The first day of class we met Dr. William Hogarth, FIO Director, discussed the logistics of the days to come, broke for lunch, then went on a kayak tour of Bayboro Harbor and Salt Creek, on which we saw dolphins, fish, oysters, crabs, and some snail eggs.
The second day we visited the USF College of Marine Science Electron Microscopy Laboratory and the USF CMS PaleoLab, where sediment cores are analyzed to find information on the climate, geology, and geography of ancient times.
Tony Greco, USF College of Marine Science, Explaining How Samples Are Sliced
USF CMS' Transmission Electron Microscope
The Darkroom
The Exhaust System Used in Sample Fixation
The Sputterer
USF CMS' Scanning Electron Microscope
USF CMS PaleoLab, Researching Sediment Core Samples. The Round, White Objects Are Models of Tiny Foraminifera.
Dr. Ethan Goddard, USF CMS Paleolab, Explaining The Mass Spectrometer.
This Machine Vaporizes Samples to be Analyzed
Whatever This Is, It Looks Cool
This Guy Was Hanging Onto a Rope We Pulled Up
On the third day, ending the school week, we visited USF CMS' wax model of the phenomenon of seafloor spreading through tectonic movement. After the demonstration of the wax table, we enjoyed a lecture by Dan Otis, a researcher at the USF CMS Institute of Marine Remote Sensing, about satellite measurement of ocean surface temperature, height, and chlorophyll content. Next were the two main highlights of the week. While waiting for the OK to board the Weatherbird, one of USF CMS' research vessels, Dr. Judkins was giving some information and I thought a bug landed in my hair. I picked it out, but it wasn't a bug, it was a tiny pebble which has a strong attraction to magnets. Yeah, I got struck on top of the head by a meteorite and lived to tell the tale. What are the odds? After having a star fall on me, the tour of the Weatherbird felt surreal, but it still got me pumped for a 14 hour run we're taking during our last week.
This Table Uses Molten Wax to Simulate the Formation of Seafloor at the Edges of Tectonic Plates
Solid Wax Sinks Into Molten Wax. Surface Tension Holds the Sheet of Wax Up.
The Weatherbird Research Vessel
This Hauls Up the Net
The Crane is Used to Pick Up Lifeboats, Buoys, Submersibles, etc.
Can't Wait For Dinner On Board!
How Long Until We Get Our Sea-Legs?
I Wish We Would Be Staying Overnight.
The Bridge
Fellow Purple Merperson Jade Hemberger and the Weatherbird IT Crew.
This Meteorite Struck Me On the Head!
To cap the week off some of us went to the beach and had a great time, there were live conchs all over the place, and Michael, fellow Purple Merperson, found a sea star! So many amazing things have happened so quickly, and I'm charged up for what's yet to come!
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