Hey blog readers,

This week was jam-packed with a variety of activities and opportunities to learn!

On Wednesday, the AOPE (Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering) staff held scientific presentations, where scientists and engineers gave lightning-round talks about their current research and past findings. It was really cool to hear about the huuuuuge variety of things people are researching—all within the same department.

For example, many scientists are investigating the role and dynamics of sea ice and glaciers. Others are studying the health of kelp forests in South Africa and creating an accessible online map of the world’s giant (and other) kelp forests. Through the website, you can go back—say, 50 years—and explore how the forests have grown or disappeared over time.

In contrast, some researchers are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to “train” robots to swim gracefully—or, more scientifically, to move hydrodynamically through the ocean. Instead of brute-forcing their way through the water, these robots use physics and optimized movement to their advantage.

These are just two extremes of the research happening within the AOPE department. When I compare that to the work I’m doing in the DSL, and the work of those around me, it really highlights the incredible breadth of AOPE’s mission. You can also see how all of these pieces come together. For example, I can envision the data collected by Sentry (the deep-sea robot my team works on) being used to analyze certain oceanic plumes. Those findings, in turn, could help explain why certain oceanic vegetation—like giant kelp—is thriving or not.

There’s a chain of research and a cycle of knowledge that flows not just from Sentry and our robotics teams to external scientists, but internally as well. That’s part of what makes WHOI function so exceptionally.

Back to my work—this week, I had my mid-internship design review and presented my findings on data management for the Sentry machine learning pipeline to members of the Sentry team. The presentation went great, and the feedback I received will serve as a strong foundation for bringing Sentry into the future.

I deeply apologize for the lack of pictures this week—although, that probably gives you an accurate sense of how focused I’ve been on preparing for my presentation!

That’s all for this week—write you later!
Steph