Fieldwork in the Gulf of Mexico

Guest post by Olivia Miller ('27).

Being on the water was spectacular. Even though we were working hard, it felt like play. I loved making a muddy mess as we sifted through the sediment, and I couldn’t stop laughing as we surfed on seven-foot waves on the rough days. I cherish my memories of cat naps on the sunny bow of the boat, watching dolphins glide through the water at our sides, and getting splashed by rogue waves that lapped up at the open deck while we worked. Even when I felt horribly seasick (enough to warrant me racing to the side of the boat), I was so happy to be out exploring the Gulf. Our fieldwork was a gold mine for curious minds.

I didn’t expect to like the work as much as I did, but I found it exciting and fun. Sieving the sediment was strenuous, and picking through the shells was tedious, but there were discoveries to be made with every sample. In our free time, we visited aquariums, went on boat tours, and explored the beach. I thought that at some point, I must get sick of the ocean, but I never did.

If anything, I only grew to love it more. I confess that I found that fieldwork in Alabama to be more enjoyable than our time in Louisiana, but that’s probably just because I’d gotten used to some of the more “inspiring” aspects of working on the boat. Our last day on the water was my favorite. Because of rough conditions, we quickly learned that we couldn’t sample at our intended site, so we boated closer to the coast and pulled samples from 10 meters depth rather than our usual 20. I made friends with lots of adventurous snails and crabs that day—we even found a hermit crab hiding in one of the samples! That night, we were told that the boat in Florida needed a repair and wouldn’t be ready for our scheduled visit the next week. I was horribly sad to learn that we wouldn’t be able to sample in Florida after having such a great time in Alabama, but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that I was afforded in the week before. If anything, the news made me realize how fortunate we were to be able to get on the water at all, and those memories are even more valuable in hindsight.

Our fieldwork was also a great opportunity to get to know the students and professors that I’ll be working with for the rest of the summer—I am lucky to do research with such hard-working, curious, and sincere people. Their jokes and stories made the trip so much more enriching. I was also incredibly impressed by Paul and Rebecca’s unwavering dedication and enthusiasm. Even when we hit some bumps in the road, they kept our morale high.

The days on the boat were full and exhausting, and I wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe the absurd number of polychaete worms we had to throw over the deck). I had the opportunity to engage with the samples every step of the way as they traveled from the ocean floor all the way to the microscope in our lab at Colgate. My immersion in this research brought me a newfound appreciation for each tiny little shell that we found. It also makes me excited to learn more about the samples in the lab as I’m reminded of the work we did to retrieve them and the memories we made along the way.