A person standing deep in a slough and surrounded by seagrasses, recording data on a notepad
Sellinger takes notes about the seagrass meadow. (Greg Watry/ UC Davis)

In the Seagrass Meadows

A Day in the Field with UC Davis Researchers

Invisible in the clear afternoon sky, the moon tugged the tidal channel’s brackish waters towards the Pacific Ocean. It drew them out slowly, languidly, the water’s surface eddying and rippling in the sunlight.

Elisabeth Sellinger stood shoulder-deep in the withdrawing water. She sifted through the mudflats with a measuring rod, searching for a small plastic plate buried in the sediment during a previous field season. The bark of sea lions and cries of coastal birds provided a soundtrack as Mazie Lewis waited nearby on the shoreline, a clipboard and mechanical pencil in hand.

“The process is very meditative,” said Lewis, a junior specialist with the Ocean Climate Lab Group. “You have to let go of any expectations.”

Read more on lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu

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