Emily Davenport, a second year graduate student in the Environmental Science Department at Western Washington University, participated in the research cruise to conduct her thesis research on benthic communities, nutrient cycling, and climate change. Ms. Davenport has been working with sixth grade students at the Nooksack Valley Middle School in Everson, WA and utilizes the PolarTREC Virtual Base Camp to interact with students while on the cruise.

David Shull, an Assistant Professor at Western Washington University, studies invertebrate communities in estuaries and continental shelf sediments. He is particularly interested in the roles that benthic organisms play in the function of coastal ecosystems.

Al Devol, a Research Professor at the University of Washington studies biogeochemistry. He is interested in the nutrient chemistry and denitrification process in Bering Sea shelf sediments.

The team traveled on the USCGC Healy to the Bering Sea. The Bering Sea lies to the west of Alaska and to the east of Russia. The team departed from and returned to the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the most productive fishing port in the United States.