Cruise Participants

Photo of Peter Alpert.

Peter Alpert

  • Graduate Student • Stony Brook University
  • Peter Alpert will be collecting seawater samples that will be analyzed in on shore using an instrument called the Capillary Waveguide Biosensor (CWB), with the goal of detecting marine bacteria such as Pelagibacter, Vibrio, and/or Prochlorococcus, based on their DNA or RNA. The CWB may eventually be added as a module on the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). He will also be collect aerosol particles (which affect the formation of clouds) for subsequent physical and chemical analysis on shore.
Photo of Jessica Bryant.

Jessica Bryant

  • Laboratory Technician • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Jessica Bryant will be working with Elizabeth Ottesen to grow marine microbes on board the ship in order to study their daily cycles using transcriptomics (determining which genes are actively being used by an organism at a particular time). She will also be growing microbes to study the process of nitrification.
Photo of Deniz Bombar.

Deniz Bombar

  • Postdoctoral Fellow • University of California at Santa Cruz
  • Deniz Bombar will be working with Craig Taylor to measure in-situ nitrification rates and nitrogen fixation rates using the Incubation Productivity Systems (IPS) and the Submersible Incubation Device (SID). He will also be measuring nitrogen fixation rates on deck and maintaining the gas arrays/deck incubations for N2 fix rates.
Photo of Tara Clemente.

Tara Clemente

Photo of Daniela del Valle.

Daniela del Valle

  • Postdoctoral Fellow • University of Hawai‘i
  • Daniela del Valle will be conducting in-situ and on-board experiments to measure rates of nitrification and to study the roles of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in the nitrification process. She will also be measuring hydrogen turnover rates in collaboration with Sam Wilson.
Photo of Ken Doggett.

Ken Doggett

Photo of Kim Fulton-Bennett.

Kim Fulton-Bennett

  • Communications Associate • Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
  • Kim Fulton-Bennett will be documenting the cruise in text, photos and video, writing the cruise blog, and helping monitor CTD casts and the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP).
Photo of Trevor Goodman.

Trevor Goodman

  • Marine Technician • University of Hawai‘i
  • Trevor Goodman will be performing general marine operations and equipment deployments.
Photo of Sara Lincoln.

Sara Lincoln

  • Graduate Student • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Sara Lincoln will be studying the distribution of membrane lipids from archaea at different depths.
Photo of Roman Marin.

Roman Marin

  • Marine Engineer • Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
  • Roman Marin III will be assisting Gene Massion with preparation, integration, deployment and recovery of Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) drifter system. He will also be collaborating with Julie Robidart in preparing the ESP core and microfluidic block for deployment, and monitoring the ESP drifter system during its deployment.
Photo of Gene Massion.

Gene Massion

  • Marine Engineer • Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
  • Gene Massion will be serving as engineer on the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) Drifter project, responsible for mechanical and ocean engineering. He will be working with Roman Marin and Julie Robidart to set up, deploy, operate and recover the ESP.
Photo of Elizabeth Ottesen.

Elizabeth Ottesen

  • Postdoctoral Fellow • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Elizabeth Ottesen will be working with Jessica Bryant to grow marine microbes on board the ship in order to study their daily cycles using transcriptomics (determining which genes are actively being used by an organism at a particular time). She will also be growing microbes to study the process of nitrification.
Photo of Ariel Rabines.

Ariel Rabines

Photo of Julie Robidart.

Julie Robidart (Chief Scientist)

  • Postdoctoral Fellow • University of California at Santa Cruz / Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
  • In addition to organizing the cruise as a whole, Julie Robidart will be deploying the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) to detect nitrogen-fixing microbes in real time, and to archive samples for later analyses. Also working with Kendra Turk and Deniz Bombar to quantify nitrogenase genes from seawater samples, and to conduct on-deck incubations (water mixing experiments) to provide context for the ESP data and samples.
Photo of Ben Rubin.

Ben Rubin

Photo of Mariona Segura.

Mariona Segura

  • Postdoctoral Fellow •University of Hawai‘i
  • Mariona Segura will be studying the elemental composition of the alga Trichodesmium at a single-cell level, under different environmental situations, by collecting filaments of algae to be analyzed after the cruise.
Photo of Craig Taylor.

Craig Taylor

Photo of Kendra Turk-Kubo.

Kendra Turk-Kubo

  • Research Specialist • University of California at Santa Cruz
  • Kendra Turk-Kubo will be working with Deniz Bombar and Julie Robidart to conduct on-deck incubations.
Photo of Ger van den Engh.

Ger van den Engh

  • Scientist • University of Hawai‘i
  • Ger van den Engh will be working with Ken Doggett to study pigments in photosynthetic microbes using an Influx Flow Cytometer (IFC).
Photo of Kuhio Vellalos.

Kuhio Vellalos

  • Marine Technician • University of Hawai‘i
  • Kuhio Vellalos will be performing general marine operations and equipment deployments.
Photo of John Waterbury.

John Waterbury

  • Scientist • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
  • John Waterbury will be culturing nitrifying microbes (both ammonia and nitrite oxidizers) and culturing cyanobacteria that fix nitrogen (including unicellular cyanobacteria and the multicellular alga Trichodesmium).
Photo of Blake Watkins.

Blake Watkins

  • Marine Engineer • University of Hawai‘i
  • Blake Watkins will be performing general marine operations and equipment deployments.
Photo of Sam Wilson.

Sam Wilson

  • Postdoctoral Fellow • University of Hawai‘i
  • Sam Wilson will be measuring nitrogen fixation using the acetylene reduction assay. Measuring hydrogen cycling (net concentrations and turnover rates) associated with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria as well as N2O and CH4 associated with nitrification experiments.

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