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Finally, the sea has gotten calmer, and the weather is warming up and our team energized. After breakfast, we started the day with a presentation from Loretta Williams Gurnell, Founder of SUPERGirls SHINE Foundation (SGSF). Loretta shared her amazing professional journey and the outstanding work SGSF is doing in nurturing and transforming the lives of girls. This presentation was followed by a conversation with Mariah Kopec-Belliveau (2nd Mate, R/V Neil Armstrong) regarding ‘Life on a Ship’. Mariah is the navigation officer of the ship who determines the cruise track based on meteorological data. She enlightened us with ship operations and the teamwork it takes to run this big vessel.
In the afternoon, Sage Lichtenwalner (Data Scientists, Rutgers University) gave us a presentation on NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and how the data can be accessed and utilized. This was followed by a conversation with Sonia Bugger and Gabe Matthias (Shipboard scientific support group) on measurements that are taken aboard the ship. The Neil Armstrong ship is equipped with instruments to measure meteorological and surface seawater characteristics. We were given a tour of the ship to see the various instruments and probes onboard.
We ended the day with an informative talk by the chief scientist (Dr. Magdalena Andres) who shared her NASA funded work on deploying CPIES (current and pressure recording inverted echo sounders) to calibrate the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite.
Overall, the day was productive, and I believe we are getting an experience of a lifetime. The STEMSEAS team is brainstorming on ideas to create more opportunities for HBCU faculty and students.
Mintesinot Jiru (Ph.D.)
STEMSEAS Participants group picture
