TITLE: Ph.D. Student
ACADEMIC INSTITUTION: University of Delaware

 

What is your role in Extreme 2008?
My main role on this research cruise will be to set up and maintain the sampling equipment that goes down with the submersible Alvin. The two main pieces of equipment are the “Sipper,” which collects discrete water samples for chemical analysis, and the “Artie,” which is used to store and preserve biological samples from the seafloor.

What questions are you trying to answer and why?
I study bacteria from extreme environments, which includes deep-sea hydrothermal vents. I have used a combination of culturing techniques and genome analysis to look at what kinds of adaptations these bacteria have in order to survive in the fluctuating temperatures, high pressures, and toxic metals present in hydrothermal vent systems.

Scientists on this cruise are looking at the microscopic protists that live among the hydrothermal vent communities. The Sipper, in combination with temperature measurements, will provide information about the chemical and physical conditions in the areas where the organisms are collected.

What's your background, and what lured you into marine science/education?
I’m from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which is bordered by the Chesapeake Bay to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Working on the water is something that runs in my family as my grandfather, uncle, and brother have all been “watermen” on the Chesapeake Bay and I spent a summer working on a charter fishing boat out of Crisfield, Maryland, the “Crab Capital of the World.”

After high school, I entered a dual-degree program, earning a B.S. in biology at Salisbury University and a B.S. in marine and environmental science at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in marine biosciences at the University of Delaware.