Ryan Langevin
Day 1)
Hi, my name is Ryan Langevin and I was initially interested in this project because of how close I live to Crystal Cove State Park. I grew up exploring Crystal Cove Beach, and have always loved spending time there. I used to love exploring the rocks and tide pools finding creatures living there. This, combined with my love of biology, made this my first choice for Service Learning projects. The opportunity to become SCUBA certified also intrigued me, since my father has encouraged me for years to become certified and to join him on dives. I look forward to becoming SCUBA certified and being able to help the COAST team on dives.
Day 2) Today we began preparing for the placement of lobster traps in Crystal Cove State Park. For the first part of the day, we did research on lobster and types of traps. We broke into three teams, the group studying lobster, the group studying types of traps, and my group, which focused on studying scientific papers on various research related topics. It was encouraging knowing that what I was learning could be used to directly improve how successful our service learning project is. I also learned a lot about the scientific process and how formal papers are written. The second part of the day was spent making the traps that we would later put out in Crystal Cove. It was a challenge to initially work efficiently in a team, but once we settled into our individual jobs, we were able to able to move forward quickly with making the traps. My job was to unwind rope into threads small enough to be woven into the traps. This required some communication on my part, because the threads had to be a specific size to be effective. Too small and the threads would be too frayed, too large and they would not be able to be woven. While we did not directly impact the community, we made preparations to do so on later service learning days. However, this does not mean that it was any less impact. I was able to improve my teamwork skills, along with learning about topics that will help me and the rest of our Service Learning group.
Day 3) Today, those of us working towards our diving certification (including myself) began working on the first step to obtaining certification. We were assigned coursework, in the form of a book and a DVD, to complete before our dives. After we inevitably complete the coursework, a good portion of which was finished today, we will complete five confined water dives in the dive center pool, and four open water dives at Catalina.
Up until this point, I have had some anxiety about diving out in open water.
The idea of being so far below the water with my only air strapped to my back
made me extremely uneasy. However, along with being informative, the DVD got
rid of some of the doubts I had about diving. After watching the video, I felt
reassured that my anxiety was fear of the unknown, and that as long as I am not
reckless, I will avoid most accidents.
We also planned a rough timeline for our dive certifications today. The rest of
the trainees and I plan on meeting up for our confined water dives on December
2nd, and doing all five dives in one day. It will be tiring, but in
the end it will be worth it, as getting certified quickly will allow us to
participate in the Service Learning dives faster.
4) Today started with a brief return to our old schedule to update and improve our plan for the rest of the year. I helped coordinate with the other members of the group to hash out the logistics of trap placement locations and times, including retrieval times and anchoring methods.
Day 5) I was sick today, and will be making up the hours I missed.
Day 6) Since the COAST service learning group will not be returning next year, the juniors joined the rest of the grade in a fair to find service learning projects to join next year. First, we all met in the MMLH and heard several speakers from faculty led projects. I was particularly interested in the Oral History project, which is focused on recording the stories of people who have gone through particularly moving or important experiences. I am also considering looking further into the Multicultural Symposium project, which puts together an event on campus that presents differing perspectives on current social issues. We then went out into town square. We wrote down things that concerned us in the community (I put pollution, lack of voice in government, and discrimination) and things that we were passionate about (the environment, education, and history). We were then tasked with finding other juniors with similar concerns or passions to join or brainstorm new projects together. I found quite a few other Juniors that were interested in creating a new environmentally focused service learning project, and a few others that wanted to do something with education. We met up in smaller groups to boil these vague ideas down into things that were more specific. Several of the people in my group came up with an idea for a driver's safety service learning, which, if they decide to pursue it, I may end up joining.
After a short break the actual project fair began, and I found several existing student projects that I am interested in. Specifically, there is a service learning project that aims at teaching middle school students public speaking skills. I would enjoy the education aspect of it, and I think that I would be able to effectively contribute to the project. After the fair we came back and rejoined what the rest of the COAST team was doing, which was analyzing the DNA from recovered specimens. We finished with the DNA extraction and will be proceeding with PCR/Gel Electrophoresis on our next service learning day.
Day 6) Today I began work in the Oral History service learning project. We put together a plan of action for next year, including a plan for each of the six service learning days. We plan on having the first service learning day set aside for preliminary research and preparation, and the last service learning day reserved for a field trip. The days between will be for conducting interviews and transcribing those interviews. Each person will be responsible for two interviews, one individually and one with a partner. We also began compiling a list of possible interviewees for next year, with a total of eight so far. Lastly, we created a list of other ways the project can expand, including getting a booth at multicultural fair. The plan is to pick a theme for next year after we flesh out the list of interviewees, so that we are not struggling to find people that fit the theme. With interviews done in the morning and transcription in the afternoon, we should be on track to get about ten interviews done next year. I am very excited for next year. I work well with the rest of the people in the group and know that we will be able to get a lot done.
4) Today started with a brief return to our old schedule to update and improve our plan for the rest of the year. I helped coordinate with the other members of the group to hash out the logistics of trap placement locations and times, including retrieval times and anchoring methods.
Then,
the rest of the members left to set up their respective traps off of various
docks, since conditions were too dangerous to allow for actual scuba diving. I
was the only person to stay behind, because we had collected specimens
previously that needed to be analyzed. The first step in this process was
taking photographs, which I did through a microscope under various lighting and
zoom settings. Next came the DNA work. I picked four of the most interesting
and easy to work with specimens and allowed them to digest with an enzyme in a
water bath. I then stored them in the refrigerator for later DNA amplification
and sequencing.
Hopefully, this work will allow us
to have an easier time identifying specimens that we retrieve from our traps.
Species can be compared against an existing global database for identification,
and if no information on the species exists, then its DNA barcode sequence can
be updated to help flesh out the database, helping both us and the community at
large. Day 5) I was sick today, and will be making up the hours I missed.
Day 6) Since the COAST service learning group will not be returning next year, the juniors joined the rest of the grade in a fair to find service learning projects to join next year. First, we all met in the MMLH and heard several speakers from faculty led projects. I was particularly interested in the Oral History project, which is focused on recording the stories of people who have gone through particularly moving or important experiences. I am also considering looking further into the Multicultural Symposium project, which puts together an event on campus that presents differing perspectives on current social issues. We then went out into town square. We wrote down things that concerned us in the community (I put pollution, lack of voice in government, and discrimination) and things that we were passionate about (the environment, education, and history). We were then tasked with finding other juniors with similar concerns or passions to join or brainstorm new projects together. I found quite a few other Juniors that were interested in creating a new environmentally focused service learning project, and a few others that wanted to do something with education. We met up in smaller groups to boil these vague ideas down into things that were more specific. Several of the people in my group came up with an idea for a driver's safety service learning, which, if they decide to pursue it, I may end up joining.
After a short break the actual project fair began, and I found several existing student projects that I am interested in. Specifically, there is a service learning project that aims at teaching middle school students public speaking skills. I would enjoy the education aspect of it, and I think that I would be able to effectively contribute to the project. After the fair we came back and rejoined what the rest of the COAST team was doing, which was analyzing the DNA from recovered specimens. We finished with the DNA extraction and will be proceeding with PCR/Gel Electrophoresis on our next service learning day.
Day 6) Today I began work in the Oral History service learning project. We put together a plan of action for next year, including a plan for each of the six service learning days. We plan on having the first service learning day set aside for preliminary research and preparation, and the last service learning day reserved for a field trip. The days between will be for conducting interviews and transcribing those interviews. Each person will be responsible for two interviews, one individually and one with a partner. We also began compiling a list of possible interviewees for next year, with a total of eight so far. Lastly, we created a list of other ways the project can expand, including getting a booth at multicultural fair. The plan is to pick a theme for next year after we flesh out the list of interviewees, so that we are not struggling to find people that fit the theme. With interviews done in the morning and transcription in the afternoon, we should be on track to get about ten interviews done next year. I am very excited for next year. I work well with the rest of the people in the group and know that we will be able to get a lot done.
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