Featured Scientists: Adrianne Wilson and Mara Duke!

We are extremely lucky to have so many partners and collaborators from around the country and globe - over the next few posts we'd like to introduce you to some of them that have joined us for Leg 3! First up, we have two graduate students who are spending some of their summers with us, Adrianne Wilson and Mara Duke! 



Adrianne Wilson is a Master's student at Florida A&M University. She is currently working on her M.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in marine and estuarine studies. Her Master's thesis focuses on larval fish assemblages in the Gulf of Mexico. Adrianne is doing a summer internship in the FORCES lab in Miami, and we are thrilled she was able to join us for a leg of the cruise! During these two weeks at sea Adrianne hopes to learn more about the methods behind larval fish sampling, gain research cruise experience, meet cool scientists and study fish all day!

Mara Duke is a graduate student in the Masters of Marine and Environmental Science Program at University of the Virgin Islands. Her thesis research is on the connection between water quality and abundance and distribution of zooplankton in Brewers Bay in St Thomas, USVI. This is Mara's first cruise, and she hopes to gain her "sea legs" and experience on an oceanographic vessel!

Both Adrianne and Mara have already showed how valuable they are as scientists on board, and we can't wait to see what is in store for these awesome young researchers! 

via GIPHY
(Mara is preparing the plankton collected in the MOCNESS for preservation in ethanol)