Living in Monterey and Seafood Watch

down by the aquarium at sunset

Well, we've been here in Monterey for just over a month, but I feel like I've been here for much longer, and am wholly settled in. There is so much goodness to share. Monterey feels like home the way Lexington feels like home. I'm just 3 blocks from school and enjoy walking home for lunch. Friends live nearby in every direction, most walkable. Monterey is very walkable and I'm slowly feeling like I'm getting back into shape after a semester of virtually no exercise (sitting on my butt in the car 2hrs/day).

The view from the back of our house.

Yes, the bay/ocean is there on the left.

We've already had 3 visitors--Mom, BrieAnn and Dave--and I think we showed them all a pretty rockin' time. It's so easy to do here! Quick list: Aquarium, whale watching, kayaking, hiking, biking, beachcombing, otters, seals, sealions, elephant seals, butterflies! We just got some wetsuits and are excited to explore beneath the (cold!) water that we so dearly enjoy from the land. Here are some highlights of our time in CA so far:

Today I was offered a workstudy internship position working for Seafood Watch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's a natural fit for me as I've been focusing most of my scholastic efforts on aquaculture since I've been here, but it's also really exciting. I was hoping to make the sorts of changes in the beef industry as a vet that I'll be able to make in the seafood industry as an intern. Okay, that's overstating my ability to affect change, but I'm happy that my non-vet status doesn't change the fact that I can still be working on these food/conservation issues. Also, I'm psyched that Seafood Watch exists, and that I can be a part of it. I was a volunteer Seafood Watch Advocate (very informal; you just request a packet of materials and they send them to you for you to share with your friends/family, and use to discuss seafood options with the restaurants you patronize) and now I get to be on the front end of the same efforts. I encourage you all to request pocket guides, or use the Seafood Watch app on your iPhone (droid app coming soon).

My new office.

Me, happy, just hired, outside my new office.

And lets see, what else... We have a small plot in the MIIS community garden which came already furbished with some lettuce. Hope to grow more lettuce and maybe some other high yield greens.

School's great again this semester. Learning GIS, Emerging Issues in Ocean Conservation, Economics of Environmentalism, and Temas Medio Ambiental Hispanico (Environmental Topics in the hispanic world, in Spanish).