In my 9-22 and 9-26 Journals, I introduced members of the Chemistry Teams. Since scientists are such a social bunch (no laughing - we're social in our own "special" ways), I wanted to introduce other scientists from other teams.
Maria Papadimitraki - Chemistry Team
Background: Home - Crete, Greece; Current Residence - Copenhagen, Denmark - Worked as research assistant in whale monitoring in Iceland; Bachelors (Greece) - ornithology (study of birds) focused on cell abnormalities caused by parasites; Masters (Copenhagen) in Oceanography and Fisheries - focused on dissolved organic matter in Arctic water.
Why the Arctic? Maria has been around boats for much of her life and in college asked her marine biology professor how to go on an expedition on an icebreaker. She is very interested in how dissolved organic matter and dissolved organic carbon can be used to show how fresh water is being put into Arctic ocean ecosystems. These can be indicators of a changing environment.
Best Parts of the Job: Exploration - both intellectual and geographical.
Worst Parts of the Job: Politics - there is a very political nature to science in terms of how climate crisis is being handled by governments and we should focus not only in finding sustainable solutions but also sustainable research practices.
Advice to 16 Year-old Self: Follow your gut, understand your limits, and be flexible. To avoid an "existential" ("Oh no, who am I and what is my meaning?") crisis later in life, you should always try to "update your personal hard drive to the latest operating system" and be realistic.
Comfort Items for the Ship: Smoked cheese from Crete and Sage tea (hand picked sage).
Dolly More - CTDA research tool that is submerged in the water to measure conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth. and MooringAn anchor or weight attached to the sea floor used to hold a scientific instrument in place. Teams
Background: Hometown - Mumbai, India; Current Residence - Fairbanks, AK; Bachelors - Mumbai University - physics; Masters - Pune University (India) - atmospheric and space sciences; 2nd Masters (current) - University of Alaska Fairbanks - atmospheric science.
Why the Arctic? Dolly has always had an interest in science and was exposed to scientists while working. She was studying the Bay of Bengal using ocean modeling to understand the ocean physics. One of her professors mentioned how the melting of sea ice affected the Indian Ocean and monsoon season, which sparked her interest. She looked at graduate programs in Australia and Alaska, but she was tired of being in the heat. Igor Polyakov is her professor this semester, and she is taking a course from him, as well as another course while she is on the ship.
Best Parts of the Job: Finding answers - linking data to processes.
Worst Parts of the Job: Coding Issues - knowing what you want to do while computer modeling but not knowing the exact right code to do it.
Advice to 16 Year-old Self: Have self-discipline - don't take shortcuts, develop good study routines, don't skip over topics you're not interested in, and learn how to code.
Entertainment for the Ship: Brooklyn 99, Pokemon (TV series), and chocolate.
Michael Lundberg - CTDA research tool that is submerged in the water to measure conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth. and MooringAn anchor or weight attached to the sea floor used to hold a scientific instrument in place. Teams
Background: Hometown - Melbourne, Australia but born in Pretoria, South Africa; Current Residence - Fairbanks, AK by way of Japan, New Zealand, North Carolina, Oregon, and much world traveling; Bachelors - Monash University (Australia); Masters - Melbourne University - Mechanical Engineering; Masters - North Carolina State University - Mechanical Engineering; PhD (current) - University of Alaska Fairbanks - Atmospheric Science.
Why the Arctic? In addition to living in many different places, Michas has had many jobs - oil company worker, teacher, engineer, weather forecaster, and computer programmer. Michael's wife took a job in Alaska, and he worked for industrial companies on the North Slope. He was exposed to the Arctic but wanted to feel better about what he was doing and not destroy the environment.
Best Parts of the Job: Focusing on earning and the lessened responsibility of being a student.
Worst Parts of the Job: Learning sometimes feels like a job.
Advice to 16 Year-old Self: Do what you're interested in (he would encourage his 16 year old self to consider electrical engineering) and travel.
Entertainment for the Ship: Ping pong (Michael is supposed to be reading papers and working on his computer analyses of aspects of the Arctic Ocean, so he tried not to bring much to distract him).
And, for those of you who are worried that the Science Party trilogy will end with this episode, fear not. Like all good Hollywood blockbuster series (Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc.), what should take 3 entries will be subdivided until the entire story is told.
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