Next week my research group heads out to sea for our Gulf of Mexico research project on deep-sea wood falls. Make sure to pay attention to hashtag #woodfall for updates, images, and videos on both Twitter and Instagram. A Twitter thread started by Helen Scales, an amazing author of some of my favorite books who will be joining us on this expedition, asked what gear we like to take out to sea with us.

I am particular about my set of gear and equipment that I take when I am out at sea. Much time spent was spent on trial and error research and development of my sea kit. The items below reflect advice from my scientific mentors and advice about tools from my father and father-in-law, one an electrician the other an awesome car mechanic. This is by no means a comprehensive list but these are things I won’t leave home without.

1. Carhartts

Nothing beats a brand spanking new comfortable pair of Carhartts. No, wait that isn’t true. A new pair of Carhartts is rougher than sharkskin and when they get wet the chafing will start a fire between your thighs. Then why o’ why would a marine scientist wear them? Well first this is marine science not easy science, so suck it up. Second, when a pair of Carhartts are finally broken in, they are supple like leopard. Despite this, they will laugh in the face of sharp objects and protect your delicate marine scientist’s skin. The mud color, technically Carhartt brown, of the fabric means you can wear them for days in a row sorting benthic samples and nobody will know. Except for the smell. Protip: Don’t chintz and get the single layer ones, unless you are working in the tropics. You really want the double fronts.

Carhartt Men’s Double Front Work Dungaree Pant B01

2. Stocking Hat

Everyone calls this thing something different. My Australian colleagues giggle at me when I call it a ‘stocking’ hat. Take a second and think about it. No matter, spend some time doing deck ops at night, a few hours in cold and dark ROV control room, or processing samples in a cold van and you will definitely want this. I prefer a Carhartt stocking hat in charcoal grey because I look sooooo fine in it. Protip: When you do field work always look good.

Carhartt Men’s Knit Hat With Visor, Army Green, One Size

3. Hard Hat

You got to protect that noggin of yours because no matter how good you look in that stocking hat you are getting paid for your brains not your looks. Well hopefully. Everyone has their own hard hat preference. Some people use the ones lying around the ship. The same hard hats worn by 50 dozen other scientists this month alone. I prefer my own and one shaped like a cowboy hat. Look at me! I’m a Southern Boy at sea! Protip: Don’t hesitate to decorate the your hard hat how ever you see fit.

Vulcan Cowboy Hard Hat 6 Point Ratchet Suspension – White #VCB200

4. Pocket Knife

A decade ago when I went off to Antarctica, my wife sent me with a brand new CRKT pocket knife. I still have the knife and it is still reliable and sharp. Everyone again has personal preferences on what a pocket knife should include but let me tell you what I look for. You must be able to open it with a single hand. Good size thumb studs and fluid movement then are a must. I like a combo straight and serrated blade for a variety of tasks. And because I don’t want to slice my fingers off a locking blade is a must as well. The knife must also have a lanyard hole. You would be surprised how many knives do not. Also it needs to not be too big. You are not trying to be Rambo here. Protip: Grab yourself a sharpener. Nothing is more ridiculous than a dull knife. The Lansky PS-MED01 BladeMedic is amazing.

Crkt Knives 6813 Ryan Seven Combo Edge Knife

5. Lineman’s Pliers (or 9’s)

You want pull on something? Cut something? Grab something? Wrench something? And generally have a tool will accomplish every task you may face? You bet your bippy you do. That’s what lineman’s pliers are for and you must own a pair. Protip: Get a good set and be willing to spend a little money. My favorite quote from an Amazon review about 9’s is this “My grandfather used to say that if God had made 9″ Kleins first, it would’ve only taken him four days to finish the world.” Well you’re not God but you’ll be a little closer with these.
Klein Tools Tools D213-9NE 9-Inch High Leverage Side Cutting Plier

6. Snippers and Zip Ties

If you are good marine scientist you will go through your weight in cable ties. Make sure you get an assortment. You will also need something to snip all of those with. I have Hakko’s that are great quality and cheap. Protip: Purchase a divided utility box to keep your cable ties sorted by color and size.
Hakko CHP-170 Micro Clean Cutter, 16 Gauge Maximum Cutting Capacity

TEKTON 6235 Assorted Cable Ties, 200-Piece

7. These Velcro Straps

For binding up extension cords, rope, cable ties and just about everything else. Protip: Get them in multiple colors so you and your gear can be pretty.

Velcro Color Coded Multi-Pack Cable Ties in 6″, 9″ and 13.5″ Lengths

8. Multi-Bit Screwdriver

Don’t be that person with a mutlitool or the tip of your knife trying to screw something. My father-in-law gifted me a Klein multi-bit screwdriver years ago. I LOVE THIS THING. Everything right where it needs to be and all the head choices you really need—big and small, Phillips and flat heads. Protip: Make sure also to grab the little one too for all those tiny places.

Klein Tools 32557 Heavy-Duty Multi-Bit Screwdriver/Nut Driver

Klein 32561 Std. Stubby Screwdriver/Nut Driver with Cushion Grip. 6 in 1 Tool.

9. Duck Tape

Yeah I know it’s actually duct tape but I didn’t realize that until I was 9, or 29, years old. Go ahead and stock up on this because this miracle of the 20th century will probably save your ass more than once. Protip: Don’t get fancy with colors either because that will cost your more but do not buy an off brand, go straight for the 3M.

3M Utility Duct Tape 2929 Silver, 1-22/25 in x 50 yd 5.8 mils (Pack of 1)

10. Gridded Petri Dishes

Need to count a bunch of tiny things under the microscope? Or just need to start sorting fauna out of sediment samples. Then gridded petri dishes are your friend. The biodiversity of the deep sea is both a blessing and a curse. The lines actually help alleviate the latter.

Petri Dish, Square Grids – Package of 10

11. Stainless Steel Tally Counter

If you have never counted so many things that you needed a hand counter you are probably missing out. Not really. However there is something very soothing about clicking away the time with your thumb. Protip: Get the stainless steel one for the obvious reasons—like bragging to other scientists about your stainless steel tally counter

Buy Jump Ropes H-102 Stainless Steel Tally Counter

12. Tupperware

I cannot even begin to enumerate the reasons why you will need Tupperware in the field. Are you going to need to hold stuff? Are you going to need to keep stuff from moving about? Are you going need to construct something with just duct tape, zip ties, and Tupperware? Yes, Yes, and Yes. Protip: Buy an assortment pack.

Rubbermaid 50-Piece Easy Find Lid Food Storage Set

13. Cafeteria Tray

When working in the lab or at sea it is important to contain your mess and items. Cafeteria tray to the rescue! I’ve used these for dissection trays and for transferring items back and forth between the cold room and the lab. The fiberglass trays, as opposed to the plastic, are more durable. The one I use is stain, odor, and scratch-resistance perfect for marine invertebrates. Protip: Get one in black as it will make a nice background for shooting photographs of animals, rocks, and other samples.

Cambro 1520-110 Fiberglass Camtray Rectangular Cafeteria Tray, Black

14. Restaurant Bus Tub

Basically the same philosophy as the cafeteria tray but with sides! Keep your stuff organized in the lab and provides a nice containment area for all that wet sorting. Protip: Buy two.

Rubbermaid Commercial FG335100BRN Undivided Bus/Utility Box, 7-1/8-gallon, Brown

15. Shelf Liner

Shelf liner is cheap and keeps your laptop, coffee cup, microscope, and everything else from moving around. May just prevent that laptop from sliding right off the table onto the lab floor when the boat is rocking.

Con-Tact Grip Premium Non-Adhesive Shelf Liner, 12-Inch by 4-Feet, Black

16. Shop Paper Towels

Can some explain to me what is up with the little boxes of Chemwipes? They are expensive and do not absorb anything—sort of like John Wayne toilet paper. Chemwipes are the scooters of paper towels. Sure there cute and little but if you are driving more than a couple of miles worthless. On the other hand, blue shop towels are the pure Detroit 70’s muscle power of paper towels. The 1970 Plymouth Hemi’ Cuda. You could dry an entire research vessel with just one square of these. You will never look at paper towels the same again.

SCOTT- Shop Towels, 12 rolls

17. Custom Lab Notebook

I like my music, dance moves, vehicles, and much more old school. My data recording is the same way. I record everything into a lab notebook. I print graphs from my computer and tape them in my notebook. I write notes and new research ideas in my notebook. It is way for me to engage with the information around me. At the Book Factory you can custom order hard cover lab notebooks and have your name embossed in gold on the front cover. Protip: Opt for the gridded pages.

18. iBomb

You will most definitely want to get you jam on. At 1:30 am sorting samples in the lab it will definitely be time to blast Beastie Boy’s Sabatoge. This little speaker is THE BEST portable speaker out there. It will fit in the palm of your hand and produce enough base to rival any Ice Cube’s low low. Protip: Develop a special field playlist.

iBomb(TM) EX350 High Quality Wireless Bluetooth 3.0 with 3.5mm AUX Input, Microphone, Micro SD Card Slot Include for MP3 Function, Rechargeable Super Bass Sounding Stainless Steel Mini Speaker (Silver)

19. eBags Mother Lode

My consistent fear is over packing. This is only second to my fear that others will think I am over packing. What you need is a piece of luggage that doesn’t look like you are packing a lot. Enter the Mother Lode. It is really phenomenal how much you can fit inside this carry on bag. Well made and with all the same properties of a Tardis. Protip: Choose the black color so stains will not show.

eBags Mother Lode TLS Mini 21″ Wheeled Duffel (Tropical Turquoise)

20. Chubby Bottom Coffee Mug

Let’s face it, you will be drinking a lot of coffee in the field. A skinny travel mug will be no good at sea. Always tipping over. You need something with a fat bottom that refuses that laughs in the face of a rocking boat. Great mug but with its fat bottom it will laugh at standard size cup holders. Protip: Buy a carbineer to attach it to your travel bag.

Stainless Steel Thermal Insulated Chubby Cup

21. Pelican Case

Pelican cases are water and crush proof to protect all your available assets. If they made larger ones you could ship your students in them. I get hours of enjoyment cutting the foam inserts to fit exactly around my field dissecting scope Protip: Choose one with roller and extendable handle for easy travel.

Pelican Storm Case 24.90″ x 23.70″ x 13.10″ Case w/out Foam – Black

22. Alcohol Resistant Markers

No not that kind of alcohol but that would be important too. Not much to say other than when you labeling the jar or bag of a valuable specimen you want that information to last forever. Protip: Buy many.

Alcohol Resistant Cryogenic Permanent Markers – Black – Pack of 6

23. Amscope

Why would you take an expensive Zeiss microscope to sea or the field? Great optics are find for the lab back home. But in the case of loss or damage you do not want you $10,000 Zeiss in the line of fire. Instead opt for the Amscope where you can purchase a dissecting scope for as little as $400. Protip: Purchase the digital camera through Amscope as well.

24. Your Own Blanket

Every ship supplies you with a scratch wool blanket from the 1920’s. I always bring my own because I prefer not to have skin rubbed off during the night and it is never quite clear to me when these were last cleaned. I use a fleece blanket because it packs up quite small and can double as a pillow on a flight. You can use a zip tie to keep it cinched. Protip: Order a fleece blanket with some flare so you know it is yours. I like the one below with a Bald Eagle on it. ‘MERICA!

American Eagle Print Comfy Polar Fleece Throw Blanket 60″ X 70″ – Bigger, Better, Softer – One Week Clearance Sale On Now!

25. Waterproof Smartphone Case

Without going into the painful details, I have lost two iPhones to water. Protip: Buy one now.

LifeProof Cases

The post My 25 Favorite Things For Ocean Field Work first appeared on Deep Sea News.

One of my favorite papers of all time, illustrating the playfulness of scientists, is by the famous ecologist Stuart Hurlbert.  The paper in itself tackles a serious and major statistical issue of quantifying aspects of a species geographic range.  To illustrate the statistical shortcoming of current methods, Hurlbert models a fictitious species, the montane unicorn, yielding the title “Spatial Distribution of the Montane Unicorn.”

Acknowledgements of a paper are also a special place to glimpse the people behind the science. Take this paper.

We thank C. Ancell for the excellent preparation; F. Jackson, M. Brown, Dead Lizard Society (MSU), M. Gardner and M. Ivie for their helpful comments and discussion; L. Hall for the illustration; M. Drool for inspiration; and M. Holland, R. Kambic, J. Li, E. Morchhauser, C. Wong and Project Exploration.

A secret acknowledgment to beer occurs in the acknowledgements, M. Drool is Moose Drool brewed in Montana.

We also have this acknowledgement from a paper on personality in primates.

We thank Baboon Teams 2009, 2010 and 2011 for putting up with AJC standing around and swearing at baboons a lot.

In determining the authorship of paper, Sir Robert May noted this in a footnote in this paper.

The order of authorship was determined from a twenty-five-game croquet series held at Imperial College Field Station during summer 1973.

If you want a true view of scientist’s adoration, one needs to look at the naming of new species.  From the description of new species of sponge, Cladorhiza evae, by my friend and colleague Lonny Lundsten,

Named in honor of Eve Lundsten, beautiful wife of the first author whose commitment and support have endured through the years. Eve’s love for the Gulf of California also inspired this naming as the type specimen was collected in the deep sea, east Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, near where we honeymooned in 2006.

Beautiful.

I was equally moved when Michelle Taylor mentioned on Facebook that she had named a new species of coral, Narella valentine, after her mother and sister.

Etymology: Named in honour of Dr. Taylor’s mother, Valerie, after her secret spy name, Valentine. And in honour of Dr. Taylor’s sister, Claire, who was born on Valentine’s Day.

Another coral species, Narella candidae, was named after the coauthor’s, Alex Rodgers, wife.

Etymology: Named after Dr. Candida Rogers, wife of Prof. Alex Rogers, and suitably also Latin for ‘white’ and ‘radiant’.

When I asked Dr. Taylor why she honored her mother with the species name, she responded,

I thought it only appropriate, given the long suffering status of scientific families, that my Mum and sister had a coral named after them; it is truly above and beyond any duty, for anything in life, to have heard me say the words “I should be writing”, “I didn’t get the grant” 

How did Dr. Taylor’s mum respond?

My mum is chuffed  to bits [Northern UK slang for very happy], although a little worried her spy name is now public knowledge. Her standard operating procedure on covert operations will have to change…

The post The humanity within the pages of scientific manuscripts first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Year after year, you honor female actresses, fashion designers, politicians, activists, athletes and models. You bestow awards on some truly amazing people, who have made it their life’s work to change the world and spread messages of peace, hope, and joy. When have you ever even mentioned science?

Day in, day out (and often all through the night) a veritable army of female scientists are working their assess off in labs across the world. We don’t do it for the money—we work because we believe in something greater than ourselves, believe that one day our small steps in knowledge will revolutionize our understanding of the natural world or translate into huge medical advances.

Glamour is the magazine our children and neighbours read. They certainly aren’t sitting down with the latest copy of Science.  Hell, they probably aren’t even reading our colloquial science-y musings at Deep Sea News, but we’re working hard to change that.

Glamour, I’m begging you: if you don’t honor women scientists as Women of the Year, how will people even KNOW that science even EXISTS as a career option?

Is it because society sees scientists as this?

Instead of this?

My sister’s high school friends don’t have aspirations to become a stuffy, boring intellectual (trust me, I’ve had this conversation with them).  We can only empower younger generations if we show them ALL of the paths that exist for them. And right now, science isn’t even on the map.

I have made it my life’s mission to change the public perception of science.

And at Deep Sea News, we’ve made it our mission to expand the culture of ocean science.

The oceans are deeply ingrained in human culture. Scientists are fundamentally human. Here at Deep Sea News, we have strengthened our resolve – we are determined to highlight areas where the ocean touches our society, and to provide a window into our lives as both scientists and members of this broader society. We will strive towards a future that allows for scientists and the public to be partnering stakeholders in sustaining and preserving our oceans.

Us researchers know that science is dynamic and interactive – full of passion and drive. Our colleagues have PERSONALITIES – we work with unique, intelligent people that are always a far cry from the dry, boring (old white guy) stereotype. I’m a marine biologist who reads Vogue and teaches yoga in my spare time.

But changing the culture of science doesn’t just mean reaching out to the public. It means convincing scientists to build and maintain a high public visibility—leveraging blogs and social media is lucrative and worthwhile.  Engaging non-scientists isn’t an option. In today’s world, it is a necessity. And, contrary to popular belief, this type of outreach doesn’t compete with your research—on the contrary, it enhances and broadens your traditional scientific portfolio.

Right now, I swear the science world is just like the fashion world.  In the words of Heidi Klum, “One day you’re in…the next day you’re out”. And in the cutthroat fight for tenure, you never want to be asked to leave the runway.

Getting published in the highest impact journals is like getting a front row seat during fashion week.  You put your head down, lock the doors, and work your ass off in hopes of one day securing that golden ticket. If you’re lucky, some mysterious group (Nature editors!) decides that your research is So Hot Right Now, and BOOM, ticket in the mail (manuscript accepted!).  Sometimes you look at who is there and you’re confused and annoyed – really? Snooki got an invite to Missoni?  (Nature’s table of contents is full of Mouse T-cell interleukin binding factor WHAT?).

With the intense job competition and tight race for funding, I feel like us early career researchers have two options:  We can quietly work hard, chasing high-impact papers or becoming really good at something like taxonomy, but realize that we will be forever cramped in a closet office and lack recognition for the first 30 years or so, OR we can become the Lady Gagas of science.  Sure, your eccentricity and unconventional ways may turn heads and boil some blood.  But behind the gossip and chatter, you make really f*#*%ing awesome music (innovative, thought-provoking science). Lady Gaga not only gets a front row seat at fashion week, but she gets people talking and gets people excited.  By reinventing the notion of a pop star, she has defined new paradigms for the entire music industry.

At Deep Sea News, we’re defining new rules for the next generation of scientists. The public will tear down the Ivory Towers with their own bare hands.

Yes, I am sitting here, alone in a room, venting out my frustrations though a computer—ranting online and hoping someone will notice. But you’re dead wrong if you think this will be the end of it.

_______________________________________________________________________

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for all the fabulous discussion and thought-provoking comments. I just wanted to follow up with a clarification and a few further points

I’m not saying we should just go and glam up science. Running a glossy PR campaign might get people to take notice temporarily (and spur heated arguments), but it isn’t addressing the deeper root of the problem. Personally, I’m not one to get involved in these type of debates – everyone has their own opinion, often there is no right answer, and fruitless anger is a waste of my time and energy.

In my view, making scientists visible is about redefining what we value and how we function as a society. With a stagnant recession and climate change on the horizon, we cannot AFFORD to keep putting on blinders and recklessly forging ahead. You want to create jobs? You want to build a sustainable future? Invest in science and technology.

Grad students and postdocs are some of the most engaging and enthusiastic people I’ve met, but in terms of salary, benefits, and workload they are oftentimes treated like slaves. I have friends in Manhattan who work as secretaries and get paid almost double my salary–is that right? Given the way we currently treat scientists, what does that say about what our society values? A system that beats down its most promising trainees, either forcing them out (due to financial constraints, etc.) or forcing them to produce only what the system wants (high-impact papers), is fundamentally flawed. The system also places a perpetual barrier between researchers and all other non-scientists. A public that mistrusts researchers is not well informed about how science works.

I’m lucky that my PI is supportive of me blogging on the side, but I know that many researchers would not tolerate it and/or would constantly worry that it is interfering with their scientific productivity. But that brings us back to the issue of how we measure “productivity” in today’s technology-driven world.

Yes, there are a lot of people swimming in the Ph.D. pool, and far fewer academic jobs. Academia will always be competitive, and if you’re set on that career path you need to be fully aware of what the game entails. Going through grad school won’t be easy, being a postdoc isn’t a walk in the park. But not everyone who likes science has to go into academia! Not everyone needs or wants a Ph.D. The scientific thought process can be so inherently beneficial for EVERYONE, on both a personal and professional level: Knowing how to assess and find trustworthy sources of information, examining all the available facts, thinking about them critically, and then placing them in the context of your personal experiences and opinions.

What I’m advocating is that we just need a greater awareness of scientists in general. We exist! We aren’t boring! You can talk to us about normal stuff!  We’re as passionate and driven as any actress or rock star. For us insiders (academics, grad students, etc.), we all know that “stuffy scientist” image is definitely not true. But ask a random 7 year old what a scientist looks like, and guess what picture they’ll draw? The crazy old guy. The ubiquity of that stereotype is deeply disturbing:

Students’ views of science and scientists have been widely studied. Classroom learning environment has been found to play a major role in these perceptions. High school students often have a stereotypically masculine image of science and view scientists and scientific work as unpleasant entities. To examine where students develop their images, children have been asked to draw pictures of scientists. Most drawings portray a scientist as an elderly male wearing a white coat and glasses. However, teacher intervention programs have been shown to be effective in helping to alter these negative images (Mason, et al. 1991). [from the National Science Foundation website]

And then there’s this – a study where kids were asked to draw pictures of scientists before and after their classroom was visited by actual researchers.

The “after” pictures look like the scientists I know. But look at those “before” pictures!! As much as we scientists don’t want to admit it, we spend our entire lives locked in an Ivory Tower. The barrier between scientists and non-scientists is stark and tangible.  Treebeard needs to get his ass down to Isengard and rip down that thing down, stat!

So no, we shouldn’t all scramble to be high-visibility Gagas – I’ll happily volunteer to fill that role. If we can’t convince the system to change, we need to change our own approach. Deep Sea News isn’t a traditional approach in science, but we Deeplings have all experienced a multitude of scientific benefits from using this blog as a platform. We will make the collective of voices grow. We will redefine the status quo.

The post Changing the Culture of Ocean Science: a DSN core value first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Us scientists sometimes have blinders on—facts are what we need, want, and crave. A ‘gut feeling’ certainly won’t pass peer review. But oftentimes it is a gut feeling that leads to those spectacular discoveries, producing the most captivating papers (or, alternatively, cool papers come from some rich dude throwing sh*tloads of money at something **coughCraigVentercough**).

My first year of contributing to Deep-sea News has been somewhat of a whirlwind (understatement of the century!!), and I realized that I haven’t yet told my story as a scientist.

I can’t pinpoint exactly what made me want to pursue a career in science. In high school, I knew I was good at debates (I liked the passion of arguments); I was thisclose to studying law, but decided to pursue biology because I was much more attached to the subject matter. I LOVED AP biology, was on the science team, and had an amazing science teacher (shout out to Mrs. Pauline Allaire-Adams!). Plus, my response to all DNA-related topics was “That’s fucking AWESOME!”. After pouring over career websites and talking to scientists, I decided in high school that I would need (and wanted) a Ph.D. if this was going to be my career. Yes, I’m that much of a planner. I’m also the different coloured post-it notes for different to-do tasks kind of person.

I applied, and was accepted to, a biology degree program at King’s College London where I would get a solid yet diverse foundation in basic biological principles.

At this point I will cue a mental montage to signify time passing from high school to Ph.D. applications: Tearful hugs at the airport, dramatic moments of staring with poignant guitar riffs in the background, and the occasional upbeat scene of group laughter with slow motion jumping at the end.

Ok, now it was time to apply for Ph.D. programs. Choosing the topic of your thesis is a very personal decision—at least, it was for me. I wanted my thesis to reflect my persona as a scientist, be a testament to my diverse skill set, and set the stage for my long-term research goals. I also didn’t want to spend years taking grad classes and doing rotations, so I had my eyes set on a Ph.D. course in the United Kingdom.

I had four requirements for my Ph.D. 1) I wanted to live in London 2) The project must involve deep-sea ecosystems (because they’re fucking AWESOME), 3) I didn’t want to work on overstudied and/or charismatic species. (I have a deep-seated hatred of vertebrates, especially dolphins), and 4) I must be trained in molecular biology.

All of this led me to a position advertised at The Natural History Museum, London, under Prof. John Lambshead. The project was going to utilize integrative methods (taxonomy AND molecular work) to investigate deep-sea nematode communities from the sub-Antarctic. Ph.D. SCORE!

Three years of hell later, I emerge newly Doctor-ious. Having visited the University of New Hampshire during my Ph.D. and knowing that UNH was at the forefront of high-throughput sequencing research on nematodes (an emerging field that is fucking AWESOME!), I worked my magic to sneak in as a postdoc.

What is the moral of this story? On the surface, any given scientist appears to be tightly pigeonholed into his or her own extremely specialized corner. It can be baffling to wonder how they ever arrived there. Ten years ago I would have laughed if someone predicted I’d be a taxonomic whiz and molecular ninja of microscopic worms. But that’s exactly where my windy path has led.

The post Scientists, what’s YOUR story? first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Check out my new article on Wired. For fun you may want to check out the comments.

We are currently in a biodiversity crisis. A quarter of all mammals face extinction, and 90 percent of the largest ocean fish are gone. Species are going extinct at rates equaled only five times in the history of life. But the biodiversity crisis we are currently encountering isn’t just a loss of species, it’s also a loss of knowledge regarding them.

via The Mass Extinction of Scientists Who Study Species | Wired Science | Wired.com.

The post The Mass Extinction of Scientists Who Study Species | Wired Science | Wired.com first appeared on Deep Sea News.

To counterpoint Dr. M’s post, I’d like to mention that the JSL is important to studying the entire spectrum of marine life, from big to tiny. The Johnson-Sea-Link submersible has been invaluable to my research on the microbial ecology of deep-sea corals (discussed previously at DSN here and here).

To accomplish my work, I needed to keep coral samples separate from each other in sealed containers, and in come cases, inject a preservation solution at depth. When no such sampling gear was available, my husband and I built a custom unit in our garage (small budget, big payoff!). The submersible team at HBOI was super accommodating. I drove my gear to Ft. Pierce multiple times to test its fit on the sub, and to see how the manipulator arm would handle it. The sub guys were always ready to haul this heavy thing out of its shipping crate and place it on the sub so we could do as many tests on dry land as possible.

As a result, the gear worked perfectly the first time we deployed it at 1500 ft in the Gulf of Mexico and every time since. The only usable samples of deep-sea corals I have collected have come from the Johnson-Sea-Link. My luck with ROVs to date has been abysmal. ROV and AUV technology are great for a lot of things, but for delicate sample collection, in situ manipulation, and times when you just ‘have to be there’ there is no beating the Johnson-Sea-Link.

My first submersible dive was in the Delta, a two-person sub that looks like…a little yellow submarine. The scientist lies in a fetal position videotaping through a porthole, while the pilot sits above in the conning tower driving the sub. A few months later, I did my first dive in the JSL. I was in the rear compartment and felt I had really traded up since I could sit upright while videotaping through the porthole!

The five dives I’ve been fortunate to make in the front sphere of the JSL were another animal entirely. It’s not just the panoramic view of the seafloor (although that is a life experience in and of itself), but also the technical abilities of the pilots to use the hydraulic manipulator arm or suction hose to sample tiny pieces of coral.

Another huge plus is the payload, i.e., how much stuff you can collect with the JSL. There are multiple individual buckets, as well as room for a large biobox, racks of sediment cores (or mammoth sampling gear like mine), as well as cameras. When a research group has spent a lot of time and money to get to sea, it is nice to know you have the space to collect a little something for everyone during the dive (fish for the icthyologist, crabs for the invertebrate taxonomist, rocks for the geologist, corals for all sorts of biology-types…).

At a point where our country is willing to pony up billions (with a B) to bail out failing banks and car manufacturers, I would like to suggest that funding the HBOI subs and ship is a significantly better investment with practically unlimited opportunities to recoup that investment in scientific discoveries.

Having said that, it should be noted that these are my personal opinions and not those of my employer…the Federal Government.

The post Reflections on the Johnson Sea-link: Dr. Kellogg first appeared on Deep Sea News.

1. Love and Pain…Like Sunshine and Rain. Welcome to Deep-Sea Science.  Before you start, you better realize what exactly you are heading into.  Deep-sea science can be both extremely rewarding and extremely heart breaking.  To be a deep-sea scientist is to be one part scientist, one part explorer, and three parts masochist. The logistical difficulties and financial requirements of sampling an environment covered with miles of water will pretty much make every project you want to do either impossible or close to it.  While other graduates students and scientists in your department drive a truck down to their field site and take samples till the cows come home, you will be having a nervous breakdown because of insufficient data.  A project that takes other scientists a weekend and $250 to do will take you three years and $250,000. So, deep-sea science is not for the faint of heart.  However, if you can manage to get a chance (which likely will not happen), then you will probably discover something new, a species, a habitat, a process, or a biological adaptation. Deep-sea science is a young field compared to many other science disciplines.  You will never be at a loss for questions, because most of the answers are still unknown.  Too bad you won’t be able address all of them.  I write this with tongue-in-cheek of course, but I am serious.  This is a tough field and doing deep-sea science isn’t easy.  Think about this for some time before you move to number 2.
2. You Won’t Be Jacques Cousteau. Are you still here?  Well, now you better realize a few other things.  You are not going to be rich or famous.  You will not ride on Zodiacs chasing after charismatic megafauna.  You are not likely to spend every day riding around in a sub wearing a red stocking hat.  One week per year, one month if you are lucky, you will spend at sea.  How that time will fly by!  You will spend the rest of the year analyzing that material.  You will spend most of the remaining year writing.  Writing proposals, grants, papers, emails, etc. I hope you like to write. When you are not writing you will be doing menial and repetitive tasks.  Entering numbers into Excel, counting snails, programming, picking absurdly small organisms out of mud, mixing chemicals, these are the tasks that will fill your day.  You will also be spending a lot of time on a computer.  Not Facebooking, Ichatting, surfing the web for fun, playing the newest game.  O’ no my friend, your computer will be the vessel of menial tasks. Thankfully, those menial tasks may actually produce some sort of scientific product (but see Number One).
3. Proving Yourself, Again, Again, and Again. From the time you make your first contact with a potential advisor to the time you are full professor, you will have to prove yourself again and again.  Publishing papers, obtaining grant money, getting positions, getting tenure, etc will all require an exhaustive and thorough review process of everything you’ve done.  If this doesn’t sound like fun then you should reconsider now.
4. I Took Underwater Basket Weaving, What Other Classes Will I Need? Before you even think about graduate school you need to think about the classes you had as an undergrad.  Hopefully you have had multiple basic biology courses (ecology, physiology, evolution, genetics, microbiology) and paired that with some basic level physics, chemistry, and geology.  You don’t necessarily need an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology.  My own degree is in basic biology. Invertebrate Zoology will be a must and you better get an A in it (or ichthyology if you prefer the verts).  The deep sea and all of its weird creatures will challenge everything you learn.  Don’t start off behind.  I would require any potential graduate student to have a firm grasp of math and statistics (Calculus 1, Linear Algebra, and Basic Stats at least).  Modern science is increasing more quantitative.  Now we move to advanced modeling and analytical methods.  You can start learning them now or later.  Not required, although important, would be a basic logic course.  Good science is good logic.  Getting the basics can only help.  You should also make sure you can write well or at least sufficiently (see Number 2). Some basic understanding of mechanics and engineering would be plus as you deal with temperamental oceanographic equipment.
5. Your Training Begins Now and You Are Already Behind. If you have made it to this point, then you are still behind.  You will need to start brushing up on everything deep sea.  Obviously, DSN is a good first step.  Pick a copy of Silent Deep, Deep-Sea Biology, or The Ecology of Hydrothermal Vents.  Better yet pick up all three and read them all.  When you start emailing people about graduate positions you don’t want to sound like an idiot.  Hopefully these books will give you some idea of exactly which subject you would like to research. Yes, you have to be more specific than “deep-sea biology”. If you find all this reading (that in the next step) burdensome or boring then consider another field.  You need to be passionate about the subject (see Numbers 1-3) so you should want to do this.  In fact, reading about the deep sea should be your idea of great way to spend an evening or weekend. You should feel like this is the greatest thing since sliced white bread.  If not, … well, this is not for you.
6. Meet Google Scholar, Your Brand New Friend For the Next Several Months Now with all that basic level deep-sea knowledge comes the advanced stuff.  Use Google Scholar to search for primary literature on deep-sea topics.  You are looking to do a few things. 1) You want to know about all the new advances in deep-sea science (DSN can help you). 2) You want to know who are the movers and shakers in the field, both the legends and the new an upcoming movers and shakers. 3) You are looking for specific topics in deep-sea science that interest you.  Some deep-sea publications can be had online without subscriptions or library access.  There will be several you cannot get.  Don’t fret! Search for the first author’s website to see if they have posted the pdf on their lab’s website.  If not, don’t hesitate to email the first author or corresponding author (sometimes different) for a pdf.
7. You Can Study Anything You Want, You Just Better Know What It Is. As you begin looking for potential Ph.D. advisors, you will definitely be asked what specifically you want to research.  You better have an answer.  You will probably want to pick a focal organisms or entire group (mine’s gastropods, KZ’s is anemones and vent critters, Peter’s is coral).  The most successful programs come from people having a focal taxon that provides the framework to address larger questions.  However, this not the complete story.  You need to have a specific question or topic.  Don’t worry there is no wrong answer here.  Scientists in the field just want to see you have put more thought in this than “deep-sea squid are totally sweet, and I need to work with them.”  A good example would be “The factors determining the geographic distributions of species X” or “the evolution of Y’s adaptations to the deep”. After you state the topic you are interested in, be prepared to answer why. Numbers 4 and 5 will help you narrow your ideas and present new ones.  Most papers and the books above will leave off with questions that are outstanding in the field.
8. Ivy League, Great Surfing, Party School? It Doesn’t Matter! One of the biggest mistakes people usually make when applying for grad school is choosing the institution instead of the person they want to work with.  Sure the Ivy League is nice and the name recognition will help a little or living near the beach would be totally sweet, but ultimately they are not that important.  Your success will be measured by your own research and the products from that (i.e. publications).  Instrumental to this is picking a laboratory and an advisor who will provide both the research topic and the support you need.  Start by using your background readings to identify people whose research you find interesting and match your own interests.  Pick someone who is currently active in the field and publishing. They will be more likely to have the financial and field support you need.  Whatever you do, do not accept a position if you have not met the advisor or, more importantly, their graduate students.  Remember you will be spending a lot of time with this person over the next 5-8 years.  This is all about “fit” and if you “don’t fit” then things could go horribly wrong.  Current graduates students will always be honest about what its like working with Dr. X, and what their department is like.  In my own career, I choose not to work with one scientist because their graduate students were generally negative about their time in the lab.  Once you pick the advisor, the school will be picked for you.
9. Email, Email, and Email some more. Once you find the person (and hopefully, people) you would like to work with (you want options) then you email them.  You want to make contact with this person.  Express your interest in their research.  Ask them questions about their research.  Ask for pdf’s of their work.  Ask them if they have graduate opportunities in their laboratory.  Ask them if you can come and visit. You are interviewing this person as much as they are you, so do not waste the opportunity to gain more information.  Don’t worry if they don’t immediately respond, they will be busy or even away at sea.  Send a reminder (two max).  If they don’t respond to you, or if you get a negative response, this is not bad.  In either of these cases you probably don’t want to be that person’s graduate student anyway.
10. The GRE, Why It Hates You, and All The Other Stuff You Need To Get Into Graduate School. The GRE is a SOB but a necessarily evil.  Take it and score high, no problem.  Score low, things are not over but more become difficult.  In my experience, the GRE measures less what you know but rather how well you can take a test.  Although expensive, it would be well worth the money to take a GRE course.  Now in actuality the GRE is just single metric in which your application is viewed.  A high GPA, research experience, and a well-articulated essay go much further and can outweigh any GRE score (as long as you are above a minimum standard, but even that can be flexible).  If you are still an undergraduate (or even not) get some (any) research experience.  It shows dedication to and a familiarity with working in a laboratory or doing research.  Those experiences can also lead to strong letters of recommendation, which you will also need.  You don’t want your only letters coming from a course instructor with whom you took one class.  Now, here is the part that no one ever mentions.  Having a strong faculty advocate for your admission is essential.  This is why Number 9 is so important.  Typically, all the graduate applicants files are passed around the department and faculty are asked to make their picks.  If a faculty member wants you they will serve as an informal advocate in your behalf.  “I know so-so’s GRE’s are low, but I have had great interactions with this person, they visited the lab, they have X,Y,Z, and ultimately I think they will be a great fit.”
11. You Better Make Sure You Really Love This.  See Number 1

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