Summer at Stone Lab

This summer's crop of Stone Lab bloggers have been busy recording their experiences from one-day workshops, one-week classes, and five-week term courses. Check out the writings of this hard-working bunch:

Josh kicked off the summer with his blog about his one-week Lake Erie Sport Fishing class. He was on a boat every day and often long into the evening, though the fish just didn't seem to want to take the bait.

Mary, a high school student, took the Stone Lab plunge with a Field-Based Introduction to Oceanography class this summer.

Gary took a five-week course in Limnology while working part-time at Stone Lab--chatting with guests at the Aquatic Visitors Center and manning the bookstore.

Casey spent five weeks studying Evolution. He got to hunt for salamanders and catch and measure birds--and got some great photos!

Stephanie had a whirlwind tour of Stone Lab during her one-day Ichthyoplankton Identification Workshop. It's hard to tell all those tiny creatures apart, but she met the challenge.

New Metro at Stone Lab Blog!

This year, Stone Lab has asked several Metro High School students to document their experience while taking a one-week course on Gibraltar Island during the week of September 13, 2007.

A partnership between The Ohio State University and Battelle, Metro High School is a small and intellectually vibrant learning community open to students in Franklin County. Metro High School is designed to serve students who want a personalized and extraordinary learning experience that prepares them for a connected world where math, science and technology are vitally important. All Metro students engage in a personally relevant and academically rigorous curriculum within a safe and trusting environment.

Beginning this week, more than 30 Metro Students will take either Aquatic Biology or Insect Biology at Stone Lab. Visit metroatstonelab.blogspot.com to view first-hand accounts of Metro students exploring science and discovering themselves!

The Rock is Demanding

Classes and work got into a smooth rhythm. The Limnology midterm was fairly painless although it successfully caused major sleep deprivation. Those who have been here the whole summer are ready to leave, but I'm just getting used to the motions. I got a pay check a few days ago, woo hoo. Now it's almost over. Only nine days left and then I'm off to my last year of college life at Miami University of Ohio.

1st weekend, July 21st & 22nd

The first day of class went well, woke up, ate breakfast, 4 hours of lecture, lunch, and a boat ride out to Rattlesnake Island. We measured turbidity, conductivity, depth, pH, temperature with the Sonde, the Secchi and several other instruments. I learned a lot, but it was intense. The weekend was beautiful. Christmas in July couldn't have been on a better weekend. Watch out for those shots from the beer barrel, they taste waay too good. But the water taxi came through again and I made it home safe. After a day out on a friends boat soaking in the sun and an eventful paddle boat ride to Gibraltar I am now back in my dorm. Tomorrow I work again and will help with the lighthouse starting at 10:30. We will see what else good ol' Put-N-Bay has in store. Tootles.

Stone Lab in The Lantern!

Check out the article in The Lantern, OSU's campus newspaper about Stone Lab. Learn about the REU experience as Aaron Wibberely describes it, and even hear what professors think. Can't get enough of The Island Snake Lady, Kristin Stanford? Don't worry she's in there too!

Remote island lab offers students unique opportunity to learn - Campus

The first term is almost over and we're getting ready to welcome a new batch of bloggers, so keep an eye out for the new links to left.

Let the Blogging Begin!

Meet Erik our first blogger of the 2007 Stone Lab season! A 5th year senior at The Ohio State University, Erik is enrolled in the Field Herpetology course going on this week at Stone Lab. He'll be working side-by-side with Kristin Stanford, the Snake Lady featured on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs TV show. Check out his blog and read all about his adventures wrangling Lake Erie water snakes this summer!

Stone Lab Now Hiring: Bloggers!

Last year marked the beginning of a new Stone Lab Communications Project: Student Blogs. More than 10 students participated in an online project to write journals and document their experiences over the summer while taking a course on Ohio State’s Island Campus. All the bloggers who participated earned a free Stone Lab drawstring backpack and were entered in a raffle for a pair of Cedar Point tickets for their hard work writing and maintaining their blogs all summer. Thanks to all the students who participated!

This summer, the search for bloggers continues. If you’re a student taking a course at Stone Lab and want to share your experiences, then writing a Stone Lab blog is for you! Your first-hand accounts of course work, field trips, and lab data will be used as a record of the different experiences offered at Stone Lab every summer. Future students will be just a click away from seeing what happens in a hands-on science class on Lake Erie. And remember, you’ll earn a free Stone Lab drawstring backpack, and maybe even two tickets to Cedar Point!

To read last year’s blogs, visit stonelaboratory.blogspot.com. For more information on blogging this summer, contact Daniella Nordin at 614.292.8949.