SEA Semester Oceans & Climate Program

Experiential Learning Category

Research

Summarize your proposed experiential learning activity, including

the primary focus of your activity and whatever tasks or actions it
entails.
I will be in a class with about twenty students from around the country, studying
oceanography and climate science on and off shore. We have a four-week shore
component in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at the SEA campus. We then will travel to
Catalina Island, California, and sail a 134-foot ship to Honolulu, learning to sail the boat
and continuing our classes. Our classes are Data Visualization and Communication,
Nautical Science, and Oceans in the Global Carbon Cycle. We will all be conducting
research projects, for which we will write research proposals, collect data, and write a full
paper on the ship. I will most likely be studying how nutrient concentrations affect food
chain dynamics in plankton.

Explain how your activity demonstrates the values of the Honors

Program Experiential Learning category you selected. Rather than
reiterating our definition, outline how your activity embodies this
definition. Why is this category part of the Honors values? Why
does it matter? For example, if you are doing research, what tasks
and activities are you performing on a daily basis, what IS research
and how are those tasks connected.
The majority of time and effort I will be putting into this program will be doing research:
planning a project and learning how to write a good proposal, collecting and analyzing
data, and writing a full report. I will be studying how oxygen minimum zones in the
Pacific affect zooplankton health, and how that in turn affects phytoplankton diversity.
On shore, I am learning some oceanography and how to interpret scientific literature. On
the ship, I will be collecting and analyzing data using common oceanographic tools like
Neuston nets and fluorescent microscopes. Learning how to conduct research effectively
is vital for any scientist, making hands-on work like this program important in preparing
young people for the scientific community.

How and why did you select this engagement? What skills or
experiences do you hope to gain from it?
My mother did a different SEA Semester program in 1989, and hasn't stopped talking
about it since. I knew I wanted to travel for classes in college, so I was thinking about
some different options, and SEA was always on my mind. I enjoyed the oceanography
classes I've taken, and I have a fair amount of experience boating, so when I heard about
this program I was really excited. I hope to get a lot of experience with intensive sailing
and oceanography research, both of which I've been looking for for a long time. From
what I've heard from many alumni, being a part of SEA Semester is one of the greatest
experiences of their lives, and I look forward to researching the global oceans while
being part of a close-knit community of peers.

How does this activity connect to your concurrent or past

coursework? How does it speak to your broader education goals and
experiences?
I have taken some oceanography and lots of chemistry classes, and this program includes
lots of hands-on experience in those fields, focusing on research and data communication.
I am passionate about the topics we will be studying, and I have enough experience that I
will get a lot out of the program. I value and need the ability to effectively present my
work to fellow scientists and to the public, in order to be a responsible agent of science
and progress. This experience will teach me how to accurately usher data all the way
from raw collection to polished results that are accessible and convincing.

How will your activity contribute to the larger goals of the

organization/your partners?
All of my peers, instructors, and administrators are passionate about ocean and climate
science. My individual research project involves collecting raw data and processing it
into a relevant report for the oceanography world. Also, the teamwork aspect of sailing
the ship reinforces the importance of community and trust as colleagues and friends. SEA
relies on students to create an atmosphere of collaboration and support amongst peers. By
taking part in this program, I am representing SEA's values of "academic excellence and
experiential learning," as well as contributing to the naturally collaborative larger
oceanography community.
Estimated hours per week: 40
Estimated project start: 10/03/2021
Estimated project end: 12/30/2021