Welcome, everyone! My name is Chloe Hehir and for the next three weeks, I will be in Santa Barbara California studying marine biology and aquatic animals at an educational site located on USCB’s campus called REEF. 
I arrived in California on Saturday night, where we met and ate with my host family for the next few weeks. The next day, my mom (who came with me for the weekend) came to pick me up and we went surfing along with a family friend in the area. Then, we went and grabbed some yummy Greek food and did some necessary chores. As the day was drawing to a close, we went to our friend’s house for an amazing dinner!
The next day was time to head to REEF for the first time! We met my mentor, and then about 15 minutes later we went straight into a meeting with his staff of undergraduate aquarists. Then, I got an “unofficial textbook” to read for a little bit at the outside learning picnic tables. I got to read it with an ocean view since the campus is right on the ocean! After that, an undergraduate named Eva showed up to show me around. We checked the flow of the tanks, the water quality, and I just learned the basics of the REEF. Then, I got to have lunch on Campus Point beach that is located around 100ft away from the offices. After that, I shadowed the undergraduates while they zoomed with the upcoming freshman in USBC. When the day was finally over, I got driven home and ended the day with a nice hot tub. 
The next day when I got to REEF more undergraduates, Zoe and Claire, were there to show me how we feed the marine life at the organization. We feed animals like sea stars and lobsters whole muscles, while things like sea urchins and abalone get kelp, and the sharks, eel, fish, etc get a mix of anchovies, squid, and muscles. Then, we loaded into a van to go on a field trip to explore “Our Maritime Community”. We went to the top of the Santa Ynez mountains and looked out on the city. When we got back we did some water quality testing which was really cool to see how things like nitrates and phosphates play into water levels in the tanks. When the long work day ended, I biked home and stopped at a beach on the way back. I went swimming and played in the waves for a little bit before I got home.
Wednesday morning I woke up and biked into the REEF. Today’s main activity was that I learned how to siphon. This means we had to clean the animal’s waste and food out of the tanks that we had fed the day before. Then, we had a group of girl scouts come in that we toured around our beach and did activities with. After that, I went to some zoom meetings with my mentor before biking home in the afternoon (14 miles a day!).
Thursday was kind of an “in-between day” for the animals, so it involved just flow and water quality, among other things. We checked on the white abalone, which is an endangered species that REEF is taking care of. Then, I went to another few orientations with incoming freshmen before shooting some pictures and videos with another undergraduate named Mykayla. Afterward, I went to play tennis with my host, went for a run and went swimming in the pool by the house.
The end of the week was another feeding and water quality day with Zoe. After that, I and another undergraduate named Andi cleaned the office for a few hours and we actually got a lot done! Then we got a tour session of the water treatment. It is really cool how we filter all the seawater for the labs around campus. Since we got done a bit early, I went surfing for a little bit, before making the (slowest) ride back to the house. I paused for a little break to read and ended up getting dinner as well.
Saturday I had a nice luxurious morning and slept in. Then, after breakfast, I went and explored down by Stern’s Warf. I walked around and read by the beach and read a bit before going back to the house and making dinner. Then, I watched some shows and went to bed.
Sunday is not yet over, but so far I have woken up and gone to the farmers market with a really nice person from the REEF and her friends. We got some yummy fruit and wandered around the streets! Now I am planning on going to the beach and my host family is having a bbq tonight! Hopefully it is fun!
Thank you guys so much for following along on my journey, I’m excited to see what the next two weeks bring!
I love to hear all about your week and what you did at REEF.
This sounds so wonderful! I’m glad you are getting to have this experience. Thanks for sharing.