Programs Blog

March 25, 2025 

Time: 1700 

Location: SEA Campus, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA 

Weather: 50°F, Clear and Sunny Skies, BOOYAH! 

PATTY D IN THE HOUSE! Hey ya’ll, I’m Patricia Diaz-Bian, a junior at Cornell University majoring in biology and concentrating in biochemistry (GO BIG RED!!). The days have started to blur together as we are getting slammed into the last week of classes here in Woods Hole. Everyone has been slightly frazzled, hurriedly scrambling to get our assignments in on time whilst preparing to be off-the-grid for the next month and a half. Although alarms are being snoozed more frequently, Captain Rick Miller’s glorious mustache no longer graces these halls, and A House may or may not be consistently finding plastic babies in their cereal bowls (*insert evil laugh here*), our spirits remain high as we bravely surf this final wave.  

A ton has happened these past few days! For example, we had our celestial navigation quiz for Nautical Science today. Our program assistant Grace so graciously sacrificed their 8 pm bedtime to give us extra tutoring last night, and the results definitely showed. BOOM Shakalaka! Go Team! Also, on Saturday all of us got together to watch the series of assigned videos that we had for our Environmental Communication class. From Māori and Moriori culture, the country’s (somewhat losing) battle with a rabbit infestation, and to the history of sealing and whaling, we learned a great deal about the history of New Zealand over the span of two hours. Hopefully, having this knowledge will widen our worldview as well as help us become better tourists while there. We ended the night with a lovely night walk to the beach as well as some delicious chocolate chip cookies that Ella had baked for everyone.  

One super exciting thing that we did on Friday other than the Gumby suits (which Zach talks about in his blog post, so go check that out!) was that we got to present our scientific posters! It was definitely nerve racking as this was my first time presenting a poster, but it turned out to be a great activity! Our scientific posters were about the proposed oceanographic research project that we were going to collect data for along the cruise track. We had already written a full project proposal, and the posters were a condensed version of all our background research into our topics. It was super-duper cool to see what all my classmates had come up with. From myctophids to copepods to siphonophores and man o’ wars, I learned so much about different critters, their relationships and importance to the South-Pacific Ocean ecosystem, and how their biodiversity is being affected by climate change.  

My group consisted of Resh, Brigitte, and I. We were interested in the relationship between ocean acidification and ocean calcifiers in the South Pacific Ocean. Ocean acidification is when excessive atmospheric carbon dioxide gets taken into the ocean, which lowers the pH of the water and makes it more acidic. Marine calcifiers are a class of critters that use carbonate ions to build their shells. Unfortunately, as the ocean pH lowers, carbonate ions become less available, and these animals are unable to build their shells. In our presentation we proposed to look at the relationship between the abundance of ocean calcifiers and the pH of the water. The intimate structure of the poster presentations made it so that talking with the audience felt more like a conversation, and we were able to get helpful feedback on our topic. From our talks with our audience, we actually decided to add an additional parameter of alkalinity (the ability of water to remain at a neutral pH) to our analysis as well as expand more on some of our background information. Collaboration and community like this are truly some of the most important parts of science, and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to experience this poster presentation session.  

IT’SSSSS SHOUTOUT TIMEEEE! 

Firstly, I want to thank all of my classmates here. As a premed student with no background in marine biology or environmental studies, you guys have been so patient with me and have helped me settle in and learn more about this new field. I learn something new and cool every day and this has truly been such a wonderful time so far. I can’t wait to see what the future and boat holds for us! 

Next, I want to thank my family and friends. I miss you guys so much and I appreciate that you guys all worry for me so much. I solemnly swear that I will try my hardest not to fall off the boat and that I will remember how to swim in the event that that does happen. I also promise to take good pictures and tell you cool stories once I see you again. I couldn’t have made it this far without you guys! Love you XOXO 

Finally, I want to thank my beautiful baby girl Bella (my dog). I miss you so much and I promise that I will return to your side soon, so don’t give William, mom, and dad a hard time while I’m away, ok? I know you can’t read or understand, but you will always be in my heart no matter how far apart we are.