adventure entirely new to me in almost all ways.  On May 12, 2014 I piled into a Clemson University vehicle with motley crew of students with our sights set on the Florida Keys.  Working with graduate student Kylie Smith in the lab of Dr. Michael Childress, we were tasked with a summer of research in the water, obtaining data on the coral reefs of The Keys.  With fair weather and water as blue as the sky, we hit the ocean swimming.  We began our data collection with a census of the parrotfish population at 14 previously established sights.  During the census, we also performed behavioral observations of all parrotfish species.
     I was a greenhorn to the diving world upon arriving in The Keys but quickly adapted to the salt life in a very literal sense.  We spent a minimum of a couple hours in the water on most days but still couldn't seem to get enough.  After completing the census, the team began replacing cages on the reef that had been placed there for Kylie's ongoing experiment observing correlations between parrotfish grazing, macro algae and corals that were transplanted as part of the experiment.  Cage instillation was a true test of will and grit but it proved no match for our dream team of divers.  We accomplished this feat some two weeks ahead of schedule.  This extra time allowed us to broaden our horizons and venture out to new sites to gather census and behavioral data.
     It is fair to say that our data collection period from approximately May 12 to July 24 yielded a bountiful crop of data in the form of video, and hundreds of data sheets printed on underwater paper.  However, this was not the only success.  The team shared many experiences, laughs and good times.  We that were new to The Keys were able to experience what were considered the most sought after aspects by locals and researchers that have been there for years.  It was nothing short of a summer for the books and I am proud and privileged to have been a part of it.
                                                                      -Daniel Coster

Summer in the Keys

All my life I have always wanted to do two things: make a difference in someone’s life, and be in the water. This summer was my first opportunity to do both of these things. The beginning of my summer consisted of conducting leadership workshops for high school students within my role as a state officer for the South Carolina FFA Association. I also organized and helped to present an annual state FFA conference at Clemson University. Every day was a new challenge and new reward, and after it was all over I was convinced that there was no possible way my summer could get any better. I proved myself wrong when I wound up in the Florida Keys only a few weeks later.

My first day in the water was one of those rare experiences in life that I know I could never forget. Seeing all of the things firsthand that I had always looked at in an aquarium or watched on discovery channel was something that was absolutely incredible to me. Every day was like this for me, it held something new and unbelievable. From swimming with sharks to capturing juvenile lobsters, I began to learn just how much I loved the ocean, and life in it.

It was not just my love of the ocean that grew during my time in the Keys, but also my respect and reverence for science. Almost every day we would go to two or more of our fourteen sites and observe parrotfish, count the number of different species present, and analyze the condition of our caged corals. This in itself was incredible to take part of, but it was the relationship I learned that all of these parts have to the whole ecosystem that I found fascinating. Every site was different, and the interactions among the organisms while similar, were also varied. Seeing these ecosystems firsthand convinced me even further of how important research and the people who conduct it are to the sustainability of life in the ocean.

 

Before joining this Creative Inquiry, an experience like the one I had this summer was merely a dream for me. Becoming dive certified, staying a month in the Florida Keys, learning about an ecosystem in a world that seems completely different from our own, discovering that this is for sure the career for me and spending time with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met were just a few of the many reasons that this class is the most important (and obviously most fun) one I have yet to take at Clemson. Although my other classes have helped to make me feel more prepared for a life after graduation, it is because of this one class that I know I will have the confidence to pursue a career that I will love and one that I will be much more prepared for. All I can say to this program as well as Dr. Childress and Kylie is thank you for this opportunity, I will continue to make the most of my time in this class as well as at Clemson.

MedEx Academy

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to be involved in a pre-medical program in association with the Greenville Health System called Medical Experience Academy. The program invited 40 students from surrounding colleges to spend six weeks at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine-Greenville. We were able to gain clinical shadowing hours at the hospital, classroom time with clinical staff and medical students, as well as research and presentation experience. I had the privilege of spending days with physicians in ten different specialties, and gained hours observing both office visits and surgeries. Through my time both at the school and the hospital, I learned more about the field I hope to work in and it made me so excited to continue pursuing medicine. The program also allowed me to gain more experience presenting on various research topics, which I hope to apply to my work in Dr. Childress’s lab. This semester, I am looking forward to working with Kylie and Randi on analyzing the data for our coral transplants. We will be further monitoring the relationships between coral condition, macroalgae cover and parrotfish grazing behaviors

Parrotfish Party

The Conservation of Marine Resources Creative Inquiry reloaded with some new faces this year, and I was happy to be one of them. I spent the month of June working with Kylie and Daniel in the field working on cage installation and data collection in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Our first job was to construct new PVC and vexar "cages" and secure them to the seabed using rebar and zip ties. The cages were installed at the seven "A" sites, and we even found quite a few of the cages installed last summer by the team. We had the good fortune of removing and recycling the old equipment, which looked and smelled just about how you would expect for something sitting in the ocean for a year. 

Following installation, we moved our focus to data collection using surveys, fish observations, and GoPro cameras in the absence of divers. Because the observations had to be done at both A and B sites, there were 14 total sites that we went to. Our "Dream Team" would attach GoPro cameras at the site, then move to another area of the reef or a completely different site to conduct observations of the parrotfish behavior. Each fish was followed for at least 3 minutes, and every observation of the grazing and overall behavior was noted on fancy underwater paper. The battery life on the cameras lasted about 2-3 hours, giving us just enough time for lunch and a relaxing lay on the boat before we went back down to remove the cameras.

Throughout the semester we will analyze our video, pictures, and fish observation sheets. The goal is to continue to collect data and evidence to contribute to Kylie's project, and begin to look at additional aspects of the parrotfish/coral reef relationship. For example, the videos taken this summer will be analyzed to better understand how jaw morphology and bite rates of the different species and phases of parrotfish will influence what they are consuming within the reefs. Hopefully a better understanding of how the species differ in their grazing capabilities and tendencies will allow a better understanding of parrotfish herbivory on coral and algae within the Florida Keys.

My Big Summer Adventure

This summer I traveled all the way to Chaing Mai, Thailand for a veterinary program through Loop Abroad. During the first week, I stayed at ENP (Elephant Nature Park), which is a rescue sanctuary for approximately 40 Asian elephants. Many of these elephants were landmine victims, abused, and/or logging and trekking workers. These amazing creatures are being given a second chance at a better life. While there, I prepared the elephants’ meals, created medicine balls out of hundreds of bananas, cleaned and treated an elephant’s abrasions, went tubing down a river, visited a village school, bathed elephants, cut down corn stalks with a machete, scooped elephant poop, and attended a Thai culture class.

During the second week, I stayed at the Spicy Thai Hostel, located in the true city of Chaing Mai. Most days consisted of driving out to ARC, a dog/cat shelter, to learn about some aspect of veterinary care. I learned how to draw blood for the first time, how to find and calculate a heart rate and respiration rate, how to diagnose and treat common canine/feline diseases, and how to carry out a heartworm test. I also observed a leg surgery that was done on a dog that had been presumably cut with a machete, as well as an eye surgery that was done on another dog that was unable to fully open its eyes. Lastly, I assisted in two neutering surgeries, one of a dog and one of a cat. For the dog neutering, I administered a pre-anesthetic before operating and then scrubbed in for surgery. Needless to say, it was very hot wearing latex gloves, a face mask, and a hairnet in Thailand’s summer climate, without air conditioning.

In our free-time, we were able to experience Thailand’s culture by going to more tourist-like attractions. We visited the night markets, a couple of malls, various Thai temples, and an orchid and butterfly garden. We also hiked up Doi Suthep Mountain (took 3.5 hours!), watched a cabaret show, swam in a waterfall, released paper lanterns (like in the Disney movie Tangled), stayed at a Thai hotel, and walked through underground caves. One of my favorite things we did that week was visit Tiger Kingdom, a tiger reserve, where we were able to interact with tiger cubs, as well as full grown tigers.

From having two flights cancelled and having to drive all the way up to New York, to sitting on a fourteen hour flight, to meeting amazing people from all over the world, this trip was absolutely amazing and something I’ll never forget.