Study at Moss Landing, Dive the World!

by Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

In classic big oceans/small world style, we catch up with former MLML student and Dive Safety Officer John Heine for an alumni career interview.  We connected with him from all the way across the country on Florida’s sunny east coast, with a tip from a fellow Masters student in the brand new Master of Marine Science program at Jacksonville University.  Currently a research associate at JU, John has developed an exciting career during and since his time here at Moss Landing Marine Labs.  Read on to explore!

John Heine

Can I become a marine scientist even if I get seasick?

Amanda Kahn

by Amanda Kahn, Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

I went out to sea yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE!  We saw animals we’d never seen before, explored an underwater canyon that is deeper than the Grand Canyon, and spent a beautiful day out on calm seas aboard the R/V Point Lobos.  As I was miles away from solid ground, I pondered the irony of my choice of career – you see, I get seasick.  Horribly seasick.  I was the only person running out to the side of the boat every half hour to, uh, fertilize the ocean.  I’ve tried taking Dramamine, eating saltine crackers and drinking ginger ale, pressure point bands, even wearing a paper bag against my stomach (which kind of works, actually…), but nothing fully gets rid of that queasy feeling.  So how can I tolerate going out and being sick all day?  Basically, I am really excited about learning about things that live under the ocean.  So interested, in fact, that I don’t mind the seasickness so much!  I wanted to write about this because people who get seasick should know that it is still possible to have a successful, happy career in marine science.

First of all, some tips to help eliminate or reduce seasickness:

Pressure point bands can help alleviate seasickness in some people.

• Medications such as Dramamine, Bonine, and Marezine are helpful.  They are most effective if you take one pill the night before going out on a boat, then another about one hour before the boat is underway.
• Pressure point bands work for some people.  These look like bracelets with a little knob that presses on a pressure point on the inside of your wrist.  If you start feeling sick, you can press the knobs into the pressure point.
• Ginger, whether in the form of fresh, dried, candied, or ginger ale, helps ease upset stomachs (although I personally think candied ginger tastes terrible!).
• Carbonated beverages (especially ginger ale) are also helpful for upset stomachs.
• Surprisingly, keeping some food in your stomach can be really helpful.  I don’t start feeling really sick until my stomach is completely empty.
• Scopalamine is a prescription drug that you can ask for.  It comes in a little patch that you wear behind your ear.  It releases medication into your body slowly over time.  Some people get a little loopy on this, but it is supposed to be one of the best medications.
• A brown paper bag (huh?).  A friend of mine just told me about this one, and basically, you just put a paper bag under your clothes, in contact with your stomach.

These solutions would not all be necessary if so many people didn’t end up with the same problem that I have.  Seasickness is common!  Everyone figures out the best way to deal with it (for example, my favorite is to take Bonine, wear pressure point bands, drink ginger ale, and keep some food in my stomach).  The other scientist on yesterday’s cruise wore a Scopalamine patch.  If you tend to get seasick, you’re not alone!  And you can still pursue marine science.  In my next post, I’ll tell you about some of the amazing things we saw on our cruise, and you’ll see why seasickness is minor compared to the amazing coolness that is marine science and oceanography.  *Sigh*

You can already check out some of the cool things people do at sea with this video! Also, share your favorite seasickness remedies by leaving a comment!

Gloomy forecast for Atlantic cod, MLML alum writes

Cassandra Brooks

Since graduating from MLML last spring, former ichthyology student Cassandra Brooks has gone on to explore science through the written word at the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program.  In addition to writing many feature stories for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Cassandra recently had her work published in ScienceNOW, the online compliment of the esteemed Science magazine.

While this is great news for Cassandra, the story itself is a grim prognosis for her subject, the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

Cassandra writes:

“Atlantic cod is a symbol of boom-and-bust commercial fishing. After 50 years of heavy harvesting in the late 20th century, the Canadian cod fishery collapsed in the early 1990s. Total bans ensued, and fisheries managers expected to see a recovery. However, after 15 years of little to no fishing, local populations show no sign of rebounding. In fact, some will continue to spiral downward, according to projections reported in this month’s issue of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.” Read the rest of her story here.

Another testament to the challneges (and the importance) of fisheries science needed to inform management…

Atlantic cod, the "waiting for the comeback" kids (photo by K. Nilsson, fishbase.org)

How to Feed Sharks – and Get Paid!

Juan Manuel (Manny) Ezcurra has a job many would give their right pectoral fin for – he works with elasmobranchs (read: sharks!) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

How did his master’s at Moss Landing Marine Labs prepare him for this splashy job?  Read his interview on our Alumni Career Interviews page to find out!

Manny acknowledges that the getting a job at an aquarium can be tough (lots of competition for few resources) – but it helps if you can find a specialized niche.  For Manny, that niche is diet.  He helps decide what type of food, and how much of it, to feed the sharks on display – which is important to keep them from eating their tank-mates!

Manny helps capture a young white shark in a holding pen in southern California to transport it to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Manny shares:  “At times you need to take opportunities that aren’t quite what you had in mind: the first job I had at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was dressing up as marine creatures for the outreach education programs.  But I was able to get a commercial license to drive to the schools in our Aquarivan, and the driving lessons still help me today while I’m driving on the freeways with a tank of water weighing over 3,000 lbs. in the back of our trucks after a collection trip.”  Read more of his interveiw by clicking here!

No Way Out – the Infinite Hypothesis Loop

Erin Loury

by Erin Loury, Ichthyology Lab

It’s not unusual to feel “locked-in” at times during graduate school (as in, “What is this path I’ve committed myself to  and where does it end?!”).  But, according to the dry wit of one British ecologist, this is a natural product of the scientific method itself…

While doing a bit of class reading (can you tell midterms are around the corner?) from the book Experiments in Ecology by AJ Underwood (1997) I came across this little gem of a quote.  Underwood stresses that the acceptance or a rejection of a hypothesis at the end of an experiment is hardly the end (as he subtly suggests in his figure: DON’T END HERE).  More work remains to either create a new hypothesis or develop tests to refine the existing one.  He concludes, “Thus, in Figure 2.1 there is no way out of the procedure once you have started it, until you die or change research fields.”

Click to see larger image: that endless hypothesis loop

That’s right. Until you die.  Or change research fields… For some, the never ending flow of questions is the beauty of the system, or exactly the point.  As Underwood continues, “This is comforting in terms of eventual longevity of employment”  (assuming, of course, one can obtain funding  to continue the process, but that’s another matter…).

For others, this smacks strongly of commitment, and has them edging towards the door.  Grad school is the ultimate test-drive of a scientist’s life.  Can you you see yourself pursuing this continuous loop and loving it?  Do you have that insatiable curiosity to understand how the world works, to keep asking questions, to think of possible answers and find creative ways to test them? (and test them and test them and test them?) If so, congratulations, and welcome to the world of research!

And if not?  Don’t fret – the life of a scientist these days is often more than just pure research, and research is just one of many avenues to pursue on the back of a science degree.  Let me draw your attention to our great and growing collection of alumni career interviews, where actual factual graduates of Moss Landing Marine Labs graciously share where their science careers have lead.   Explore, get ideas, and discover what people actually do with degrees in marine science!