Sampling is underway and we’re working ‘round the clock to process our specimens. Luckily for us, it’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere with roughly 20 hours of sunshine a day. Even the night shift gets to enjoy the sun’s rays. Approximately every 12 hours, the ship deploys the Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) rosette which collects […]
Continue reading "Diversity in Every Sample"
This morning at 4:30 AM was the first CTD cast of the A.D.A.P.T cruise! We found a diverse array of both temperate and polar diatoms. Our first station was in the Drake Passage, one of the world’s most dangerous waters. Wish us calm waters as we make our way through the Drake! Posted by Olivia […]
Continue reading "First CTD Cast Complete!"
Hello All, First and foremost, from everyone here on the Nathaniel B. Palmer, Merry Christmas! This is Daniel Achilles checking in, the undergraduate on the cruise. I am majoring in marine biology at the University of Rhode Island and this is certainly the trip of a lifetime. For me, it’s my first research experience as […]
Continue reading "Merry Christmas from the Southern Hemisphere!"
We’ve got the lab set up at this point and now it’s time to go over protocols, making sure everyone is up to speed before we take our first water samples. One of our main science goals is to capture live plankton to examine their genetic diversity. This means we all need to sample water […]
Continue reading "Oiling the gears"
The ship is now packed with everything we’ll need for the next month at sea, from food to fancy scientific instrumentation, from nuts and bolts (literally) to pens and paper. The very capable crew and staff include engineers, electronics specialists, EMTs, IT specialists and captains (yes, there are several with a captains license but only […]
Continue reading "Last night at the pier"
We spent much of the last few days unpacking boxes and supplies, buying last minute items and setting up the lab. In the next 24 hrs we’ll set up 3 separate labs and 2 cold rooms to process samples and run experiments.
Continue reading "Finally setting up the Lab!"
After more than 24 hrs of traveling, the whole group has arrived in Punta Arenas! We’ll spend the next few days unpacking gear, setting up the labs on the ship, calibrating instruments and getting ready for departure on Christmas Eve.
Continue reading "Dec 20: Arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile!"We leave for Punta Arenas in just 1.5 weeks! The lab has spent months preparing for the cruise, packing dozens of boxes of supplies and equipment, obtaining permits and training on instrumentation. All this effort has been expended to better understand diatoms and their response to climate change. Here’s a diatom we collected during our […]
Continue reading "Nearly ready"