Participant Interview:
Rachel Shackelford
Biologist
University of Hawaii

Today we had the opportunity to interview Ms. Rachel Shackelford, a graduate student from the University of Hawaii. Rachel is obtaining a Masters of Science degree from the University of Hawaii in Oceanography. She currently has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Biology from the University of Hawaii.

The focus of her research on the Ronald H. Brown is looking for microscopic, polysaccharide particles that exist near the volcanic plumes. These particles often become known as "marine snow". Marine snow is a group of small particles which have become "stuck" together. The marine snow often can travel long distances carrying food and other particles to other parts of the ocean. Rachel samples the water from the CTD, filters the water through special filter paper, and finally preserves the filtered samples for future analysis. Rachel will be unable to identify the existence of the particles until she returns to her lab in Hawaii.

Although Rachel is only a graduate student, she has already participated in 13 research cruises. She has logged over 130 days at sea. Rachel has experienced some turbulent weather while on her cruises. She recalls one storm, in February of 1998, in which the research vessel was caught in 25-ft seas and winds that gusted up to 70 knots. She says the working conditions were tough, but the research went on. While on board ship, Rachel's schedule is varied. If the CTD is active, so is Rachel. Each time the CTD comes to the surface she has to take water samples from the nisken bottles. What does this mean in terms of sleep? Rachel only had 11 hours of sleep the first 3 days we were at sea. Right now she is on a break, but at the end of the cruise, she will back to her no sleep schedule.

Rachel has been a life long resident of Hawaii. In her spare time she likes to scuba dive, sea kayak, hike run and sail at least a couple of times a week. She is training for her first marathon in December. Good Luck Rachel! Thanks for the interview.

Rachel analyzing her samples for the presence of marine snow.