A Research Cruise in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

In late November of 2023 I had the amazing opportunity to attend a research cruise on the R/V Pelican operated by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) to collect and redeploy a sediment trap in the northern Gulf of Mexico. This sediment trap is used in a variety of studies by scientists at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administrationlike investigating sediment flux and planktonic foraminiferal densities and using eDNA to look at what is living in the water column. I have been working on processing sediment trap samples for particulate flux for the past few months at USGS so it was amazing to be a part of this step in the process! I’m so thankful for all the experience and knowledge I have learned from this job!