April 20, 2018
Village visit with the northern lights

They tell an Inupiat tale of the northern lights — how they will swoop down to chop off your head and use it for a football.
April 16, 2018
Cove Mountain looks like a “2,” even to a structural geologist…but why?

Cove Mountain is shaped exactly like a neatly drawn “2.”
April 13, 2018
Technology, courage, and next steps

Now that I have recovered from lack of sleep, two weeks of intense sampling, and can feel the stable earth under my feet, I would like to share a special morning off the west coast of O‘ahu.
Alaska hot springs, far and wide

After a few hours of skiing through deep snow, Forest Wagner and I smelled a tuna sandwich. We knew we were closing in on warm pools of water.
April 12, 2018
Wrapping up the #microbeeddybots expedition: Week 4 video

“Whenever you are able to achieve something that you couldn’t before, it always gives you hope for the future.”
April 11, 2018
An ocean’s breath

There are only a few places in the ocean where the dynamics of the microbial organisms are so tightly coupled that they give rise to perfect synchronicity. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre that we are sailing through for this research cruise is one of these special places.
April 10, 2018
How to spy on nitrogen-fixing bacteria
“…most phytoplankton are desperate for nitrogen, taking up any available forms so fast that concentrations in surface waters are often too low for us to measure.”
Pumping Iron
All life on earth needs iron to grow, and the lifeforms in the oceans are no exception. The ocean around the Falkor is filled with microscopic plankton who spend their day sifting through the salt and water to find a few precious iron atoms.
April 9, 2018
Can’t stop moving

I really can’t stop moving. There are two reasons for this. One is that I am on a ship. The other is that I am on a ship. Yes, these are distinct reasons.
April 7, 2018
Microbes and machines: Week 3 Video

“These eddy fields are fantastic natural laboratories. They are large enough that we are able to conduct simultaneous measurements using autonomous vehicles, profiling floats, and other instruments to take microbiology measurements, chemistry measurements, and geochemical measurements. These all come together so that we understand the living ecosystem of the eddy field.”