This Week At CART - Abigail Matias

Greetings, my name is Abigail Matias, and I am a CART ambassador attending the AM Environmental Science and Field Research lab. Recently in Environmental, we have been focused on our spring projects. Every student in our lab had to apply and interview to participate in our spring project. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be a part of the Sandy Beach Monitoring project. For this project, we partnered with the Long-term Monitoring Program and Experiential Training for Students (LiMPETS) to collect data on Pacific mole crabs found on the beach.  

Last week, on April 13-14, both AM and PM’s Sandy Beach and Rocky Intertidal, a separate project that also partners up with LiMPETS to collect data on tide pools, went to Santa Cruz to conduct our experiments. This was a two day trip, meaning we got to camp next to the beach overnight. At Santa Cruz, we met with our mentor, Hannah Sarver, the program coordinator for the National Marine Sanctuary. She guided us through the data collecting procedures for both projects. We got to see many new and interesting things, such as Pacific mole crabs, sea stars, anemones, sea urchins, and more. After conducting our procedures, we were allowed to play and explore the tide pools and beach.

CART is filled with all kinds of fun hands-on opportunities such as this one. CART introduces its students to a different way of learning that gives us experiences and helps us develop skills that will prepare us for the future. CART has taught me how to communicate, collaborate, and connect with new people every day. Experiences such as the trip last week have helped me further connect with my peers and teachers.