This blog post comes to us from our inaugural Travel Award recipient, AndreaEmmanuelli! Read on to hear about her experiences at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in February!
I still vividly remember my second year as an undergraduate student, excitedly watching the graduate students from the Knapp Lab presenting their research on Zoom at OSM 2022. I couldn’t believe there was a conference solely focused on marine science. Two years later, I would present a poster of my undergraduate research on the Gulf of Alaska at OSM. I couldn’t believe it!
As I traveled from Tallahassee to New Orleans, I browsed the OSM app eagerly and began strategizing which sessions and posters I would attend. I had many goals for the conference. I wanted to participate in sessions relating to topics I wanted to explore in graduate school while attending sessions related to my current project. I also wanted to attend poster and oral sessions by former mentors and colleagues and catch up with them afterward. There was a lot to juggle, and I realized this would be a marathon, not a sprint. I quickly learned on Monday that it would be best to remain in one session at a time rather than hop around multiple sessions for specific talks. I was able to learn most by doing this and get a better understanding of the current state of the field. I felt that carrying a small notebook was convenient instead of taking notes on a computer, and jotting down relevant sources was more beneficial than detailed notes.
SWMS Travel Award Recipient, Andrea (left), and her advisor, Dr. Angie Knapp (right), in front of Andrea’s poster at OSM
I was most nervous about my poster presentation on Wednesday, and my imposter syndrome was creeping up. What questions would people ask me? Would I know the answer? Would they think I hadn’t done enough? I was thinking about all the worst-case scenarios. To my surprise, it was the quickest two hours of my life. It felt like a fun conversation about my findings and interpretations, and the feedback and suggestions I received motivated me to continue my project. Sometimes, people asked me questions I didn’t have the answers to, and that was okay! These questions often open new research avenues you would otherwise not have considered.
By Friday, my lab mates and I were ready to head back to Tallahassee, we were exhausted! But even so, we felt incredibly fulfilled, as we had made the most of the conference and gained valuable insights into the latest research and developments in our field. I am already looking forward to attending the next conference, OSM 2026, in Glasgow! OSM also proved instrumental in helping me connect with various people from different institutions, which assisted me in my graduate school decisions. I met current and past graduate students, faculty, and advisors, who all provided insightful opinions and suggestions, helping me make an informed decision. I am incredibly grateful for SWMS’s support, as I wouldn’t have been able to attend the conference in full without their generous travel award.
Erosion due to extreme weather and harsh storms is a serious problem globally, but especially on Florida’s coasts. Luckily, volunteers and interns at the Philip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami are hard at work ensuring that the vegetation and pollution on Virginia Key are kept in check.
Virginia Key: A Hidden Gem
Virginia Key, a small island off the coast of Miami, is a beautiful escape for locals. Just a ten minute drive from mainland Miami, the key offers beaches, kayaking, bike paths, and parks, and hosts the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, Earth Science, the headquarters of NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Center and their Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. However, because the key is small and covered mostly in beaches, it is especially vulnerable to a variety of environmental and anthropogenic factors that threaten the benefits it offers.
Meet Chloe!
Image 1. Chloe Jacobson collects a water sample at Virginia Key North Point Beach Park. Water samples are collected from at least 15 cm below the surface to avoid collecting organic material from incoming wave action.
Chloe Jacobson is part of a team at the Frost Museum working to restore Virginia Key beaches in the face of these threats. Chloe is a SWMS member in the University of Miami chapter who started her journey at the University of South Carolina, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science. There, she also studied geography, concentrating on coastal resource management and marine policy. Currently, Chloe is a second year Masters of Professional Science student at the Rosenstiel School, where she is studying Marine Conservation.
As part of her degree, Chloe works as a Restoration Technician Intern in the Museum Volunteers for the Environment Program at the Frost Museum. Her project focuses on studying microplastic concentration and distribution on Virginia Key.
What do the museum volunteers do?
Volunteers and interns like Chloe head to Virginia Key a few times a week to work in the field, restoring the beach habitats there by removing or planting vegetation. They spend most of their time at Virginia Key Beach North Point Park, which is especially vulnerable to habitat destruction due to climatic events and harsh storm action. Chloe works on the beach dune ecosystem to establish strong shorelines, an effort that is becoming increasingly important as rising sea levels threaten our coastlines.
Image 2. The beach-dune ecosystem on Virginia Key, featuring juvenile and adult sea oats, along with other native plants. A wide variety of plant species is necessary for a coastal ecosystem to protect against rising sea levels, erosion, wave action, and weather events.
What are sea oats? And how do they help the environment?
The primary way that Chloe and the other Frost interns and volunteers are protecting the Florida coast is by planting more native species and removing nonnative species that threaten the success of ecologically important plants. They especially work hard to remove invasive Australian pines (Casuarina) from Virginia Key and to plant the critically important sea oats (Uniola paniculata), which stabilizes the dune by catching sand and protecting against erosion.
Image 3. Newly planted Sea Oats at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne. On an average public workday, the Museum Volunteers for the Environment (MUVE) Program plants anywhere between 2,000-5,000 sea oat pods!
Microplastics on Virginia Key
Image 4. Macroplastic accumulation in the surf line on Virginia Key. These items will take years, even decades, to break down into microplastics.
Chloe’s focus is on microplastics, or small pieces of plastic under 5 mm. She collects weekly samples from the sand and water throughout Virginia key and looks at different sizes of five types of microplastics. Her final report will be published in May, when she graduates from the Rosenstiel School with her Masters in Marine Conservation!
Image 5. A water sample collected from Virginia Key that Chloe Jacobson will use a multi-step process to filter and examine for microplastics.
Leadership and members of the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) chapter of SWMS came together on a beautiful Sunday morning on November 19th to make a difference in the local community and for the world’s ocean. The crew was armed with gloves, buckets, sunglasses and sunscreen for a morning of trash collection and getting to know each other; the perfect first event for the newly formed chapter!
The NSU SWMS team combs the beach for debris!
NSU’s Oceanographic Campus is located within walking distance to the beach in Hollywood, Florida, and oftentimes students and employees spend breaks between classes and work walking over to the beach. Unfortunately, there is always trash to be picked up along these walks, and this is what inspired the NSU SWMS chapter to organize a beach cleanup as the first chapter event! So many, and probably all, people are in the field of marine science because they love the marine environment and want to spend their lives learning about it, protecting it, and conserving the biodiversity that it supports. Participating in a beach cleanup is not only an amazing opportunity to be at the front-lines of marine conservation, it’s also fun! Being located in beautiful South Florida, most of the NSU SWMS chapter and community already spend a lot of time at the beach, so what better way to spend time hanging at the beach with new friends, than simultaneously doing something great for the environment!
On first glance, the beach appeared spotless, and the crew wondered if any trash would even be collected. Low and behold, as NSU SWMS continued to comb the beach, trash ranging from microplastics and fishing line to bottles and cans was found throughout the beach. One of the most interesting pieces of trash found was a pair of doll sunglasses! Most of the trash found consisted of plastic, including straws, small pieces of brittle plastic, cups, straws, and wrappers, and was found blown away from the ocean and close to lifeguard stations and the sea oats. Beachgoers, lifeguards, and passersby wholeheartedly thanked the team for their dedication to collecting trash, and some even threw in a piece of trash or two themselves.
Chapter members share all the trash they found!
The group spent about two hours collecting trash, separating into smaller teams going north and south along Hollywood Beach. The weather was perfectly sunny and countless invaluable conversations flowed between club members about their master’s projects, labs they’re involved in, favorite marine animals… The list goes on and on. The creation of the NSU SWMS chapter has been a great way for NSU students to connect with people from different research areas and learn about some of the other great research being conducted within the NSU community, as well as create new friendships with other like-minded scientists. After successfully filling ten buckets of trash, the team ended the cleanup with a rewarding picnic. Everyone shared sandwiches, chips, and stories as they got to know each other and bonded over their love of the beach, ocean, and environment!
Trash collection information was reported to NOAA via the Marine Debris App (https://debristracker.org/), which was a simple and effective process to track marine debris for anyone hosting beach cleanups. Knowing more about the different types and amounts of debris found on a beach, or even on your street, can be the first step towards preventing it. In order to learn more about the problem and understand the types and amount of marine debris in our environment, we need to collect data. Debris Tracker is designed to help citizen scientists or in this case, professional scientists, make a difference by contributing data on pollution in our community. It’s a user-friendly app that allows you to categorize the types, sizes, and approximate quantities of different marine debris. The first NSU SMWS was a great success and the chapter is looking forward to many more events!
NSU’s beach clean up was organized by Breanna Vanderplow and Megan Miller. The post written by Breanna Vanderplow and edited by SWMS Comms Lead Katie Gallagher.
As I gaze at the sapphire-blue water surrounding our vessel, I know that just 2 kilometers below me is one of our planet’s harshest environments: an ancient basin full of salt and toxic gases. Also called “Pools of Death”, deep hypersaline anoxic basins (DHABs) are unique seafloor features where salinity increases to 10 times that of seawater and oxygen concentrations approach zero. These environments are cold, dark, and pressure is greater than 200 times that at the ocean’s surface. Deep-sea animals that swim into DHABs are poisoned by hydrogen sulfide and methane gases before being pickled and preserved by the salty brine. Despite these extremes, the top layers of the basin are thought to be hotspots of microbial activity.
Image 1. Photos of the video captured on the ROV camera. A) The murky transition layer between normal seawater and hypersaline brine in Orca Basin. B) Sediment core taken by the ROV at a depth of ~2400 meters and salinity 10 times that of seawater. Images by Veronica Hegelein.
Some consider these basins analogous to other ocean worlds, like the briny moons of Jupiter and Saturn. As a part of the NASA-funded Oceans Across Space and Time (OAST) team, I had the opportunity to sample Orca Basin—a 400 km2 DHAB in the Gulf of Mexico—during Summer 2023. During our twelve days aboard the R/V Pt Sur, our team of 13 scientists and engineers conducted 21 CTD casts and 11 dives with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) upon which 10 sediment cores were collected from deep within the basin. I spent most of my time (sometimes up to 10 hours a day!) in the cold van (~4°C), where my microbial samples would not be exposed to the heat and humidity of the Gulf during summer. This meant donning a beanie and jacket despite it being hotter than 80°F outside. Since we also want to do our best to keep the environmental conditions the same as they are in situ, this also meant that the cold van was kept dark to mimic the deep-sea. We took all of these steps, and I spent a lot of time in the cold, dark van, so that we could reduce the impact of experimental set-up on the microbes’ activity levels.
Image 2. The ROV, named the “Global Explorer” (Oceaneering), that was used to sample the basin. Image by Veronica Hegelein.
We spent Fourth of July onboard, which required wearing star-shaped glasses during our daily activities and included a delicious steak and lobster dinner from David, our cruise chef. During my free time, I made T-shirts and organized an awards ceremony for the crew and science team with superlatives written on shrunken Styrofoam cups. When Styrofoam is placed under the extreme pressure of the deep-sea, it shrinks, creating decorated cruise souvenirs ranging from colorful cups to shrunken Styrofoam heads. A little morale-boosting fun goes a long way on a multi-week cruise!
Image 3. Emily Paris with the WOLF NanoCellect Cell Sorter in the cold van (4°C) onboard. Image by Jeff Bowman
Image 4. Shrunken octopus made from a Styrofoam cup and the high pressure of the deep-sea.
I am fortunate that this was not my first cruise. I am part of a deep-sea microbiology lab, so it was assumed (but not guaranteed!) that I would get to go on a cruise at some point during my PhD at Stanford University. In graduate school, I’ve gone on three cruises ranging from one day to two weeks, with a fourth planned for next summer. It’s not something I sought out when applying to my graduate program, but rather something that just came with the task of studying the deep-sea. If people are in labs that do not frequently participate in cruises but want to participate, sometimes cruises will have extra berths available for collaborators to join, so if you are interested in getting on a scientific cruise yourself, you could look for similar opportunities! I have also reached out to collaborators on other cruises asking for them to collect specific samples for me, which is another way to get precious samples that could otherwise take a lot of time and money to collect!
Image 5. OAST graduate students sampling from one of the 21 CTD casts collected from Orca Basin. Image by Jeff Bowman.
Image 6. Graduate students Chad Pozarycki (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Emily Paris (Stanford University) celebrating Fourth of July by preparing to send a CTD cast equipped with “shrunken cup superlatives” overboard while wearing star-shaped, red-white-and-blue glasses. Image by Jeff Bowman
While each scientist onboard had a different project, my goal on this cruise was to understand how compounding environmental stressors impact the efficiency of various microbial metabolisms. This is important for quantifying nutrient cycling and predicting shifts in the face of global environmental change, as well as for planning life detection missions on other planets. We were lucky to have a WOLF NanoCellect cell sorter on the cruise, which allowed me to separate metabolically active from inactive cells at various depths within the brine and preserve their DNA for sequencing. These samples will allow me to explore what adaptations allow a cell to survive as an environment becomes more extreme.
Image 7. The Oceans Across Space and Time field team after twelve long days at sea donning T-shirts made onboard. Left to Right & Front to Back: Jeff Bowman, Emily Paris, Carley Ross, Veronica Hegelein, Ellery Ingall, Andy Mullen, Steffen Buessecker, Jordan McKaig, Cathryn Sephus, Chad Pozarycki, Miguel Desmarais, Clair Elbon, and Matt Meister.
This project was funded by NASA grants 80NSSC18K1301 and 80NSSC22K1409. We would like to thank Britney Schmidt and the entire Oceans Across Space and Time team (field: J. S. Bowman, E. D. Ingall, S. Buessecker, C. Pozarycki, C. Ross, M. Desmarais, C. Elbon, C. Sephus, J. McKaig, M. Meister, A. Mullen, and V. Hegelein) as well as my P.I., Anne E. Dekas (Stanford University) and members of the Dekas Lab. I would also like to thank Mike, Jason, and Nate from Oceaneering, the crew of the R/V Pt Sur, as well as our collaborators at Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.
Written by Emily R. Paris
Edited by Katie Gallagher, SWMS Communications Lead
On April 26th 2023, the Monterey Bay chapter of SWMS hosted a Preventing Sexual Harassment in Field Settings workshop with the non-profit, FieldFutures. FieldFutures aims to make fieldwork safe for everyone. The workshop focused on harassment prevention by discussing topics including how to identify, address and play a role in halting sexual harassment. Participants benefited from learning prevention strategies from the workshop facilitator, Alison Payne, while also partaking in group discussions to examine their roles in thwarting harassment. Attendees left feeling more confident in their ability to identify, intervene, and report issues of harassment. Addressing how sexual harassment and assault threatens the involvement of many vulnerable communities is necessary in ensuring that, as a community, we are promoting equitable and safe field settings for all.
Monterey Bay SWMS at their FieldFutures workshop on April 23rd 2023
FieldFutures was founded in 2018 by Drs. Melissa Cronin and Erika Zavaleta. Using evidence-based techniques, they provide field-specific training for research teams of all sizes from individuals to entire agencies. Unfortunately, FieldFutures’ work comes from a need to reduce harassment in field work. Over half of researchers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields report being harassed and 20% have reported some form of assault while conducting field work (Clancy et al 2014). This idea recently came to the forefront of many institutions and departments with the release of the documentary Picture a Scientist premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. This critically acclaimed documentary illuminated the issue of prevalent harassment in field work situations and in geosciences specifically. The film follows the story of Dr. Jane Willenburg, a geology professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Willenburg was harassed by a supervisor in the field in Antarctica, and only reported her harasser after being awarded tenure. Her harasser was eventually removed from their institution.
Dr. Willenburg’s story is, unfortunately, all too common in STEM fields, especially in marine science. Marine scientists and oceanographers often report harassment in locations such as remote field sites or oceanographic cruises. According to a 2021 report by Women in Ocean Science, over 75% of survey participants were sexually harassed, with most reporting harassment in the field (Ackerman et al., 2023). Field work is often an instructional and formative experience, especially for early career scientists. Therefore, harassment and assault in the field is one of the major barriers to build inclusive marine science, geoscience, and broader STEM communities. As marine scientists, we should actively educate ourselves and our colleagues through programming such as those offered by FieldFutures or content such as Picture a Scientist to the pervasiveness of harassment in field work settings. Only by educating ourselves and our coworkers on the issues and holding those responsible accountable for their actions, will we be able to build more inclusive field work experiences for all.
To learn more about FieldFutures, or to request a workshop, go to FieldFutures.Org
Clancy KBH, Nelson RG, Rutherford JN, Hinde K (2014) Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. PLoS ONE 9(7): e102172. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102172
Ackerman, A., K. Yarincik, S. Murphy, I. Cetinić, A. Fundis, A. Miller, E. Shroyer, A. Busse, Q. Covington, A. DeSilva, A. Haupt, L. Johnson, C. Lee, L. Lorenzoni, B. Murphy, J. Ramarui, B. Rosenheim, and D. Steinberg. 2023. Know before you go: A community-derived approach to planning for and preventing sexual harassment at oceanographic field sites. Oceanography 36(1):38–43, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2023.112.
Written by Katie Gallagher (SWMS Communications Lead) and Alex Stella (Monterey Bay SWMS)
What one marine sci-artist is doing to inspire careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and maths
Full STEAM Ahead is a blog by SWMS‘ guest author Karen Romano Young
My baseball hat has an embroidered wave on the front. It sits atop a styrofoam wig form that doesn’t know what’s about to hit it. Any day now, it’s headed (ha) for a mesh laundry bag zip- tied to Alvin — and when it comes back, my hat will completely engulf it, not perch atop.
Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Alvin
The cap and wig form sit on the windowsill of a porthole opening out onto the Caribbean Sea. Aboard R/V Atlantis, we’re chugging along the north coast of Jamaica, on a three-day transit from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Cayman Islands — drawing a line of wake between the deepest points of the Atlantic (the Puerto Rico Trench) and the Caribbean (the Mid-Cayman Trough).
Research Vessel Atlantis – Karen’s home in the Caribbean Sea
On board with me are 50-odd scientists; Alvin engineers, electricians, and pilots; and the Atlantis crew who run the ship and the operations that take us to the deep sea. Deeper, in fact, than ever before, for Alvin, which has just been certified to 6500 meters. Before, it could take humans up to 4500m deep — about 2/3 of the seafloor. With this brand-new certification, we’ve got access to 99 % of the seafloor. My expedition’s job is science verification: making sure that Alvin is able to gather the data — samples, photos, videos, and — so importantly, human observations — that science needs. So what am I doing here?
Telling the stories of Alvin and the people who work with this amazing submersible that has been the vehicle for so many discoveries. In words and pictures. Mostly comics.
I’m serious. I’m part of the team, and comics are part of the outreach, not only telling the plot of of our experiences here, but showcasing the characters involved, in hope of making the field more accessible.
For years, I’ve used my #AntarcticLog comic series to tell stories about scientific research. The biggest thing that I’ve learned during that time is the need in science for more viewpoints — not just the human-occupied vehicle viewpoints provided by Alvin, but the perspectives of people of every gender, background, ability, experience, and gift. There is room for all — and, especially in deep-sea science, so much to learn about our world and other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond. And it’s evident that kids adore the ocean, its vehicles and its biodiversity. How do we get them from there to… here?
My answer — in progress, in proof of concept — is I Was A Kid. My new project has the goal of helping kids 8 to 18 see their way into science, technology, engineering, arts, and math fields like this one. Through sharing multimedia profiles of people already in those fields who represent a cross-section of skillsets, I Was A Kid routes the variety of pathways — bumps, obstructions, dead ends and all — that got them where they are, using comics, graphics, photos, and text.
Chrissy Hernandez of Cornell is our current president. She has shared with us why she enjoys being on the steering committee in this second elections spotlight.
We will also be holding SWMS Drop-in “Office Hours” on Zoom: Thursday January 27, 1-2pm Eastern Time
The SWMS President, Chrissy Hernandez, will be available to chat and answer questions about the upcoming elections and any SWMS programs. We are actively recruiting for the positions of President, Secretary, and Director. Come find out if one of those is right for you!
If that time does not work with your schedule and you’d like to chat with Chrissy, please e-mail chernandez@whoi.edu to set up another time. Or send her a DM on Slack!
Tricia Thibodeau of URI-GSO is our current vice president. She has shared with us why she enjoys being on the steering committee in this first elections spotlight. She also shares why you should join us!
We love how many perspectives our members can offer. We think that’s one of our strengths as a community that we offer t o marine science! Acknowledging and celebrating your individual experiences and identities is a really important way we can support you.
This is work we do year round, but in honor of Pride History Month we ‘sat down,’ from various corners of the planet, with Erin Jones (she/her). Erin is a PhD student of biological oceanography at GSO with Tatiana Rynearson. Below you will learn about her intersecting identities and the valuable science she is conducting!
Introduce Yourself!
I am a queer marine scientist in the 3rd year of my PhD at GSO in the Rynearson Lab studying the role of microzooplankton community structure and diversity in carbon export pathways.
Erin Jones, GSO URI (2019)
In particular, I am interested in how shifts in diversity of heterotrophic and mixotrophic protists influence grazing patterns through the water column. My research is part of the NASA EXPORTS project, for which I recently returned from a month-long cruise to the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the North Atlantic Ocean aboard the RRS James Cook.
Erin hooking up the plumbing for microzooplankton grazing experiment incubations. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
EXPORTS, which stands for Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing, is a NASA-funded project that aims to develop a predictive understanding of the ocean’s carbon cycle.
How has your identity shaped your experience as a woman marine scientist?
Being a queer woman in marine science, I have thought a lot about how much representation matters to aspiring scientists. I wasn’t aware of any LGBTQ+ people growing up, let alone any in STEM.
(From left to right) Erin Jones, Mikayla Cote, Dr. Pierre Marrec, Victoria Fulfer; aboard the R/V Endeavor for the NES-LTER Project, Fall 2020.
Without seeing your identity reflected in others, you are left to forge your own path; sink or swim.
Erin aboard the R/V Endeavor for the NES-LTER Project, Fall 2020
Being queer has shaped how I approach and participate in the marine science community, such as who I talk to, how I act at conferences, and whether I am “out” on research cruises. Broadly speaking, like many others I’ve had to learn to navigate the cisgender heteronormative patriarchy that exists at the core of the scientific community.
Despite the challenges I have faced along the way, I wouldn’t change who I am or the job I have; I’m queer and I’m a marine scientist.
How have you overcome the challenges posed by being a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Challenges posed by being queer have been variable, but over time I’ve built up a network of allies, LGBTQ+ friends and colleagues, discovered more resources for being a queer woman in STEM (500 Queer Scientists), and continued to educate myself so that I can be a better mentor to other aspiring queer scientists and make it easier for them to find their way into the scientific community (Safe Zone Trainings).
(From left to right) Rynearson lab-mates Dr. Laura Holland, Diana Fontaine, and Erin Jones playing a game of Euchre during the EXPORTS cruise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
Though the world continues to become more accepting of LGBTQ+ people, there is work to be done to make STEM more welcoming and supportive of queer identities. LGBTQ+ representation in schools, labs and at conferences has been vital for my development as a marine scientist.
I hope my queer visibility in the marine science shows other budding LGTBQ+ scientists that they are not alone, and they can be as much a part of the scientific community as anyone else.
Erin Jones (left) and Diana Fontaine (right) on the bow of the RRS James Cook as the ship returns to port in Southampton, UK. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
How have your support community and professional community overlapped?
Since joining GSO, my support community and professional community have overlapped substantially. My queer identity was not as visible in the past when I attempted to keep my queerness out of the lab.
Having an openly lesbian advisor has changed how I participate in the scientific community. By breaking out of the workplace “closet” I have become a better scientist, more engaged with my community and built stronger connections and supportive relationships with my lab and fellow students.
Rynearson/Menden-Deuer Grazing Team (From left to right) Dr. Laura Holland, Dr. Heather McNair, Erin Jones, and Diana Fontaine collecting samples from microzooplankton grazing experiments. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook.
What else would you like people to know about you?!
I hail from Bainbridge Island, Washington, where I grew up surrounded by the marine environment of the Puget Sound. Unsurprisingly, this is where my curiosity for marine life kindled.
I attended Mount Holyoke College, a historically women’s college in western Massachusetts where I studied biology and marine science. At Mount Holyoke, I flourished as a queer woman in STEM, surrounded by a fiercely supportive community of students and professors.
Aside from marine science, I love spending my time cooking, biking, throwing pottery, and gardening.
Top Left: The crew and science party of the RRS James Cook celebrate Erin’s birthday during the EXPORTS cruise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook. Top Right: Erin Jones and Diana Fontaine on the RRS James Cook watching the sunrise over the North Atlantic ocean during EXPORTS. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook. Bottom Left: Erin Jones on deck of RRS James Cook waiting for sunrise. NASA EXPORTS Cruise May 2021, North Atlantic Ocean, RRS James Cook. Bottom Middle: Erin Jones pictured with her girlfriend Lindsey after cooking Thanksgiving dinner 2020. Bottom Right: Erin Jones admiring the Kinney Azalea Gardens, Kingston, RI in Spring 2020.
If you are a woman in marine science and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, we’d love to hear from you! Please join us on social media June 24th 2021 as we celebrate LGBTQ+ pride and share your voice! Or pitch us a blog like Erin’s – you can find details here.
Introducing Ireland SWMS! Our branch was born from a need to connect marine scientists in The Republic of Ireland, of all levels and backgrounds and create a progressive space to discuss important issues. As an island nation, we rely heavily on the marine industries. By creating an engaged networking community, we hope to support the marine science industry and bolster the success of female scientists. Though we’re starting small, with the help of all SWMS supporters, we expect to grow and connect scientists across the nation. Here are our co-founders sharing their unique experiences in the field.
Introducing Niamh: My name is Niamh Meyler, co-founder of the Irish chapter of SWMS.
Growing up near the Irish Sea, I had a love of the beach and of nature. When I was introduced by chance to the field of marine zoology, I knew I had found my dream career path that combined my passion and curiosity for animals, the ocean and discovery.
With Zoology as my chosen field of study, I enrolled in the National University of Ireland where I got my bachelor’s degree and solidified my interest in cnidarian ecology. After graduation, I worked as a Groundfish Observer where I trained at the NOAA/NMFS facility in Seattle and was assigned to different boats in Alaska to collect catch data.I continued my studies and I am currently doing an MSc. Marine Biology with Stockholm University with a focus on tropical coral disease epidemiology.
Introducing Aisha: Hello! My name is Aisha O’Connor, co-founder of the Irish chapter of SWMS.
It was during my transition year in secondary school when I first realised my passion for marine science. A late comer compared to some, but having not grown up by the sea and with nobody else in my family with a strong interest in the marine realm, it took the discovery of the Galapagos Islands through a geography project to ignite the marine fire inside of me.
From there, I went on to complete a BSc in Marine Science at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) where I met Niamh, and continued my journey of discoveries when I was introduced to the wonderful world of seaweeds! And so flourished my passion for all things macroalgal-related. Since then I’ve had a bursary in the Aquaculture sector of the Marine Institute, Galway, worked as a research assistant in Alabama, US and Germany. Recently, I graduated with a MSc in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I feel connected to the marine environment by more than an academic thread, I love to swim and snorkel in the sea and even SCUBA dive! Peering directly into a marine ecosystem keeps my passion burning.
Throughout my studies to date, I did not experience much encouragement to pursue a career in marine science. Simultaneously, resources detailing the opportunities and possibilities that would open up with a degree in Marine Science were few and far between. That being said, Niamh and I are striving to change the narrative through our innovative work with Ireland SWMS.
Our goals: We hope that Ireland SWMS will be successful in our pursuit to promote the visibility of women in marine science and help people connect with the experience of minorities in the field. Ireland SWMS dedicates itself to
provide support to young marine scientists in pursuing a marine career/studies and for networking
provide resources to find marine-related internships and jobs in Ireland
share knowledge from previous experiences in academia/industry/volunteering positions/etc.
We hope those who share the goals of this open and inclusive society feel empowered to join us. Together we can act to make the marine sector in Ireland a diverse and dynamic community to be part of.
