by By Trinity Barrueta, Triton College, Elmhurst University
Today I woke up farther than I have ever been from my family, and not only am I far, but I continue going farther. My family has always been my lifeline, and it is only with their full support and love that I have been able to enjoy and appreciate this experience with the STEMSEAS organization. My days now start in a rocking bunk that’s set two and a half miles above the sea floor. Getting on my feet and keeping my legs stiff on the ground hasn’t been this hard since I was learning to walk… but I guess I need to get my sea-legs eventually. I stumble around, getting ready by leaning, hopping, and fumbling around my room with my two roommates, Haley and Sarina. The three of us all depend on each other for a smooth morning and fortunately it’s been going well.
Once I’m up in the main lab with the rest of our group, we talk about our plan for the day, this time conveniently includes singing Disney songs and making jokes until we wheeze. It’s better than I could have imagined, and I’ve got to say I’m insanely lucky to be surrounded by hilariously witty and endlessly intelligent people for the duration of this expedition.
Each day has given me time to research or study further than I have before. The mentors that we have here each have their own niches, giving us time to learn from their experiences. For example, on June 4th, with the rough weather we were unable to go outside, which is our safe space (best place to feel less sea-sick). The lessons that were oceanography with Ajit, cartography with Abrian, and ocean plate tectonics with Sheldon. Each lesson comes with real experience and knowledge, focusing on the things that originally inspired our mentors.
Watching one of the floats being dropped was also a great part of the day. These floats will help us with data that is generated from the sea area it is dropped in. The floats can specifically tell us what the salinity (how salty) and temperature is of the water at all times. These yellow floats are dropped all around the world and really help with a lot of the information that we use in research all of the time, so getting to watch it go into the water was super cool.
Lastly, with the extra time we will have in the near future, I personally have chosen to create my project surrounding plankton. My work and research will be done with Maddy, and our hopes are to generally focus on the fluorescence made by plankton. My goal has always been to work in the biology field (generally microbiology) as I have always been interested in marine life and the tiniest of organisms on Earth. Looking through microscopes has been a highlight of my scientific experience, especially when it comes to the science classes that I have taken in the past.
The photo below shows one of our planktoscopes, this tool can take live photos and videos of plankton as they flow through the small tubes in the machine. This does so without harming them which is also a super cool feature of it.
Working with all of these great people has been so much fun for me and this really is an opportunity that I will always cherish. My goals in life have always seemed so far away from me, but getting the experience from this trip makes me feel so much closer to where I want to be in the future and who I want to become. I hope you enjoyed my blog! Be sure to read more of the things that we’ve got to say from our experiences on the sea. <3
