Ecotoxicology and Birds (Mon - Wed, July 13-15)

Monday we spent all day talking about toxins in the environment, especially endocrine disrupters and reproductive issues. Tuesday we started the day with introductory avian lectures, and more toxicology. In the afternoon we had short projects that we had to present with a group on methods to try to get toxicologic insults behind us. My group was assigned "major metropolitan areas of developed countries" as our specific area to focus on. With only an hour to figure out how to fix all the ecotox problems in urban areas, and summarize the problems and our solutions in a 10 minute powerpoint, the group was a little on edge. But we managed to pull together a presentation and I thought it was pretty comprehensive. The other groups had to deal with topics like mining in developing countries or proposing programs for a world conference of national political leaders, so I felt more comfortable with our topic in terms of my personal experiences. I got to add in some pictures of Gavin Newsom and his public educations campaigns and cable cars as public transportation from San Francisco.

Some of our group after lecture (starting at back left): Jenn, Jaimie, Jenny, Fidy, Stephen, Vanessa, Helen, Joanna, and Mike

Wednesday we had more lectures on birds and avian diseases, particularly avian influenza. Dr. Scott Terrell, the head pathologist from Disney's Animal Kingdom, was a great lecturer and gave us a really comprehensive introduction to avian diseases, only a few of which I'd even heard of before. We also did an exercise on how to respond to an outbreak situation with AI on a small poultry farm with Dr. Joe Gaydos from UC Davis. After lunch we had a lecture on the seemingly failed reintroduction program for the endangered whooping crane in Florida, and one on the problems in the killer whale populations of the Pacific northwest. The population was originally put in danger by live captures for aquariums and theme parks in the 1960s and 1970s, and now is having trouble rebounding because the salmon populations that the killer whales depend on for food have been decimated in many areas.

Over the past few days, we've spent our free minutes in between classes watching for manatees in the channel, and I finally saw a mom and her baby drinking water from the little water spout at the end of the channel. We also saw a small shark in the channel.

Mom and Baby manatee drinking at the water spout

Little shark in the channel

On Monday we went out to the beach to try to watch the space shuttle STS-127 Endeavor launch on its way to deliver one of the Japanese-made components to the ISS, but the launch was scrubbed at the last minute. Fortunately, the weather at Cape Canaveral held on Wednesday, and we saw the shuttle launch at exactly 6:03 pm. We could see the fire from the boosters, and then a trail as the shuttle disappeared into the clouds. Julius--and many of the other international students--were so excited at the prospect of seeing a space shuttle launch, I'm really glad it actually happened while they were here to see it.

View from the beach while waiting for the space shuttle launch