November 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
Now and then we are lucky enough to have someone ‘appear’ at FHL who is just right to fill an empty niche. Kirk Sato is that person for us. The FHL Ocean Observing system that he discusses below had spent several years in a mostly-finished but not fully functional state, and we had no staff with the time or expertise to solve the seemingly intractable problems that remained.
October 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
For most people on earth, even those who live near the ocean, life below the low-tide line is a mystery, glimpsed only in movies or documentaries. Those visuals often focus on “charismatic megafauna” such as sharks, or colorful tropical habitats in clear water, such as coral reefs.
September 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
Much of the research that goes on at FHL is “basic science.” We all try to understand how nature works, whether that be genes replicating, brains learning, predators affecting prey populations…but few of us directly address practical problems that beset humans or their societies.
August 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
We like to focus our Tide Bites on the positive and don’t normally publish obituaries, but this month’s essay is an exception describing the contributions of a long-term islander-labbie, Liko Self, who passed away in late May.
July 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
It is not uncommon for the FHL Family to include multiple “generations” from one academic lineage. In many cases one researcher spends time here, eventually sends his/her graduate students, and they in turn may come back as instructors or send their own students!
June 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
As human thoughts and actions this month continue to be dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is appropriate that our Tide Bite relates to the actions of another virus. In this case it is one that we believe struck living cells billions of years ago, and had a profound effect on the evolution of life on earth – one can even say a positive effect, since it seems to have allowed the development of complex organisms including ourselves.
May 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
In the midst of this Stay at Home time when we hope all our readers are also staying healthy, it is a wonderful boost to read student success stories like Alyssa’s.
April 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
This month’s Tide Bite chronicles a not-that-unusual career progression for Friday Harbor Labs’ scientists: going from a student in a course, to a student doing their own research, to teaching here themselves, to having their own graduate students come to learn the trade!
March 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
This month’s Tide Bite describes the research of a PhD student who spent most of his graduate career at FHL, becoming part of the Labs and island communities. This is a challenge because opportunities for funding here are limited, and while graduate students are famous for living on air, water, and ramen noodles, they still need to survive!
February 2020 Tide Bite
Greetings,
Most readers are aware that FHL has been connected for over a century with marine biological and oceanographic work in the San Juan Islands. Fewer may know that there has been almost a century of geological work done here too, most of it with UW connections.