Big data is a nebulous term. In addition to being the name of a band (which is now one of my Pandora stations), it also describes very, very, very large amounts of data collected in all range of disciplines, from finance to astronomy and everything in between (yes, even in marine sciences!). With the advent … Continue reading
Welcome to a new series of articles all about the people behind the science. Every month, we will profile students, technicians, and professors in order to personalize the at times inaccessible world of research. You might say Barbara Zemskova is our resident mixologist – of the ocean that is. Barbara is one of our fellow graduate students … Continue reading
If you like Lord of the Rings as much as I do (let’s be real, you don’t), then you’re familiar with the film’s scene in which Bilbo and Gandalf take turns blowing smoke rings (I know, I know, Gandalf blows a ship, not a ring). Maybe you’ve even seen one of your old uncles partaking … Continue reading
What do you think of when you think about the Galapagos? Darwin, finches, tortoises, blue-footed boobys? What else comes to mind? The word pristine, perhaps? How many people do you think live on the Galapagos (a volcanic archipelago owned by Ecuador, but located well off of the coast)? In 1970 there were around 4,000 … Continue reading
Funneling women into STEM majors seems easy enough. Add enough women in the mix, and (like trickle-down economics) those women will get tenure track positions, they’ll encourage the next generation and so on. In a perfect world, if a girl were interested in science, she would study science, and then she would get a job … Continue reading
Check out A Scientist at Sea: California Current Research Cruise (Part I) as well! This research cruise is about halfway over and we find ourselves within sight of Big Sur, off the coast of southern California. Everyone is searching, frantically, for water. The dark irony of it hasn’t escaped the scientists aboard the R/V Melville—we’re … Continue reading
As a grad student I often find myself in conversations with colleagues concerning job prospects, diversity, biases in science, and the difficulties of publishing. I’m lucky to be in a very diverse marine science department full of students from all types of backgrounds. We have more female grad students than male grad students around here, … Continue reading
Do you eat seafood? Most of us do. It is delicious after all. By now I’m sure you are aware of issues involving sustainable seafood. Not all of the fish we eat are fished (or grown) sustainably (ex: orange roughy ). In recent years, sustainable seafood has been on the minds of many and several … Continue reading
Everyone seems to enjoy imagining what it must be like to have starfish’s limb regeneration capabilities: see earlier post here. But a mystery disease that causes a sea star’s arms to crawl away from each other until the star is literally ripped apart has been increasing in prevalence over the last several years: this video … Continue reading
As a child, there was one thing that could drag me out of bed a whole hour early before the inevitable race out the front door to school: The Magic School Bus. I’m sure you’re wondering what an animated children’s show has to do with marine science. But in the same vein as the recent … Continue reading
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