If you have been following the ship's location, we are in pretty much the same spot we have been in for several days in a row. The weather in the Bering Sea has been horrendous. Two days ago it was decided that we would hang out in the ice to “weather” the storm. The only problem is, storms keep tracking across the Bering Sea. As soon as one storm is through, another one is building behind it. We have done very little science the past two days. You can see the red path we have made on the Healy map server image below.
The red path shows the Healy chilling in the ice out of the wrath of the storms!
Saturday night, for Morale night, the TAD crew made pizza and chicken wings. That was a nice change! There was a SUMO wrestling tournament in the hangar, followed by a showing of Captain America on the big screen. Sunday night, the “Aaarrrgghhhhtic Mis-fits” (the name we selected for our Trivia team) went to battle in the Team Trivia Competition. Our trivia team FINALLY came in FIRST place!!! Fun activities to pass the time!
Sumo night in the helo hangar!
On Sunday afternoon, we did begin to make our way to the next sampling station. The night watch completed several stations last night, so we should be back to science for a while!
I'll take the rest of this journal to introduce you to Dr. Joel Llopiz. Joel is a Postdoctoral Scholar: essentially what most PhD graduates do for a few years (1 to 5 or so) before getting a “real” job. If that “real” job is going to be being a professor, a postdoc (short for a postdoctoral position of any sort) is essentially required. You just keep doing research during that time, but you are usually not independent—you work under someone. Dr. Ashjian on this cruise is one of his advisors.
Joel got a BS in Marine Science at Eckerd College in St. Pete, FL. He skipped getting a Master’s and started the PhD program at the University of Miami, getting his doctorate in Marine Biology (but specifically on larval fish and zooplankton).
Dr. Llopiz looking for wildlife OTHER than fish!
The part of Joel's job that he enjoys the most is getting out in the field and doing research to better understand how nature works. He also loves that his job is not the same thing day in and day out. He works on different projects and at different locations (at a computer in an office, on a ship, teaching in the classroom).
When I asked Joel what advice he would give someone who may be interested in his career field he said “study hard”. Your eventual path can be determined by how your measuring up right now. Good grades now give you the opportunity to continue on to the next step. Close a door now and you might never be able to open it back up. GREAT advice!!
Joel examining a sample aboard Healy
Joel also said that early in high school, he didn't even knew jobs like his existed. His parents didn’t go to college. He knew he was going to go to college, but didn’t initially know he'd have to keep going to college after those first 4 yrs for another 5 (sometimes longer). He didn’t even know what graduate school was in high school. If you know what opportunities are out there you’ll be better suited to make your dreams come true.
Stay tuned as we continue our exciting voyage on the USCG Cutter Healy. Until then...
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mohandas Gandhi