Student Statements

U.S. GO-SHIP thanks all of the students who participated on the cruise for their important contribution to collection of this essential global ocean data set, used as the benchmark for accuracy of all other deep ocean observing systems. The training opportunity for students and leadership is an important part of US GO-SHIP’s mission. We are committed to do so in a fair, cooperative and professional environment, ensuring an inclusive, safe and productive climate at sea. We thank the students for their honest reflections on their experiences that are included in this section. We have reached out to those who expressed concerns and are taking issues raised seriously, by working to address and prevent these issues from occurring in the future. We also thank them for their feedback in the anonymous post-cruise survey, which we are using to continue to improve our program. This will include ongoing education for all members of our community to create a more inclusive environment.

Francesca Alatorre

My experience aboard the R/V Thomas G Thompson for the US-GO SHIP, leg A20 has been one of the most exciting adventures of my academic career. Over the course of a little over a month, I have learned about the nuances of hydrographic and oceanographic research and how my interest in this field of research continues to grow steadily. I worked on board the R/V TGT as a CTD watchstander. My daily duties included: preparing the CTD rosette for launch while on predetermined station coordinates, monitoring the CTD package’s decent and using its software to sample water at various depths, sampling salinity and pCO2 from up to 36 bottles and depths, and maintaining console and sample logs that detail important information from each cast. In the beginning, I was extremely intimated by the intricacies of the general CTD operations; it was quite a lot to take in. But I was incredibly lucky to be on the night shift with the CTD analyst who previously was a watchstander himself, and he walked me through all procedures until I was comfortable myself with fulfilling my duties.

Although over the course of this GO SHIP cruise, my belonging was questioned several times in regards to being the only undergraduate (from a university not known for their oceanography research) and among the few people of color aboard. The frequency of the microaggresions were unfortunately occurring on a daily basis by the other researchers on board. Regardless of the combined and deliberate effort to put me down and intimate me as a scientist and future researcher, I feel even more affirmed on my path to become an oceanographer. This experience has also afforded me the opportunity to meet some incredible, caring, and wonderful people that added to this journey rather than detract. Overall, this journey was an incredible learning experience about the Atlantic Ocean and about the details of how hydrography data is analyzed, collected, and processed; especially with the use of CTD rosette/package for collection. I sincerely hope to soon be able to work again on a research vessel like the R/V Thomas G. Thompson in the near future.

Cassondra DeFoor

I sailed on the Thomas G. Thompson from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on the A20 leg for US GO-SHIP. All of the crew members had to quarantine two weeks prior to boarding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We boarded this ship eager to break our social isolation and collect samples from the Northern Atlantic on March 15th, 2021. I held the position of a CTD watch/stander for my first journey at sea. My duties included preparing the Niskin bottles and rinsing the sensors to the various instruments on the rosette prior to each cast, communicating with the winch operators to lower the rosette to ten meters above the ocean floor and then to each consecutive depth where we would close a Niskin bottle, ensuring that oxygen sensitive samples such as chlorofluorocarbon, oxygen, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH, were sampled within 15 minutes of depressurizing each bottle, and taking samples for salinity analysis. This was the ideal position to introduce me to the world of oceanographic cruises. I learned valuable information about how samples are taken, what data is regularly monitored, and how to care for a Rosette, CTD, and Niskin bottles. I quickly realized it takes a village to make an oceanographic cruise successful and each person on ship has a vital job. It was also a great opportunity for me to learn about the field through masters and doctoral students, professional oceanographers, and the ship crew who spend a large portion of their time at sea.

Aside from the science, I enjoyed the serenity and easy-going nature of life at sea. We were very lucky to not have experienced much rough weather which made for an enjoyable journey. I spent much of my time disconnected from the internet and instead reading, playing solitaire and cribbage, and learning how to tie knots. Some of my favorite memories include visiting the bridge to watch the bow nod along with the waves, doing yoga outside on the stern on a sunny day, and playing the various records on the record player in the computer lab. Going to sea is an essential part of this career so I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sail on a US GO-SHIP leg this early in my journey. It solidified my desire to continue my pursuit as a chemical oceanographer. I hope that this is the first of many cruises that I take part in during my career.

Paige Hoel

I don’t know when exactly the GO SHIP A20 cruise began to feel like home. I retrace my steps to the first day on the ship, when I got lost finding my stateroom and did seemingly endless circles through the doors and staircases and hallways all over the ship. It didn’t feel like home then. But hours later, I knew I was in the right place at the right time.

Being around the scientists, the crew, the blue and endless ocean, just felt right. Like so many others on this cruise, I was coming out of my entirely remote and virtual new world of science, excited to interact with others for the first time, not just scientifically, but socially, for the first time in a while. As I spoke to everyone about their research, bit by bit I began to understand how unique and wonderful oceanographic cruises are. I was not only in an environment where I could nerd out about the ocean, but where everyone else around me was actively doing so. Socially, intellectually, scientifically, this cruise seems to have really been a goldilocks just right scenario. I am typing this in the main lab, listening to a sink gurgling and the alkalinity system breathing. I am home.

I can not yet say with certainty what this cruise has meant to me. I first dreamed of going on an oceanographic cruise around four years old. It was a national geographic documentary about oceanographer Robert Ballard that sparked my imagination in oceanography, and desire to do the science at sea. My love for oceanography grew with me. I applied to many cruises as an undergraduate and graduate student. No luck. I pressed on.

My fascination found a happy home in the world of biogeochemical modeling. My graduate studies found a happy home at UCLA in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Science department. Although I was fulfilled and fascinated by my research on waste water modeling and phytoplankton models, I felt a slight twang of melancholy when other oceanographers would speak about their times at sea, cruises both upcoming and past. My desire to go never faded, but my understanding of what types of oceanographers actually need to go on these cruises broadened. Modelers don’t need to go on cruises. In fact, one of the primary purposes of modeling is to create data in the absence of direct observations. Why on earth would I NEED to go on a cruise?

The opportunity to be a CTD watch stander popped up on our lab groups slack channel. I spoke to my advisor, who said any oceanographer, no matter their specific discipline, can glean so much from a cruise. I applied, I was accepted, and now I am at the end of this journey I have dreamed about for the last 21 years.

The tasks have felt a little mindless at times. The CTD watch stander does not need to think critically. But the role is mission critical, and I am endlessly thankful for the opportunity to have been at the intersection of scientists, crew, and our shared love, the ocean. As a watch stander I coordinated depths, samples, and paid attention to every small detail needed to ensure great samples. Without great samples, the scientific mission of the cruise cannot be met. Even if I had a tiny influence in making those amazing measurements, I am immensely proud.

GO SHIP provided me the opportunity to see the full lens of oceanography, the beautiful challenge of creating a snapshot of one piece of water, and given me a deep and profound appreciation for each carbon measurement I have ever used. GO SHIP gave me a home, an oceanographic home, in the middle of the Atlantic, moving at a speed of 12 knots, down 52.33 degrees west.

Carla Mejías-Rivera

Towards the end of my doctoral studies, I applied to the GO-SHIP A20 cruise eager to acquire additional knowledge in the field of chemical oceanography and to experience what is like to participate in a research expedition in open ocean. As a Chemist, I was especially interested to work with the CFC/SF6 tracers group. I was sure that having this opportunity was going to help me expand my knowledge in the field by learning a new research topic and providing me with numerous experiences that will surely clarify and open new options for my future in the field of oceanography.

My duties during the expedition consisted of collecting and analyzing water samples for CFC-12, CFC-11, SF6 and N2O. Sample collection for tracers was a completely new experience for me. Instead of collecting seawater into bottles, these samples are collected into a 250ml glass syringe, employing special care to avoid even the smallest bubble, since bubbles can alter the tracers’ analysis. This was a challenging skill to acquire at the beginning but once learned, sampling was very fun. Samples in the syringes were then taken to the lab for analysis. They were injected, one at a time, into an instrument that extracts the tracers from the sample, separates, concentrates, and sends them into three different gas chromatographers. After processing, I had the opportunity to view the profiles and learn how to interpret the fundamental features. While looking at the data profiles and visually comparing them to the previous GO-SHIP expedition in the same transect (2012), we could not avoid seeing ourselves as “translators” of the ocean’s message through chemical analysis… isn’t it wonderful!?! So many stories can be told by looking at this data, some could serve as lessons learned, others could bring hope, but all equally fascinating.

While at sea, having the opportunity to meet other scientists and crew and get to know their work was overall very enriching and exciting. This opportunity was not only great for my professional development but also personally fulfilling. I am very grateful for all the people that made this possible, for those who shared their knowledge, for the amazing human beings I met, for all the lessons learned, and for the time I spent onboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson.

Elena Perez

The past 4 weeks at sea sailed by oooweee! From March 16 to April 16, 2021 I’ve learned many a valuable lesson while onboard the R/V Thompson for the A20 line of US GO-SHIP cruises. Most importantly, I learned that being a CTD watchstander does not mean we have to stand for 12 hours a day. In fact, most of our work was done sitting in the computer lab: monitoring CTD casts and talking with the winch operators. When we weren’t in the computer lab, we were usually in the staging bay. One of us would be helping sample salts/nitrates/pCO2. And the other person had to take on the tough duty of sample cop. Responsibilities of sample cop include: wrangling scientists into line, making sure there was enough water in the Niskin bottles for all of us, and prepping that there CTD for the next cast.

Overall, this experience has given me valuable insights into field work of oceanography. As an incoming graduate student, it’s been great to observe with my own eyes the physics, biology, and chemistry of the oceans that I’ll likely be learning about this fall 2021 in classrooms.

Beyond the science, I immensely enjoyed boat life (except when I was missing the creature comforts of life on land, e.g. dogs, good WiFi connection, etc.). I’ve listed below some of the best parts of boat life, in my opinion, in no particular order.

  1. The best stargazing I’ve ever beared witness to. When you’re 1,000+ miles from land with very very dark skies you’re bound to see the Milky Way, a few satellites, and a handful of shooting stars if you stay out long enough

  2. The sunrises everyday convinced me that night shift is way better than day shift. I’ve never seen so many sunrises in a row, and never seen a sunrise with 360º views all around.

  3. Playing cribbage during downtime/when our shift was over. Cribbage is now the unofficial game of the R/V Thomas G. Thompson.

  4. Decorating and watching the deployment of 8 of the first-ever biogeochemical Argo floats.

  5. The bluest water I’ve ever seen. I loved sitting on the stern (or the bow, I’m not picky) and just watching the water and sargassum go by

  6. Emptying all the Niskin bottles after everyone is done sampling.

  7. All the birds. Although I haven’t seen an albatross yet :/ I might just have to go on another cruise so I can catch a glimpse of one of these legendary birds