Down on the bayou?

A lot can happen in a year... my last post here was in April 2009 when I was kayaking in beautiful Sidney, BC. If you had told me then that I would end up in Houma, Louisiana, because of an oil spill, I would've cocked one eyebrow and had my doubts. But I was pushed by both an environmental disaster and by the knowledge that I could be doing much more than I had been doing. Don't get me wrong, teaching was great and served a valuable purpose at a crucial time in my life (and 23 physics labs were really fun), but... I've been looking for jobs since spring break. I can't say this will be permanent, but it's worth a try. I won't have to live in Louisiana, thankfully! :) The humidity here is about 200%. But the people are nice.



I reported to the "command center" in Houma today... it took me 30 minutes to find parking and clear security at this massive facility. I was expecting a few trailers... perhaps I should have googled it before my arrival.

My first day (of a 14-day "deployment") consisted of about 12 hours of finding my way around, meeting people, getting a "desk," acquiring a chair, and meeting people from not only my new consulting company (Entrix) but from all over the U.S. Toxicologists, wildlife biologists, oceanographers, bird people, mammal people, plankton people... And reading. Reading. Reading.

The building has a full-service dining room (all meals are free), so you basically never have to leave and never have to spend money. There are about 300 people on site. Entrix makes up about 20% of that. The NOAA folks got the nicest offices, and the BP people are in the upper floors. All of us contractors and field people are on the massive first floor, which has a very high ceiling and really takes up three floors, enclosed entirely by long sets of tall, massive glass doors. There's no view, but you get the impression you are outside. I can't imagine what it costs in A/C bills.

All that HAZWOPER and OSHA training I rushed through last week to become employable at Entrix actually came in handy as I read various reports and proposals related to assessing the impacts of the oil spill on the marine environment. I will participate in two big projects... nearshore sampling in small boats and offshore studies in large ships. Some oceanography, some mapping, some modeling of toxin dispersal. All would be fascinating if it wasn't so damned disastrous. After a long day and several discussions, my supervisor (who runs the marine program) told me that I would probably be the lead scientist on one or two of these efforts.

I'll spend 2 more days at the command center, then spent 3 days working on small boats and traveling with the nearshore assessment team. When I'm in the field, most likely I will be confined to the heavily impacted areas of Louisiana, but it's possible I could end up in the Florida panhandle or even the Keys. No one is looking that far ahead... there's enough to do right here. I'm struck by how chaotic it isn't. Perhaps because it is day 48, the chaos and panic has subsided into everyone having a task, or multiple tasks, and faced with the enormity and dismay of why we are here. There is no drama... just a lot of smart, committed people wanting to work instead of blame. I particularly like all of the Entrix folks so far... they seem like a good group of exactly that kind of people... smart and committed. Hopefully I'll fit right in.