Now that the academic year is in full swing, the leaves are changing colors, and our schedules are filling up with grant applications and office hours, let’s take a moment to reflect on the glory that was the 2014 Biology Department Retreat two weekends ago.
Per department custom, the 2014 retreat was held at our gorgeous marine lab in Friday Harbor, WA (note, you can take classes and do research there!). The weather was perfect (we’ve been told it’s always like that at FHL) and wildlife viewing was plentiful. Lot’s of mammals, reptiles, birds, and invertebrates were spotted, not least of which included a particularly friendly red fox, black-tailed deer, racoons, harbor seals, harbor porpoises, California sea lions, killer whales (!!!), California quail, ravens, red tailed hawk, pine siskin, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, band-tailed pigeon, garter snakes, rough skinned newt, alligator lizards, sandlance, pacific herring, possibly cod, metridium, hydramedusa, and more.
Also seen were beautiful starry night skies and shooting stars (too many to count!) up above and bio-luminescence in the water below.
If you missed it, take a look at the photos below and be sure to make it to the next one!
 |
| Sunrise as seen from the labs. Photo by Yasmeen Hussain. |
 | ||
| A member of the southern resident killer whales, as seen from shore on the west side of San Juan island. Bonus points if you can ID the individual. Photo by Jared Grummer. |
 | ||
| A biology grad watches killer whales from shore in the morning before science talks. Photo by Jared Grummer. |
.jpg)
In addition to this spectacular scenery, we also heard from biology grads, post docs, and faculty who gave research presentations on a diverse array of topics.
