Oregon Summer

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Although I have safely returned from Budapest I'll try to maintain this blog, though likely with infrequent posts. This summer I am doing research at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon. I am part of the Eco-Informatics Summer Institute which is very similar to other REU's (research experience for undergrads) in that both are NSF (National Science Foundation) funded research opportunities. In all honesty I'm not really sure the difference, though I'll likely find out.

The project I am working on is studying the how artificial wood jams in streams affect the fish populations. These wood jams were put in to aid in stream bank restoration and there are still questions as to how they interact with fish populations. In particular my group is studying the flow and hydraulics of water through the jams and how this in turn interacts with fish. My job will be to model the hydraulics using software developed by one of the project advisers.

I've actually already arrived in the forest and it is wonderful and green, I'll post some pictures as soon as I take them. According to the schedule I'm here for 6 weeks then we move to OSU to finish up research in the facilities there. I'm looking forward to meeting my colleagues and getting started, I'll keep you updated as I have the time.

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