Stephanie Spends Her Summer in The Haven

This summer I decided to live in Lock Haven due to the job that I have at the Student Rec Center.  I have been working 5 days a week, Monday through Friday, and unfortunately that's really all my day consists of.  On the weekends I will get together with my friends who are also living up here and we usually try to go floating down the Susquehanna River (but that's just about as exciting as it gets).  I went to Wildwood NJ for a weekend with Lauren, and on the fourth of July I will be getting together with some more teammates and making a trip to Philadelphia for a few days.  Other than that I do not have anything else planned, but occasionally I will visit my friends in their hometowns or go home so I can see my family.  Lets hope everyone else is having a more exciting summer than I am!


-Steph

Summer Internship in Boston

Anyone can tell from my ghostly pale skin that I have been having an atypical summer. Instead of being home, enjoying the warm, sunny days at Lake Erie, I have been in Boston for an internship. No amount of sun could make me regret my choice to take on this experience working in the Harvard Hospital system. I shadow several doctors throughout the week during their clinical rotations, and on their off days, I help with their research. I am grateful for their time, patience and belief in my abilities. They push my boundaries and allow me to succeed. The highlight of my summer thus far was successfully diagnosing my first patient in the ER (with the supervision of one of the doctors of course) and contributing to a study with the potential of being published in several reputable journals.

I look forward to getting back onto the court this coming fall, and having afternoon/night practices. Since my commute is about an hour to an hour and a half via train every day, I have been waking up at 5 am to get to the gym. Let’s just say I am relieved to have coaches who do not like to have morning practices! 

-Beth

Cody Returns from Sailing on U.S. Brig Niagara

Hi Everyone! So I just got back from what was probably one of the coolest trips I’ve ever been on. I spent over 3 weeks as a sailor/scientist on the U.S. Brig Niagara I sailed out of the Niagara’s homeport of Erie on June 17^th after a week of training, and finally returned July 3^rd after weeks of “science” as the crew called it. This ship was a replica of the ship used in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. So, it looked and functioned just like it did 200 years ago. They had to add “heads (aka bathrooms, but with no flush toilets), a diesel motor, and all your standard navigation/radar equipment. We slept in hammocks on the berth deck, and went days and days without showers.  We lived with and were part of the ship’s crew. It was a lot to learn and get used to!

On our voyage, the goal was to conduct water and sediment sampling and assess the water quality in each location. I’ll save all the nerdy details, but in short we collected water samples, used probes to get data from the water column to put on graphs, scooped some mud off the bottom to see what’s down there, and grew microbes from each water sample check certain bacteria levels.  We also used side-scan sonar and an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to look at shipwrecks underwater. We were also supposed to snorkel a wreck while at the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, MI but couldn’t because of a thunderstorm.

               

When we left Erie, we sailed east to the Eastern Basin of Lake Erie. Here, we took our samples and got our data, then spent the rest of the time dodging thunderstorms. Then we turned around and headed west, stopping in the Central Basin to sample along the way, and finally ended up in the Western Basin  and docked at Put In Bay, OH.  Here, we got to have a little bit of fun in the port, but spent almost all of our time at Ohio State University’s Stone Lab. We were able to use their facilities and equipment to gather information about the bay and the lake itself. Put In Bay is also very important to the Niagara’s history because the Battle of Lake Erie occurred about 12 miles off the coast of this port. You could see right out onto the battle site from the top of Perry’s Monument on the shore.

             

After about 4 days at Put In Bay, we left and sailed up the Detroit River, through Lake St. Claire, up the St. Claire River, and across Lake Huron to Georgian Bay. We spent an entire day surrounded by fog. This area still had ice on it a few weeks before we arrived. Georgian Bay is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We stopped at Club Island, which is actually uninhabited, and explored a shipwreck. It took an hour and a half to row to the wreck site, but it was well worth it. We didn’t need any fancy equipment to see the remnants; the water was so clear you could see 50 feet below you.

            

Our last scheduled stop was Alpena, Michigan. The waters in this area are part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and are home to a multitude of shipwrecks. The cold water temperature has enabled the wrecks to be very well preserved. Our professor had us build an ROV from a kit and explore the underwater portion of the ship as a fun way to model exploring a shipwreck with a real ROV. We also got to go to the Thunder Bay Museum and had a guided tour from the museum’s marine archaeologist to really get a feel for the area’s rich shipping history. For our last “science” activity, we were supposed to snorkel a wreck in shallow water just off the coast, but got rained out by a thunderstorm. Then, more thunderstorms caused the ship to leave early.

                

On our way home we stopped in Port Huron to stay out of more thunderstorms, then headed straight for Erie. We made one pit stop to drop off two of the faculty scientists and their fancy equipment at Stone Lab, then set sail again. This was only the third time we had to set sail or take in sail at night, and it was scary but also an adrenaline rush to be a hundred feet up in the rigging loosing out the sails in the dark. The next day, the winds slowed down so we got to “Hove to” (stop) and captain made a swim call. It was so much fun to go swimming off the ship. You don’t realize how big the Niagara actually is until you’re bobbing in the water next to her. Everyone laughed at me for bringing a floatie and we all had a blast.

                

When we finally got back to Erie, we had all kinds of crew work to do and science things to finish up. It was a really strange feeling when it was time to leave because we’d just spent basically all day every day for the last month with the same people. It was strange to leave. I made so many new friends and got to experience so many new things. I also learned a lot to put towards my degree.

               

Now that I’m back home, things are pretty much the same as before I left. All of the returners on the team know how much I love being home and how I talk about everyone/everything like you all know these people/places too. I’ve been hanging out with my Gramy a lot and working like crazy at the restaurant. It’s almost time to make hay on the farm too, one of my favorite times of year. Hopefully I can get my dad to let me drive the tractor. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

-Cody

Jessica's Summer Plans

So far this summer I have been enjoying the sun and relaxing, with the exception of going to the gym and working out. I am going to Florida for vacation mid July, and coaching volleyball camps through GMS. It is my first year officially coaching and I am very excited and kind of nervous. For camps I will be traveling as far as New Hampshire and West Virginia, and I have some here in PA. Other than that I plan on relaxing and enjoying my time off, while focusing on the upcoming volleyball season, bettering my game, and possibly getting into a couple of grass or sand outdoor tournaments.

-Jess