Calmer Seas for Water Quality Research

This week, we took to the seas (rivers) for our bimonthly water quality sampling. This was our first time bringing the interns into the field for the water quality work, and they really got the full experience. Everything from the BlueBoat malfunctioning, losing research gear, choppy seas, to low boat traffic, curious watergoers, and more. We completed all our sampling despite minor challenges, and as I told the interns, this water quality work may be the most difficult lab work of the summer due to the precision required for the research protocols. The picture here is a shot of what my view looks like at the front of the boat where I have our field computer with the BlueBoat software, the BaseStation, which sends communication between the computer and the BlueBoat, and the Xbox controller for manual piloting of the vehicle all ready to go. Off to the side, we collect the water samples while researchers in the back of the boat perform a vertical water quality profile.

Next week will be an exciting week, as we head out on a week-long research cruise aboard the R/V Point Sur. The purpose of this cruise is to increase marine and geoscience research opportunities for undergraduate students, so we will be performing sediment coring, sonar profiling, water quality sampling, and a small biology experiment off the coast of Louisiana. We will have approximately 12 students on the overnight portions of the cruise and then we will have another group of students join us for a single day on the vessel. This will be a great opportunity for students to experience research on a large vessel and for the overnight trip students to experience life at sea. Because we will be out at sea, I will not be able to post a blog next week, but be sure to stay tuned because I will post when I get back with pictures from this amazing experience.

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