Last Friday, I brought my pH meter home and set it up on my dining room table. Frankly, I felt pretty eccentric doing that. I wanted to find out if there is a measurable daily cycle in pH within the marsh tide pool I’ve been studying. A main reason to expect a daily pH cycle…

We were out in the marsh today collecting some mud for an experiment. Did I seriously just write that? What has my life turned into? Have I really become a mud collector? And I thought being a cat lady was kind of quirky. Ok, so we were out collecting some mud and gathering up some…

It’s become a sort of meme to complain about words people love to loathe, the ones that send a shudder up your spine: words like “moist”, “slacks”, “irregardless” and “awesomesauce” (shudder shudder). I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring all of these, but there is one word that inevitably makes my jaw clench, the crease between…

A sixth grade class recently interviewed me as a part of career day. I thought that some of these answers might be interesting to other students. There are lots of different ways that people can work as marine biologists. Some of the answers would be the same, but some of them would be different. I…

One thing I like about working at WHOI is the rich oceanographic history…I can’t take any personal credit for it, but I’m proud to be a little part of it. And it sometimes affects my daily life in fun and interesting ways. I’m currently co-teaching our Introduction to Biological Oceanography Class, and as a project,…

This post was written by Ph.D. Candidate Hanny Rivera A softly illuminated castle stood overlooking the snow-blanketed streets of Cesky Krumlov, a medieval village tucked away in southern Czech Republic. I walked slowly towards the town square dragging my luggage over the rugged cobblestone streets, conversing with a fellow scientist also here for an intensive workshop to…

Of all the scientists studying mice and fruitflies, the vast majority aren’t really motivated by an undeniable interest in rodents and insects. Because these animals are easy to raise and manipulate experimentally, scientists use them as models to study complicated aspects of genetics, development, physiology and behavior. In particular, many studies take advantage of features…

Astronaut Sunita Williams inspires me: I once saw Suni give a talk to a packed auditorium of schoolchildren, and I was amazed at the patience she had for all their questions. As far as I can tell she spends a lot of time talking to people about her experiences with NASA, and she’s enthusiastic about…