Hi everyone, my name is Tahlia Trevino, and this is the fourth week at my internship at UCSB! It has been a very busy week for me, and I am excited to share with you all!

Monday, July 10th

Today I started my morning on a tour of the entire UCSB campus and learned more about the UC school application process. After the tour, I went to the campus store and bought a couple of items. After the tour, I went to the Miller Lab to start working on the project, once again identifying different species in images that have been taken in different transects. It was a very chill day since my mentor was out of town. After going to the Lab, I went to the beach and enjoyed the beautiful day!

Tuesday, July 11th

Today I got up early and went to the course I am sitting in on about the marine ecology of the marine-land interface, which had been very fascinating so far. Today we learned about reproduction and larval ecology, which is a vital part of life sustainability in the ocean. The main idea of the reproduction portion of the lesson was supply-side ecology which is the model used to determine the settlement rate, growth, and mortality of species in the ocean. For the larval ecology, the main focus was on how the mortality of larvae and depletion of larvae can determine where adult species are distributed; including the adults’ survival, settlements, and mortality. After class, I continued to work on the project in the Miller Lab till it was time to head out into the field. Today we traveled to Pismo Beach which is about an hour North. Today we were trying to find more sand crabs which are the species we were also searching for last week. Our first task was to find the largest sand crab. We divided into groups and got straight to work, it became competitive very quickly, but it was a bonding experience. We had to go out far into the ocean and dig in the sand, and it was a lot of work. Sadly my group did not win the Starbucks gift card, but we had a good laugh. After the challenge, we started our actual experiment, where we found hundreds of sand crabs and collected data to determine why sand crabs live where they do. We haven’t seen the data yet, but we will be receiving it soon! Then we started our trip back to Santa Barbara where we got back in pretty late, and I was ready to sleep.

Sand Crabs at Pismo Beach

Wednesday, July 12th

Once again I got up bright and early where and headed to downtown Santa Barbara to meet some new friends down at a cafe for an early morning bible study. The cafe we went to had amazing food and matcha which was good! Then I headed back to the campus to go and work in the Miller Lab on my project and talk to some of the lab members. After the lab, I head back down to Santa Barbara and saw some of my new friends and met some new people as we walked around downtown. It was really pretty as we walked down State Street, which is Santa Barbara’s Main Street. Then we headed back to Isla Vista and turned in for the night.

Coffee Shop in downtown Santa Barbara

Thursday, July 13th

Today I started by heading off to the lecture this morning which was led by my mentor Kristen. Today she talked about Sandy Beach which is a very interesting and complex ecosystem. Sand is constantly moving and changing which is mostly caused by wave action. Wave action is caused by storms and tides that influence the movement of sand. Sandy beaches have different transports. The first is Onshore-Offshore. In the summer the beach is Onshore meaning the beach is wide and the sea level is low. However, in the winter time, the beach is Offshore, and the beach area is smaller and narrower as the sea level rises. The second transport is littoral transport where the shoreline is being moved at an angle depending on the direction of the waves. In California, the waves during the summer are moving more South, so the sand moves to the South causing the build-up of sand in harbors and other man-built locations. This causes an issue where men then have to remove the sand so it doesn’t influence the movement of water into the harbor so that ships can come and go. The sandy beach also has zones that contain different communities that all depend on each other, but with human interaction on these beaches, many are losing their habitats and resources to survive. After a wonderful lecture, I head back to the Miller Lab where I worked on the project, identifying more and more species. During my lunch break, I met with some of my new friends, and we had an awesome lunch at Habit Grill which is a local restaurant in Isla Vista. After lunch, it was time for me to go to a lab down at Camino Majorca. Where we looked in the bluffs for fossils. These fossils are like dinosaur bones they are just very old shells that have been in these bluffs for years. We found a lot of shells from all periods such as the Cenozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, and Precambrian eras. There were shells so small and fragile, but there were also big and fully intact shells! We also determined whether they were Gastropods or Bi-Valves. It was very interesting to learn more about how scientists can determine shells from years ago and how long they have been around.

Sandy Beach Transports

Sandy Beach Ecology Zones

Friday, July 14th

Today I started by going to the beach early in the morning and watching the sunrise with my roommate. It was very pretty and nice to not see fog which we see a lot of days. Then I head to the lab and worked on the project, and enjoyed the beautiful day! I went on a walk on my break, and it was just perfect! After my day at the lab, I went to the beach with some of my new friends where we played volleyball and watched the sunset, it was a blast! Great way to end the week.

Saturday, July 15th and Sunday, July 16th

Saturday I spent my day in downtown Santa Barbara looking at all the shops and sitting at the beach for hours. Although Santa Barbara is smaller with it is filled with so much to see! I found a couple of things that I liked including a frozen yogurt shop. Sunday, I went down to Anaheim which is in LA. I went for fun with some of my new friends who were heading down for the day to explore and enjoy what was around there. Then we came back and ate some dinner, and I watched a movie with my roommates. It was a very fun week, and I am looking forward to next week!