Beam Reach

New Places, New Faces

The close of a  highly educational  and enlightening week brought with it the start of our first weekend here in Friday Harbor! I wasn’t really sure how much better my experiences here on the island could get since everything that has happened so far has been more than I expected, but I can see clearly now that my adventures have only just begun. Thursday night, we ventured to the opposite side of the island (near Lime Kiln) to a place called English Camp with a group of other students from the labs. The story behind English Camp resulted from a rather daring pig encroaching upon American crops. Supposedly, some hostility arose between the British and the Americans after the pig demolished a few crops and was killed for trespassing. Thus, a fight broke out and the island of San Juan was forevermore considered American soil. What an extremely silly pig!

English Camp's ocean view

New friends!

Friday’s class opened with a group discussion on different case studies we each chose to read and present. The studies focused on sustainability science, but instead of encompassing the subject as a whole, they honed in on specific examples of the science in action. The study I chose looked at improvements experienced by farmers in developing countries after they adopted more sustainable farming practices, based on a response to a mail survey. It was titled Reducing food poverty by increasing agricultural sustainability in developing countries. It was interesting to find that with subtle changes like soil health improvements, using water more efficiently, and either decreasing or eliminating pesticides completely, the increase in per hectare food production was 93% (a hectare is about 100 acres)!  The study took place in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, so in order to ensure economical and social support, the changes that occurred encompassed low costs and local availability. I am still a little bit skeptical of the results of the study because they were based on a mail survey and feel that there could have been more accurate results if the data had come from scientists actually in the field, but it was still cool to see such a dramatic improvement.

After class on Friday, the six of us rowed to town (I am still trying to convince myself that this is real). We wanted to stock up on ice cream and cookie dough for our future movie nights! When we returned, we happened upon an exciting gathering in the dining hall. There were quite a few students socializing with fun music and games and it was great to get to know everyone from all of the different programs that the labs have to offer.

Learning to Row

Today (Saturday, March 31), we rowed to town again to explore the Whale Museum and to see the Hunger Games. The Whale Museum was a fantastic place to brush up on and review my knowledge of a few things we learned in class this past week. After visiting the museum, we meandered through town and came across all sorts of fun little shops, like a used bookstore called Serendipity, where I purchased a book called The Life of Pi. I have always been really picky about buying used books, but I couldn’t risk never knowing the survival story of a boy and a tiger. More importantly, I feel like I have made a small step in advancing my sustainable lifestyle. On a different note, The Hunger Games was very intense! I think it really did justice to the book and I can’t believe how much I can’t stop thinking about it. I am glad I was able to share these experiences with my new friends. After all, every adventure is better when you are in good company!