MOD Student Spotlight: Devon Northcott

What is your background and what are you studying/working on right now? 
I grew up in Santa Cruz and got a bachelors degree in physics from UC San Diego. After graduating I moved back home and spent two years doing various kinds of work. I did a winter of life guarding, which is something I’ve done since I was a teenager, and then I spent about a year and a half at MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) doing all sorts of research work. I worked on CO2 fluxes, pH in tide pools, modeling of krill dynamics, analysis of environmental DNA and more. There was a fair amount of biology involved, I was part of  BOG - the Biological Oceanographic Group. It was a lot of fieldwork and a lot of good times.

I started graduate school at Scripps in the fall of 2019 in the Applied Ocean Sciences program working with Professor Drew Lucas. My work is basically on all sorts of things related to how to measure ocean velocities, primarily using acoustics.

What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography?
Going out on boats is a big factor. But I think it’s also the ocean in general, it’s been such a big part of my life. I grew up going to the beach all the time as a kid and my first job was life guarding in Santa Cruz. I’ve literally spent every summer since I was probably 15 staring at the ocean for 8 hours a day. The ocean has always had a feeling of home for me. I just love it.

When you were a kid, did you expect to be a scientist? 
Yes, I did. My parents are both scientists, their friends were scientist, I didn’t even know there was a job beyond scientist. I mean, I probably wanted to be a digger driver or airplane pilot at some point in my life, but for most of what I can remember, a  “scientist” is what I wanted to be.

Devon waiting to deploy a VMP aboard the Pt Sur in the Gulf of Mexico during fieldwork for SUNRISE.

Wirewalker recovery during SUNRISE 2022.

Were there any particular things from your childhood that drew you to study the ocean? 
Just being in, on and around the ocean, looking at it, seeing it change with the seasons and weather. Surfing, life guarding, sailing, all of those things probably contributed too. We lived about 6 miles from the ocean and I spent most of my free time at the beach.

What skills or abilities do you think are useful when thinking about going to graduate school in oceanography? 
Honestly, I think anyone can get through graduate school. You rely so much on your peers and other graduate students. Everyone has strengths or weaknesses and you help each other out and fill in for each other. Teamwork is important. You’ll probably make it through on sheer brilliance alone too, but I’m not sure you’ll come out a better scientist in the other end.

What does a typical work-day look like for you? 
Oftentimes I just sit in front of a computer for several hours, but I’m also easily distracted in front of a screen, thus I like to get into the lab and see what the engineers are up to and see if I can help them out. I try to go surfing as often as possible and I also meet up with my classmates for lunch every now and again too, human connection is important. Of course I try to get on ships as much as I can, it’s hard work often 12-18h a day seven days a week, but it’s very hands on, which I like.

Devon aboard the Nave Alliance in the North Atlantic during fieldwork for NORSE 2022.

What drew you to Scripps? 
It was probably the MOD group which is quite unique in the fact that they build all of their own instrumentation. Most other oceanographers just go buy off the shelf instruments, and if there’s any engineering involved it’s just about integrating that off-the-shelf piece into whatever off-the-shelf platform they’re using. MOD is unique, we’re building our own sonars from the raw parts, wires, crystals and circuits and we make our own software too. That does not happen in many groups around the world as far as I know. I looked at a couple of other graduate schools, but MOD was the only place that had that. It’s cool and exciting. You get to use new instruments and collect unique data that no one else can get.

Is there a particular scientist or person or something that inspires you?
I think it’s mostly the ocean actually. If I wasn’t inspired by, and curious about, the ocean I wouldn’t keep doing what I’m doing.

Do you have a fun fact that you'd like to share that not everyone knows about you? 
Well, I used to be a certified jet ski driver, or technically it’s a “rescue water craft driver”, when I was lifeguarding. I even got to teach other people how to drive jet skis, and I’ve spent a lot of time going out helping surfers and swimmers get back to shore. Oh, and during the pandemic I got pretty good at baking sourdough too.

Text and photos by Kerstin Bergentz

MOD Student Spotlight: Taylor Mckie

Taylor McKie at sea

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you are studying now —

I am from Little Rock, Arkansas, and I went to Georgia Tech where I studied environmental engineering. I also did research there, with a focus on environmental fluid mechanics and ocean wave energy conversion.

My research covers the link between sub-mesoscale dynamics and climate in salinity-stratified regions, which include the Indian Ocean and polar regions (mainly the Arctic Ocean). I also plan to pursue how these links relate to policy for fisheries or marine protected areas. My work is part of MOD’s MISO-BOB project. In 2019 I went on a research cruise in the Indian Ocean where we made observations of boundary layer dynamics and how they influence air-sea interactions.  I’m currently studying a dense, coastally upwelled filament that is subducting into the interior and how precipitation impacts those processes. 

In the long term I want to work on climate policy and climate adaptation/resilience, especially for communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Many of my activities outside of research are meant to give me exposure to that type of career.  Because of my involvement with different organizations, ; I was recently inducted into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Bouchet was the first African American to graduate with a PhD in the USA and the society upholds the tenets of character, leadership, advocacy, scholarship, and service.  I am honored to have been selected as someone who can carry on that legacy.

What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography?

I think my work is fun, exciting, and impactful. Oceanography is deeply tied to climate and the work we do is tied to understanding climate change. For example, with MISO-BOB we want to predict the monsoon, which is a huge water resource for people in the area. In fact, at the same time as we did the research cruise in the Indian Ocean, Chennai [a littoral city in south-east India] actually reached day zero: they completely ran out of water. We need the ability to understand how the climate is changing and how resources are changing with it, and physical oceanography is needed to understand air-sea interactions and the hydrological cycles associated with that.

Oceanography and climate science are powerful, and I’m grateful to be a part of the work. My understanding of the ocean will give me the tools to explain science to the public and to politicians, and my expertise will allow me to direct climate policy.

When you were a kid, did you expect to be a scientist/engineer?

My parents started preparing me for science by teaching me math at a very young age, and my godparents were engineers, so by six or seven years old I knew I wanted to be one too. My parents also thought it was important to study engineering so that I would never have to struggle financially: they pushed me to pursue what I loved and what would give me a better life.

I have always been an environmentalist and I have always cared about the climate. My best friend group in high school was also very connected to nature, and we loved being outside, hiking together, and bike riding along the river. I did a program called Envirothon where my focus was on forestry, so I learned all the tree names and their importance in the ecosystem. AP environmental science then spurred my interest in climate change. After all that I knew what I wanted to do, so I went to Georgia Tech for environmental engineering.

What skills or abilities do you think are useful when applying to graduate school in oceanography?

When applying for grad school in oceanography you should be passionate about the field and have a strong math and science background.  Know why you want to pursue that degree and how you'd like to impact the world with it.

I also think self-advocacy is really important: it’s been a theme throughout my life and it’s what helped me get here. It means being able to ask for what you need. It’s important to be confident in yourself.   You might face doubt and other people’s disbelief, and if you don’t have a strong sense of self-worth in your own abilities and intellect it’s easy to believe what others tell you. Being able to network and talk to people is also very helpful. Making connections broadens the scope of your world and helps you find out where you can go and what you can do, and it helps to build support systems that can carry you.

Passion is helpful for staying motivated and driven, but you also need a project management mindset. You need to have a plan and be able to organize what is done and when, then be able to execute it by knowing the steps you need to take.

What drew you to study at Scripps?

People ask me “how did you get interested in the ocean?” And the short answer is that I wasn’t. The field I was hoping to move into after undergrad was renewable energy, specifically involving ocean waves and energy policy. Then my advisor told me I should apply to Scripps, even though I wasn’t familiar with the field of oceanography. I ended up being accepted into a renewable energy research program at Stanford and oceanography at SIO. After visiting both places, I ended up liking Scripps more: the environment seemed more collaborative and that is something I value, as opposed to the more competitive nature of some research programs. Also, the AOS (Applied Ocean Science) program was very flexible, and I was drawn to the possibility of a master’s in mechanical engineering along with a PhD in oceanography. Another benefit was the connection to climate change research, and UCSD as a whole, since I want to be involved in policy too. So, I decided to go to the nice school on the beach!

Everyone in MOD sends their extreme congratulations to Taylor being inducted into the prestigious Bouchet Graduate Honor Society in 2022! See here for more: https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/graduate-students-honored-for-inclusive-mentorship.

MOD Student Spotlight: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach

Bethan Wynne-Cattanach on deck with the FastCTD in the background.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you are studying now — 

I am a fourth-year PhD student in the Physical Oceanography (PO) program at Scripps. I completed my undergraduate degree in mathematics at Trinity College, Dublin before doing a year-long Masters in PO at Bangor University in the UK.
Broadly, I study turbulent processes near topographic features. My current focus is the Boundary Layer Turbulence experiment that began in the summer of 2021. The aim of the project is to understand how processes close to steep topography, particularly along continental slopes, lead to upwelling. This is an important question related to our understanding of the global overturning circulation. My contribution is primarily looking at data collected using MOD’s FastCTD during a dye release we did as part of the experiment.

What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography? 

Going to sea has probably been the most exciting part of working in the field of oceanography. Although my work has focused on processes in the deep ocean, being out on the water, witnessing the varying conditions and observing features like fronts, slicks and big waves in person has made the problems I’m studying feel much more tangible. Having that connection to the data has been very inspiring. It is also a reminder of the vastness of the ocean and how little we really understand about how it all works. Which, although daunting, motivates me to try and fill in a little bit more of the puzzle.

When you were a kid, did you expect to be a scientist or engineer? 

I was always curious about science as a child, but I didn’t realise that I could be a scientist when I grew up. Despite not having a clear path in mind, I knew that I had to follow my passion for mathematics when I went to university. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to just do what I loved and figure out how I was going to make it my job later. My experience has made me realise how important it is to show children that there is a wide range of exciting career options in science.  

What skills or abilities do you think are useful when applying to graduate school in oceanography? 

I think one of the great things about oceanography is that you can come in from so many different backgrounds. This could be previous experience in the earth sciences, physics, maths, engineering or countless other fields. For physical oceanography, having some previous experience with maths or physics is useful but the key is to be curious and to have a desire to apply the analytical skills developed during an undergraduate degree to problems related to the ocean.

What drew you to study at Scripps?

As someone who was applying to graduate school with very little background in oceanography, Scripps seemed like the best choice – the PO program has a full year of classes before beginning research allowing exploration of the field before choosing a thesis topic and we also have the chance to meet with professors and researchers during the first year before deciding who we’d like to work with. My experience at Open House showed me that there were plenty of incredible people to work with and the atmosphere and location of Scripps really couldn’t be beaten!

MOD student spotlight: Bofu Zheng

Bofu Zheng, PhD Candidate, doing field work as part of the NSF-funded SUNRISE cruise in the Gulf of Mexico in 2021 (Photo by Jen MacKinnon).

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you are studying now —

I did my undergraduate in Zhejiang University, China, with a major in mechatronics engineering. After graduating in 2017, I came to Scripps for my graduate school adventure. Currently, I am a fifth-year PhD candidate, trying to understand some coastal bio-physical interaction problems with the help of high-resolution observational data collected from novel sensors and platforms.

What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography?

Many reasons actually. I really love the ocean because it gives me the feeling of freedom and reminds me how tiny human beings are compared to mother nature. Working in this field, especially on a research ship, provides me a unique opportunity to combine my interest with my job, which I appreciate very much. Also, the more I learn about the ocean, the more I feel that there are so many things that remain to be discovered. She is so beautifully organized and mysteriously interesting, which always triggers me into deeper thoughts.

When you were a kid, did you expect to be a scientist or engineer?

Honestly, I did expect myself to be a scientist when I was a child, without any understanding of how hard it might be. When I look back, I feel very fortunate that I am now at a place very close to this childhood dream, with gratitude to lots of people’s help.

What skills or abilities do you think are useful when applying to graduate school in oceanography?

I think the top thing on my list is that you need to have an intense interest in what you are applying for. A PhD is a relatively long journey and sometimes you may be in a difficult situation with limited help, such as getting stuck with in an academic problem or stress from work. At these times, a strong interest in your work will be one of the key forces carrying you through. I always believe interest drives primary productivity. So, listen to the voice from the inner part of your heart before application. Moreover, if possible, I think it will be very useful to reach out to the professor you are interested in. This is not only for the professor to know you, but also, more importantly, for you to learn about the professor’s lab, potential projects, and personality.

What drew you to study at Scripps?

Scripps is definitely one of the top oceanographic institutions in the world, so it has always been my dream to come to Scripps to study. When I prepared my application for graduate schools, I was planning to do something related to ocean instrumentation as an extension of what I learned during my undergraduate. Unlike oceanography programs in many other universities, I feel lucky that Scripps offers a program with focuses on the engineering side of marine science, which is what I ended up in - the applied ocean science curriculum group. It is a good match for students who are interested in learning science with some engineering backgrounds. Furthermore, during my application process, I learned about the amazing science and engineering projects that Rob, Matthew, and Drew were doing, which made me want to come to Scripps more!

MOD students design and execute a novel kelp turbulence experiment - in a pandemic

A student-designed project to measure the flow around the Point Loma Kelp Forest kicked off this week with the successful deployment of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) within the kelp forest. The project was designed by MOD graduate students Bethan, Alex, and Noel, along with fellow graduate student Manuel Gutierrez-Villanueva, for a proposal writing and experiment design class taught by MOD PI Matthew Alford and SIO professor Uwe Send. The project investigates how the presence of vegetation affects coastal flow and the rates of turbulent dissipation outside the kelp forest and within its interior. 

Through the support of UC SHIP Funds and the SIO Scientific Diving Program, operations will continue over the coming weeks with ship surveys aboard the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul to measure ocean velocity, and small-boat operations to collect the first-ever microstructure measurements within a kelp forest using the recently-upgraded epsi-fish, our microstructure profiler. The results of this project will help us understand how physical processes, important for the exchange of nutrients and spores, interact with the Point Loma Kelp Forest, the largest giant kelp bed in Southern California and home to many invertebrates, fishes, and marine mammals.

MOD graduate student and scientific diver Alex Andriatis (right) with fellow grad student Anela Akiona (left) after a successful ADCP deployment in the Point Loma Kelp Forest. Thanks to Jennifer MacKinnon and Amy Waterhouse for loaning the ADCP, and to Tyler Hughen and Paul Chua for assisting in preparing it.

We expect four different physical regimes to exist in the area surrounding the Point Loma kelp forest (detailed in left column). To observe and understand their dynamics, we designed ship transects (pink dotted lines), ADCP deployments (red triangles), and microstructure sampling stations (purple stars) around the forest’s boundaries.

The Epsilometer and the biological hotspots ...

In April 2018, a team of Scripps graduate students designed a 3 days experiment on the R/V Sproul in order to explore a biological hotspot south of San Clemente Island, only a few miles west of San Diego. This area is known to support large populations of demersal and pelagic fish, such as rockfish and tuna. While both the scientific and local fisheries communities are well aware of such biological productivity, little is known about the physical mechanisms that aid the high productivity at this site. The students proposed to investigate the flow in order to test several hypotheses and determine the physical mechanism that drives the elevated biological productivity.

In addition to the Del Mar mooring recovery and deployment of a WireWalker, the students tested new sensors developed by Scripps physical oceanographers Matthew Alford and Arnaud Le Boyer. Dubbed the epsilometer or “epsi,” the device uses advances in electronics borrowed from the cell phone industry to measure water turbulence (epsilon) in a low-cost, low-power manner. 🎥: Isabela Le Bras

Marine Physical Laboratory interns rock it this summer!

MPL interns Eli Simmons, Louise Xu and Drew Vagen have been hard at work in our lab this summer.  Among their many accomplishments: creation of a new travel-time acoustic current meter (Louise), calculation of the flow through the Samoan Passage from a high-resolution model (Drew), and design and construction of many new mechanical devices (Eli).  Thanks to all of you for your talent and hard work this summer!  Since Louise is a UCSD student, we're happy that she'll continue with us this fall.