DEEPEND Cruise DP03 sets sail April 30th
The DEEPEND Crew will be setting sail this Friday, April 30th for their third midwater trawling research cruise, DP03. They will spend 15 days at sea collecting environmental and biological data in the northern Gulf of Mexico surrounding the Deepwater Horizon site. On board will be 15 scientists whose expertise includes areas such as taxonomy, sound scattering, genetics, oceanography, and light. The teacher-at-sea for this cruise will be Christia Hewlett who teaches marine biology at Sheridan Hills Christian School. There will be one additional guest on this cruise who has never been to sea before – Flat Stanley! You may remember seeing him before as a child or maybe have received him in the mail from friends or family. He will be blogging about his experiences at sea and sharing photos here. In addition to our scientific mission, we will be filming activities onboard for two upcoming documentaries and for public and educational outreach.
Teacher at Sea Chosen for DEEPEND Cruise DP03
Christia Hewlett is a teacher at Sheridan Hills Christian School where she teaches Marine Biology and Middle School Integrated Science. She received her a Bachelor’s in Science in Biology and a certificate in Environmental Studies from Indiana University. She is currently finishing her twelfth year of teaching and is completing her M.A in Integrated Technology from Nova Southeastern University. In addition to her teaching, she enjoys learning about Florida ecosystems by participating in Florida Master Naturalist Program courses. She leads a school 4H club and enjoys helping students learn about science through hands-on learning. If she is not working she can be found enjoying Florida's National Parks, reading or spending time with her husband and daughter at the soccer field.
Dr. Joe Lopez Discusses DEEPEND at the Lifelong Learning Institute
Dr. Joe Lopez gave an overview talk on the DEEPEND Consortium and the Lopez lab to the NSU Lifelong Learning Institute titled "The DEEPEND Consortium Project: Characterization of Pelagic Life in the Gulf of Mexico Six Years after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill"
The talk was well attended by 25-30 learners. Many questions were asked about the fate of the oil from the spill, what energy 'powered' bioluminescence, and what the term 'pelagic' means.
You can learn more about the Lifelong Learning Institute here.
Leading By Example: Communication Lessons Learned from Gulf of Mexico Scientists
Dr. Tracey Sutton, Director and Principal Investigator of the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics Consortium, was interviewed by COMPASS. COMPASS's vision is to see more scientists engage, and engage effectively, in the public discourse about the environment. Through trainings, coaching, and real-world connections, Compass empowers researchers to build the communications skills, networks, and relationships they need to realize this vision.
You can read the entire blog post at this link.
Dr. Heather Judkins of USF on Deepwater Squid in the Gulf of Mexico
Dr. Heather Judkins, Co-PI, spoke with WTUL news at the GoMOSES conference in Tampa, Florida about deep water squid collected during the DEEPEND project. Listen to the interview here and her strategy on how to uncover what role squid are playing in a 4000 square kilometer area off the Mississippi Canyon where sperm whales have not been feeding.
GOM Exploration Teacher Workshops 2016
"Exploring the Gulf of Mexico Teacher Workshop" sponsored by the DEEPEND team happened on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 at the NSU Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, Florida. Sixteen secondary science teachers and the DEEPEND team started early at 8:30am and the teachers had a knowledge-learning packed day full of of background information and practicing activities to bring back to their classrooms. These teachers are invited to become one of our two teachers-at-sea this year aboard the Point Sur for our 2 research cruises exploring the deep waters of the GoM. Stay tuned to hear who gets selected to join us! See photos of the workshop on our outreach page.
