USD Magazine Fall 2009

USD MAGAZINE 4 AROUND THE PARK boat drops anchor near a patch of sandy shoreline. It’s a little windy, but there’s not a cloud in the sky. Visitors to this mangrove wet- land on the island of Coronado, in Mexico’s desert oasis of Bahia de Los Angeles, are sporting appropriate gear: floppy hats and sunglasses. A group gathers around Dylan Edwards, a director of research for the Ocean Dis- covery Institute’s Bahia program, eager to learn what participants have been up to for the last several weeks.

JUST LIKE PARADISE Ma r i ne Sc i enc e pr og r am i n Mex i co conne c t s wi t h t eens [ i n v i g o r a t i n g ] by Ryan T. Blystone A

“We’re here to better understand the ecosystem,”Edwards explains. “It’s very important for us to do our research because Bahia de Los Angeles is not yet damaged.” Edwards hands the reins of the discussion over to six Hoover High School students. They dis- cuss the effects of biodiversity in the wetlands area; their short presentations display infectious enthusiasm for what they still hope to find in their research efforts. Two other student groups, dubbed “Pesca” and “Islands,” echo that attitude.

Pesca’s mission is to determine if sea turtles and fisheries can co- exist. The Islands group, directed by USD marine science and envi- ronmental studies assistant pro- fessor Drew Talley, examines the marine ecosystem and its influ- ence on island dynamics. Each project delivers its own unique educational angle, but the staff at the Mission Bay-based Ocean Discovery Institute (formerly Aquatic Adventures), keeps a col- lective eye on the big picture. “It’s about transforming our students’ lives through science,”

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