The PhD update

Since I haven't written in so long, I think a little explanation is necessary.  The spring was so tumultuous, I just didn't have the heart to try and explain my decision in writing.  

I ended up applying to three schools with the intention of exploring bio-physical interactions in coastal environments.  The first was UC Davis, in the Hydrology department with Dr. John Largier.  I love John.  He is trying to redefine a new field called environmental oceanography.  I visited Bodega Marine lab and the Davis campus in April.  Twice.  John is a dream.  He is excited about aquaculture projects.  The breadth of his papers - from larval transport to plume movement - and his focus on fieldwork and community development were inspiring.  In my heart he is still my role model for this work.  But.  I wasn't ready to leave Hawai'i for reasons that will forever be unclear.  

The second school was Stanford in the department of environmental engineering.  I wasn't sure if I'd get in, but I thought that I connected well with Dr. Koseff, who I was looking to work with.  In the end, it was for the best.  Dr. Koseff does great modeling work with transport.  The department is strong.  I would have liked to end up in an engineering department, but they are so serious!  I don't think I am that academically serious anymore (rather, I can't see being on the tier 1 research track). 

Lastly, was University of Hawai'i, in the Oceanography department.  I considered a bunch of advisors, and eventually chose to start with David Ho, who ostensibly runs an air-sea interaction lab.  He uses tracers (SF6 and He) to find gas transfer properties of water.  In some ways his work doesn't fall into any categories I'd ever heard of before - a strange combination of engineering (both freshwater and ocean), chemistry and oceanography.  Lacking is any emphasis on biological processes, but I hope to add that angle for my own work.  On the plus side, he works around the world and his focus is on field work.  

I start taking classes in one week.  In some ridiculous moment of weakness, I agreed to teach physics again this fall.  I'm not sure that was the best move.  I hope it won't be a disaster.  

East coast adventures 2010

I just returned from a month long trek to the east coast.  It's always amazing to me how much I can miss the mainland, and how much I love the coastal Atlantic.  Things of interest this time - did you know the horseshoe crab is the official marine mammal of Delaware?  

I spent about 10 days of my trip at the University of Delaware's Air-Sea interaction lab in Lewes, DE, actually within Cape Henlopen State Park.  I was only assisting, and not actually in charge of any experiments, but I still became pretty closely acquainted with the 40-ft air and wind tank (and the smaller version of the tank).  Perhaps the coolest thing was seeing how many people out there actually study bubbles for a living.  Here I was thinking I was one of the few looking at the interactions of bubbles and microalgae (which still might be true), but to talk with bubble physicists was awesome.  

The other interesting thing was that to make the rain, they are using hypodermic needles, just like I did to control the bubble size in my microalgae experiments.  I chose to use needles because my father was a pharmacist, not because I saw precedent.  Apparently its quite common.  They used 6000 needles to create their rain tanks!  

By chance, I also got to visit Lamont, Columbia's Earth and Oceans lab located along the gorgeous Palisade Parkway on the border of NY and NJ.  What a dream.  I know its not by the ocean, but the smell of all those old trees, and its location right along side the Hudson river are enchanting.  The lab was awesome, and had this really out there feel, while also housing some amazing research scientists.  I still just can't believe the place exists.