Hey all!

You probably found my blog in one of two ways: either you’re actively searching for blogs about Irish barnacles, which is awesome, or you found me through Northeastern’s Co-op Connections Beyond Boston Bloggers series. From August through December I’ll be working at the Martin Ryan Marine Science Center at the National University of Ireland in Galway. In addition to conducting field experiments looking at the distribution and density of several barnacle species, I’ll be building on work done as far back as 1961, as well as more recent research from 2012 and 2013.

If you’re not as much of a marine ecology fiend as I am, please don’t be scared off yet—Galway features some of the best of Ireland’s vibrant political and literary history, music and museums, and landscapes ranging from ancient rock ruins to cliffs to rivers running through the heart of the city. I’m out to experience as much of it as I can and bring it here for anyone who enjoys coffee, Irish bands, and landscape photos that make you want to jump through the computer screen. And for anyone considering an international co-op, I’ll be covering the logistics, excitement, and challenges of traveling to and working in another country.

This won’t be my first time in Galway. Last summer, on a literature- and film-focused Dialogue of Civilizations in Dublin, we took a day trip to Inishmore, a small island off the Western coast of Ireland near Galway. (I’m going to take a moment here to plug Northeastern’s Dialogues in Ireland—there are programs that focus on everything from art to literature to health and wellness, and I’d recommend everyone visit if you have the chance. Bring your raincoat.) Naturally I got distracted by some cool-looking barnacles on the shore, and took some photos so that I could look them up later (Chthamalus stellatus, if you’re wondering). When co-op season rolled around, I found a researcher in Galway who had done some work with them in the past. In a really great stroke of luck, she’d been itching to get back to that research, and was happy to take me on as a research assistant.

The barnacle that started it all. Yes, of course I kept the picture.

I hop a flight out of Boston the night of August 25^th, followed by a bus ride across the country from the Dublin airport to Galway. And for now…my bedroom is a tornado of storage boxes.

A few things to know if you’ll be following my trip:

I’m vegetarian and have some food restrictions, so I’ll be enjoying as much local food as I can within limits. Luckily, this is Ireland, so be prepared to see more ways to eat carrots and potatoes than you ever thought possible.

My least favorite part of our Dialogue in Dublin last summer was—no joke—the geese and magpies living on the university campus where we stayed. Anyone who knows me, knows that my love for wildlife stops at birds. Avoiding them might be my biggest challenge on this trip—further reports to come.

Next to marine science, travel is one of the things that gets me the most fired up. One of my childhood best friends will be working in Europe at the same time I will, and we’re trying to fit in as many weekend trips as we can. The shortlist of potential trips includes Berlin, Northern Ireland, Stockholm, and Glasgow—some of which might be more plausible than others. Suggestions that my friend vetoed include Moscow, Cape Town, Pompeii, and Cairo—something about “being realistic” and “there are only 48 hours in a weekend” and “we can’t rent our own high-speed jet on a college budget.”

We'll be making the best of all of it. Even the birds.

See you again next week,

Jules