Journal

　The advanced science training ~first day~
First year students of our department of science experienced this training. We were studying advanced science based on the theme of SSH. We report on this activity. We’ll make use of this experience and knowledge for research and finding our way in life.
〈first day 12/13: Shikoku Seiyo Geopark de STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics)〉
　Shikoku Seiyo Geopark is a “Park of Earth” which has four hundred million years of history. The purposes of this park are conservation, education and geotourism. Students of our department of science don’t study geology, but we got to know the earth science and ecosystem in Ehime. So, we could learn a lot of science. This training was valuable for us.
・Lecture “About Shikoku Seiyo Geopark”(by Mr. Takahashi)
・Field trip to see fossils from the Jurassic era. (We saw fossils that are rare elsewhere in the world; one such type was “rudists,” for example “asari.”)
・Field trip to Anagami cave. (We saw three hundred Kikugashira bats.)
・Went to the Shikoku geo museum. (We touched the oldest rock in the world, Acastu Gneiss.
~Feeling~
　Unlike Matsuyama City where we live, we came to know Seiyo City and were able to rediscover the charm of Ehime Prefecture.
         
〈second day 12/14〉
　 Ehime University's Nanyo Fisheries Research Center, in collaboration with the town of Ainan, is conducting research aimed at the complete cultivation of "Ehime Suma" or sea bream.
 This session, Dr. Hidetaka Takeoka, the director of the center, gave a lecture on the bright future of the fishing industry and the "science mind". In the afternoon, we visited the laboratory, aquarium, and fishpond where students work hard day and night on their research.
 I was able to fully feel the appeal of the science of fisheries in the majestic nature of the Uwajima Sea.
　・Lecture : Current status and future prospects of fisheries in Ehime, research and human resource development at the Nansui Research Institute, scientific thinking, etc.”
(Dr. Hidetaka Takeoka, the director of the center)
・ Visit to Funakoshi Station : We visited a state-of-the-art research facility.
・Visit to Nisiura Station (Umiraiku Ainan) : We observed the ontogeny of zebrafish in real time.
　By observing the large-scale laboratory equipment and advanced research contents of the Ehime University Minamiiyo Fisheries Research Center, expectations and hopes for the future course grew, and the motivation for SS has further increased.