deep sea
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Third Time is a Charm
I’ll be going back to sea in less than two weeks. The time has come so quickly. I have known for two years since my last expedition that I would be returning to 9 degrees north of the equator in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, but I did not know exactly when until a few months… Continue reading
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Day 7 at 9 degrees North
Today is our 7th day at sea in the East Pacific. We’ve been stationed at the 9 degrees north study site and have launched two Alvin dives. The first evening of Alvin’s dives brought up buckets of giant Riftia tube worms for me to dissect and take samples that are needed to study the metabolic pathways… Continue reading
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First Launch at Nine Degrees North
This morning was the first launch of 16 over the next two weeks here on the Dark Cruise 2014 at Nine Degrees North. The first passengers on the ship are Stefan Seivert and his PhD graduate student Jesse McNichol from Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute. They’ll be back in about 6 hours with samples and then we… Continue reading
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Hello, Goodbye Manzanillo!
After two layovers, three flights, and a 1 hour taxi ride through the tropical heat we, a group of 16 scientists who had in some way or another found their way to the Manzanillo airport, converged on the Hotel Colonial by the Manzanillo harbor with luggage and miscellaneous last minute science equipment crates. Over a… Continue reading
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8 days away….
First, a shameless brag about a project that I worked on as an intern which was featured in the New York Times… Fighting poisons with microbes Some recent deep-sea footage of some amazing creatures on our home planet, just in time for my deep-sea research cruise. I hope I get to spot any specimens like… Continue reading
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Countdown to Manzanilla: 28 days
October is already upon us, although I can’t tell. It’s my first year living in Florida and it’s still as hot as a nun’s habit reading the Tropic of Cancer. I’ve been catching up on my background reading and practicing my experimental techniques as well as optimizing my data collection procedures. This all sounds like… Continue reading
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New beginnings, new research, new focus
My first week back to school and my first week of grad school has been a little window to my future. I have the privilege this year of being a research assistant which means that I earn my measly stipend doing what I came to grad school to do: research. In addition to not having… Continue reading
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What is a black smoker?
The black smokers are hydrothermal vents that happen at the bottom of the ocean due to the disruption of the ocean floor as a consequence of spreading (divergence) or closing (convergence) of tectonic plates. They are rich with metals like iron and sulfur, so when the super heated material from the bottom of the ocean meets… Continue reading
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Join me on my adventures through the microbial world
“Truth be told, the planets most victorious organisms have always been microscopic. In all the encounters between Davids and Goliaths, was there ever a time when a Goliath won?” ~Leon Trotsky Trout, Galapagos –Kurt Vonnegut Welcome to my blogsite. I am a first year grad student at the University of South Florida. I am very excited… Continue reading
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