After a summer full of travel, research, and fun, the lab is now gearing up for the fall (and feeling a little empty!).

Alex Blanco is still working away at his samples, but it seems like a very interesting picture is developing about how and where the Venerupis philippinarum are invading in Mission Bay. And Polly has a great set of photos and data for us to integrate into a field guide to San Diego fouling communities, which I hope will be used by local biologists, students, and the public.

Our Biological Oceanography course will be heading to sea in mid September to do some research on the SSV Robert C. Seamans, a beautiful tall ship (a brigantine) that the Sea Education Association uses. We will be accompanied by the Geological Oceanography class, and it promises to be a great trip.

I also am fortunate to be in an amazing Preceptorial course - the class is Life in the Oceans, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, everything is phenomenal about this class. We have a wonderful Preceptorial Assistant (Maria), are part of a great Living Learning Community (Sustainability), and have some really exciting field trips and activities planned for the semester. I went over to campus today to meet some of the students and their families as they moved in, and I was uniformly impressed with how eager and excited everyone was.

So, the updates on the science and classes will be more regular for the next few months - stay tuned!