I'm not a draperies person, nor am I building a house...

I am trying to save a species from being extinct. This is easier said than done. The days are long and hard but I’m managing. This is definitely what I want to do but maybe with a little more emphasis on the management aspect and not the intern aspect. And with a program that is a bit more organized. I want to be involved in as much as I can but sometimes that is hard. Being an intern doesn’t bring you a lot of respect from your superiors yet when talking to the public they think you are super smart and doing an amazing thing. As an intern, I feel that sometimes I am shunned from my peers because I am not in grad school doing research. They seem to treat you as if you don’t know much because you aren’t at their level. Yet, I am the same age and have a B.S. the same as they do; I’m just not in grad school. Minor technicality, that is in the works. I believe that I know quite a bit about turtles. Although I may come from a land lock state and this is my first hands on experience doing turtle field work, I should not be looked down upon. I hate it when people treat me like a little kid. I am 23 years old and a college graduate, you DO NOT need to hold my hand. The more we work together, the greater the survival rate for these animals will be. I am pursuing this career for the turtles not to make myself look good. Yes I work with endangered sea turtles, yes I live on the coast, and yes I do get to wake up every morning and walk along the beach. My job is not glamorous. I walk two to three miles (if not more) wearing shorts and a cotton t-shirt that isn’t the coolest thing. I carry all my field gear, except a bucket and wooden stakes, in a back pack which can be heavy at times. I work from 6:15am until 12pm (sometimes as late as 2:30pm) on the beach, and then have to enter in data at the office until 3 or sometimes 5pm. There are times when I work the night shift which is from 9:30pm until 4am. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining one bit, I love my job; I just wish I could get more respect. I want people to see that I really want to work with turtles; I’m not just some intern who is doing this to fluff up her resume. I’m not afraid to get dirty. There are plenty of days when I am covered in sand, fire ant bites, mosquito bites, blisters, and bruises. Yet, I still wake up the next day looking forward to what the day might bring. There are days when I get frustrated and days when I pray my legs won’t fall off. I don’t complain out loud though. I’m tan, mostly in shape, and still have no clue where I’ll be once the season ends. I’m praying that God knows what he wants from me and will lead me that way when it comes. Enough talk now though. I’ve included a few photos of hatchlings. The pure joy of the job is seeing these babies get a chance at life. If only their odds of survival were better….. (only 1 in 1000 hatchlings will make it to maturity)

I'm a poor graduated college girl, who is now in the real world and it SUCKS....

I am struggling. Hard to say, but easy to feel. I always thought I was a tough person; someone who could handle just about anything. Life has a nice way of showing me that this isn’t true. I realize that we all have struggles and obstacles that get in the way of our goals. I have dealt with a lot of struggles along the way, but right now I feel as if everything is hitting me at once. Being on my own in the so called real world always had a nice ring to it. But this sugar coated, glittery world is starting to lose its appeal. At this point I just want to be 5 again, when the world was innocent and skinning your knee was the worse thing that happened in your life.

I guess the worse thing about this is admitting that this isn’t paradise. I always told people that I wouldn’t miss Kansas, I won’t miss home. This is where I want to be and I can handle it by myself. I don’t want to let people know that they were right, even though I’m not sure if they truly are 100% right. Everyone goes through hard times when they first move to a place that is far from home.

My real problem right now is that I’m in a financial bind. I’ve never been rich and I’ll be the first to admit that. I’m poor! My family has had money, I mean we are not dirt poor living in a one bedroom shack or anything, but we’ve never been rich. I put myself through college, which a lot of help from the government. And now I’m seeing the effects of that. I got online at Sallie Mae to see how much I owe, when my bills are due, etc. It will take me the next 20 years to pay off my loans. By that time I hope to have gotten my Ph.D which will add to the amount of money I have to pay back. This field doesn’t pay much at all and I’ve realized that but my love for animals, turtles especially, triumphs that.

So I owe money to the government for student loans, then I owe money for a hospital bill ($800) that I just found out about and I have no clue how I’m going to scrap up the money for that. My insurance was suppose to pay it but apparently they haven’t. So I have to call them about that, and call Sallie Mae to see if maybe I can get a lower payment because I’m poor (meaning that it will take longer than 20 years to pay off those darn things). I also have rent and utilities to pay which I think I have covered so far. I have gas which is definitely not cheap and I do a lot of driving to and from the beaches. We get reimbursed for gas but it really doesn’t pay for itself. I’m glad we get something back though. Every little bit helps though. Besides all that I have a trip to Scotland that I’ll need money for. The ticket is paid for but I only have $200 saved up for spending money and necessities. With the exchange rates the way they are, I doubt that will be very much at all. There is also getting my tattoo finished. I’ve already made my second appointment and don’t want to have to cancel. I’m not sure how much the rest will be but hopefully not a whole lot more.

I’m sure there are more expenses that I’m forgetting. I’ve come to realize that I will rarely be able to eat out or go out. And when shopping, I will only buy what is necessary. I’ve alright at budgeting my money but I’ve lived on campus for 4 ½ years and everything was included in room and board. Now that I’m on my own, it’s a lot harder than I realized. I’m going to make it through though. I don’t know how yet but I will. I’m going to have the faith and trust that God knows what he’s doing with me. Prayers would be great right now. Wish me luck as I climb this wall.

I am a Floridian, so now what?

I no longer own a Kansas driver’s license. I guess that makes me now an official Floridian. The only thing I have left to do is change my license plate and then everything will be done. I’m not sure when I’m going to do that though. Hopefully Thursday or Friday of this week I can make it to the court house and do it. That is after I figure out where the court house is. Thank you Google Maps for the many directions you provide me to various places that I still have no clue how to get to. I’m learning though. I’m a little sad to not be considered a Kansan. I know that I still am a true Kansan (born and raised) but now I have the dilemma of what to say to someone who asks “Where are you from?” Do I say Florida or Kansas? Or do I say I’m originally from Kansas but am now living in Florida? Tough choice to make… I guess if that was my toughest choice then life would be easier huh?

I’m happy to report that as of Wednesday June 4, we have had 205 nests. So far we are doing better than last year but that doesn’t mean that the population is increasing. Even with these 200+ nests, only 1 in 1000 hatchlings will make it to adults. Each nest contains approximately 120 eggs. You do the math. So if I seem over-bearing at times with my crusade on saving the sea turtles, you can see why.

I’m starting to come to grasp with the fact that I won’t be starting grad school until at least 2010. Only 1 year behind when I had originally planned to but that’s ok. I really am ready to buckle down and focus on school. I did get decent grades in undergrad, although if I had put forth a little more effort, ok well in some classes a lot more effort, my grades could have been a lot better. Straight A’s perhaps. I was just so ready to be done with school that I was beginning to not care. Now having this break, I’ve realized that I love learning, especially about animals. I’m ready to start researching and making a name for myself in the turtle world. I want to find out new ideas or help perfect old ideas that could potentially be a breaking point for sea turtle survival. I want to be the next Archie Carr. I want people to say “oh that’s Jodie, she is a sea turtle biologist who has had a lot of research published.” I want to be that girl.

I don’t want to be the girl who is picking out the perfect hamster for some little kid who will eventually kill it (due to lack of interest) or bring it back to the store because it doesn’t do anything. Yes I like working at petco and yes it is a cool, fun job. But! The reality is that I’m growing up and I need to branch out and see what else the world has to offer. I don’t want to be 40 years old, living in my parents basement with 10 kids and been divorced 7 times. Many of you would probably love to see this just so you can have a daily dose of entertainment (especially those of you who know that I don’t want kids).

My internship at Mote will come to a close at the end of October. And then what will I do? I have no clue. I will more than likely still be employed at petco and taking college classes such as organic chemistry, physics, and calculus, which happen to be the only classes I’m missing for grad school consideration. I’ll probably apply again for a seasonal summer job and pray that someone wants me this time. Someone wants me and wants to pay me for my experience. But that is in the future and this is now. So now I am going to sign off, brush my teeth and hit the hay. Tomorrow’s another day to help save the world.

I've been put to the test and I have passed

I have survived my first week of work with the Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Program. It is definitely the hardest job I have ever done. I know I have explained some this to various people but I figure I should just re-explain exactly what I do.

This program monitors approximately 35 miles of coastline which is some of the most prime sea turtle nesting areas in Florida. Loggerheads are the most common found nesting but occasionally there are a few greens that will nest on these beaches as well. My job is to be out at the beach no later than 6:30am. I am given a one to two mile zone to walk looking for sea turtle tracks. Once I find a track, I identify what turtle it is. Each species makes a distinct mark in the sand. Then I decide if she nested or not. If she nested I begin digging where I believe the eggs are. We are not allowed to use anything but our hands to dig with because we do not want to pierce through the eggs. Sometimes this is an easy task but other times, the females lay their eggs really well (which is what they are supposed to do). When I find the eggs, I take a measurement of how far they are from the top of the surface, and then rebury them. We do not count the eggs nor do we relocate them (we have to have the state’s permission to relocate eggs). I also take a few other measurements and gps the nest. After recording all date, I then place stakes around the nest and rope it off. After the nest hatch in 50-70 days, I then go in and count the eggs shells and look for any hatchlings that may have not made it out. These hatchlings, if alive, are then taken to the hospital for rehab and will later be released.

This may not seem like hard work, but under the scorching Florida sun, walking the beach with a backpack carrying all your field gear can be pretty intense. Depending on how many nests you have, you could possibly be out on the beach until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Lunch doesn’t happen until after all the nests are completed.

So far I am having a blast. This may be hard work but I really enjoy it. I think it is definitely something I want to continue to do. I may even have the chance to go out at night and help with the tagging. There is a section of one beach that is patrolled at night. These people drive up and down the beach on ATV’s looking for nesting turtles. When they see a turtle, they will check to see if she has been previously tagged and if she hasn’t they will tag her (similar to tagging a cow’s ear).

So if you are wondering, I am surviving and having fun here in Florida. Oh and I am getting darker but not to worry, sunscreen and water are my best friends!

Back "home"

I’m back in Florida after a nice visit to Kansas for graduation and birthday. It’s good to be back here, although the humidity is definitely testing me. So far I’m ok, guess the Kansas humidity has made me tough. My things are mostly unpacked; ok well they are out of the boxes and somewhat put where I want them to go. I’ve learned that I have a lot of clothes, books, and turtle knick knacks. That doesn’t stop me from buying more though. The house I’m living in is really nice. It’s a three bedroom/2bathroom house in a nice, quiet neighborhood. I’m sharing a room with one of the girls (there are 4 girls including me living here). She has a dog who is a lover and one of the girls has two cats that are shy and haven’t warmed up to me yet. I thought about getting me a tortoise but that’ll probably have to wait until after I get back from Scotland in September. Well see though.

I start work Monday; it’s just orientation stuff though. Tuesday is my first beach walk day. I’m really excited and a bit nervous. I’m also working part time at the Petco down here. I’ll start there June 1^st. Since the turtle job isn’t paid, I’ll need some income since I’ll be living here until at least November. It will be interesting to see how they run their store and how everyone works. I think my hardest thing will be taking orders again since I won’t be a manager. It’ll be ok though. Hard to believe I have worked there four years already. Crazy to think about it.

Other than that, life is going good. Just trying to settle in here and get things organized. Hope everyone is doing good back home and feel free to write me if you want. I have a new address but you can email me if you want it. Hope to hear from you sometime….

I can snorkel? Whhhaaattt?

this video is of my poor attempt to snorkel. This was my first time trying and it was definitely a lot harder than it looks. Hope you guys enjoy!

I will be leaving Florida on May 3rd and should get into Kansas on May 5th. I'll be home until May 21st when I'll leave to come back down to Florida to begin my second internship. I won't be back until December to visit again. I am hoping to make Florida my permanent residence in order to get in-state tuition for grad school. Can't wait to see everyone!

The best weekend EVER!

This past weekend was AMAZING! We went to the East Coast (Juno Beach to be exact) to do some leatherback nesting and snorkeling. We got there Friday night and once it got dark we went out to the beach. We walked up and down a section of the beach looking for turtles and waiting for any phone calls saying one of the atv people found one. Our first one we saw was just finishing covering her eggs so we watched her do that and then go back out to sea. It was amazing to watch her do that. She was actually a smaller leatherback, maybe weighing in at about 700-800 lbs. The second one we saw was a bit bigger and was laying as we found her. We sat there until she had finished laying and covering, then watched her head back to the ocean. She had such grace about her as she went about her routine. We finally got back to the hotel around 4:30am and then woke up at 11am saturday morning. We went to the Marinelife Center who was having a Turtle Fest. They had lots of stuff for sale and music, games, and other fun stuff. I spent way to much money but it was worth it. We also went to the beach for a bit then out to eat. We headed back out to the beach about 9pm that night and stayed out until 5:30 or 6am. Didn't see any turtles, which was a downer but oh well. Got up at 11:30am and we went to eat and then out to a beach to go snorkeling.

Snorkeling was...lets say..interesting and eventful to say the least. The waves were bad and I had a panic attack. I've never been before so it was very hard to adjust. The waves were knocking me around so bad that I freaked out. I think I scared my boss a bit. We finally left and went to the bay where it was a lot calmer. The water was murky so we couldn't see much. No animals just beer cans. There was a sunken ship but since the water was dirty we couldn't see if there was anything living in it. I felt a lot more comfortable in the bay and was finally getting the hang of it.

We didn't get home until 10:30 sunday night. The trip was fun but very exhausting. Two more weeks and I'll be home for a bit. I should get into town May 5 and then I'll leave again May 21st. Can't wait to see everyone and share my pictures/stories!