Some of you may remember all that field research we did in Bolivia in 2006 ... Bryan had the opportunity to present his geology research from the Andes at the Geological Society of America Conference in Colorado this past autumn. More recently, Bryan completed his first (stressful & successful) year of his PhD studies at UCSB and left just last Tuesday for Mexico where he'll be going geologic fieldwork for 6 weeks in the Copper Canyon - Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico. http://www.great-adventures
On the fun side of things, we kicked off the New Year in Joshua Tree National Park, camping and rock climbing with friends and family. I'm thinking camping might become a New Year's tradition... In celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary and our 27th birthdays this spring, we visited an old Peace Corps friend in Hawaii. We enjoyed tropical life again, now we're thinking of someday moving to Hawaii ... who knows where we'll end up! :-) Here are pictures from our trip: http://picasaweb.google.com
To join him this summer in Mexico, and because I am starting graduate school in September, I had to resign from my job at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History - Ty Warner Sea Center (my last day is this Thursday). It's been a challenging yet rewarding job, and I've made some great friends, but I am ready for graduate school! In the last month, I've been writing up the last of our summer camp curriculum for the Sea Center, dove for a Live SCUBA Dive program under the wharf, and planned and executed my first big festival - the Ocean Awareness Festival in celebration of World Ocean Day - which was held on June 8th in Santa Barbara. Planning a festival for hundreds of people was new and difficult for me, but the day ended up a success and I learned a lot! Although I'll be doing fieldwork with Bryan, I'm looking forward to de-stressing at a slower pace in Mexico this July!
Once back from Mexico, I'll be celebrating the marriage of our dear friends, Rachel and Matt, as a bridesmaid in their wedding, then heading to Nicaragua in early August for a long-overdue sisters-trip with Aimee for a couple weeks. In September, I start graduate school at UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management (www.bren.ucsb.edu) where I'll be pursuing my master's in Environmental Science & Management for the next two years. I'm very excited about this graduate program and am looking forward to being a part of the Bren School's mission of "play[ing] a leading role in researching environmental issues, identifying and solving environmental problems, and training research scientists and environmental management professionals." I really appreciate the support and help from my mentors, family, and friends through the Bren School application process - thank you, guys!
It probably sounds as if once again, this is a year of changes and new experiences for us - but luckily we're not doing any moving for a while! :-) We've enjoyed our visits from family and friends here in Santa Barbara (...friends from Florida to Yale!) and look forward to more of you coming up to visit us when you can. You are all welcome here anytime. I'll keep in touch while we're abroad, please keep in touch with us!
