GalAPAGoS: Where Ridge Meets Hotspot Explorers
Peter Anderson
Graduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
The ocean has always been a special place for Peter, having grown up on the beaches of Southern California. After graduating high school he attended Colorado College where he studied the Taban Har meteor crater of Mongolia. Peter graduated with a degree in geology in the spring of 2004 and promptly left to travel in western Australia. After returning from Australia he took a job working for as geotechnical engineer studying landslides and slope stability. He is currently a grad student at UCSB and will be working on the spatial distribution and geologic controls of hydrothermal venting along the Galapagos spreading center.
Edward T. Baker
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Dr. Edward T. Baker is a Supervisory Oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, where he specializes in studies of active seafloor hydrothermal systems and their effect on the deep ocean. Dr. Baker studied geology at the University of Notre Dame and earned his Master's and Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography at the University of Washington, where he remains an Affiliate Professor in the School of Oceanography. He helped develop NOAA's hydrothermal research program, VENTS, 20 years ago, and two of his more than 130 published papers have won NOAA's Outstanding Scientific Paper award. He has participated in over 70 research cruises on vessels from three countries, more than 20 as Chief Scientist, along oceanic ridges and island arcs throughout the Pacific Ocean. Dr. Baker's research focuses on the creation and thermal evolution of vent fields created by seafloor eruptions, and the global pattern of vent field distribution along ridges and island arcs. Most recently he has participated on several cruises to the western Pacific, conducting the first systematic exploration for hydrothermal sites on submarine volcanoes of both the Kermadec-Tonga and Mariana intraoceanic arcs.
Nathan Buck
Research Technician
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean
Nathan received a B.S. in Marine Science, from Long Island University Southampton College in December 1999. He continued his education at Stony Brook University where he received a Master's degree in the environmental and coastal sciences. Since then, he has worked as an oceanographic research tech. During this cruise his main responsibility will be to collect samples for trace metals and carbon dioxide measurements from hydrothermal plumes.
Hector Chaux
Ecuadorian Scientist
Navy Oceanographic Institute
Hector Chaux was born in September of 1972, in Esmeralda city province of Esmeralda, Ecuador republic. He travelled to Guayaquil City in 1990 to enter University and by 1997, completed his University studies as a Pharmaceutical Chemist. Since January 1998, Hector began to work with the Chemistry Oceanography Section in the Sea Science Department of the Navy Oceanographic Institute. During his time there, he has participated in different projects and investigations including monitoring El Niño, environmental impact studies, participating primarily as an analyst. In addition to these projects, He has participated in more than ten oceanographic Cruises on board vessels such as the Orion, belonging to the Navy Oceanographic Institute, Marpelo of the Navy from Colombia, and the Carlos Porter of the Shipper Foment Institute from Chile. Hector is currently working on a project researching water quality and its relationship to tourist activity at beach resorts in Salinas. Hector expects to become familiar with the variety of projects that will be carried out during this cruise, as well as to understand the equipment used to collect oceanographic measurements.
Tonya Del Sontro
Graduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Tonya is a M.S. candidate in the Marine Science program and Earth Science department at UCSB. Her advisors are Bruce Luyendyk and Ira Leifer. As a graduate student researcher, she works on the development, calibration, and deployment of turbine seep tents and oil seep devices used to quantify natural gas seep emissions and collect/quantify natural oil seep emissions, respectively. Her thesis pertains to the distribution, sources, and processes of beach asphalt (tar) accumulation at Coal Oil Point, CA. She has been on many seep cruises in the Santa Barbara Channel and on a geophysical survey of the Ross Sea, Antarctica.
Christine Desautels
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Christine is a senior Biochemistry major in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at UC Santa Barbara, and is currently in the process of applying to medical school. She is also pursuing a Geological Sciences minor. She has been working with Rachel Haymon and her graduate student, Chris Ehrhardt, since October, 2004. They are attempting to characterize the hydrothermal activity in off-axis sediments by extracting and analyzing microbial DNA from these environments. She is very excited for the GalAPAGoS Expedition, both for the adventure of going to sea, and the opportunity to learn more about marine hydrothermal systems!
Melissa Eitzel
Doctorate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Melissa has a BS in physics with a minor in psychology from the University of California, Davis. She took a year off after receiving her bachelor's to tutor physics at UC Santa Barbara, and then applied for graduate school in the Earth Science department at UCSB. She is now in her second year of the PhD program there, currently working on earth systems interaction as measured by seismology; in particular, the seasonal variation of 0.1 to 0.2 Hz microseisms, which are caused by ocean waves interacting with the continental shelf. Recent awards include a Dean's Fellowship and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention.
Kelley Elliott
Web Coordinator
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
Kelley Elliott graduated from George Mason University with a bachelor's degree in Integrative Studies, concentrating in Conservation Studies in May 2005. She took her first breath underwater in the summer of 2003 and immediately fell in love with the ocean world. Kelley currently works as a contractor for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and plans to pursue a Master's degree in marine archaeology in the near future. She is excited to be taking part in the GalAPAGoS expedition as web coordinator, bringing the excitement of the expedition to the public.
Cadi Fung
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Cadi Fung is a senior at the University of California, Santa Barbara, double majoring in aquatic biology and geology with an emphasis in paleobiology. She hopes to pursue research in the behavior and echolocation of marine mammals. Cadi is fascinated with the deep sea, especially hydrothermal vent fauna. This will be her first seagoing expedition and she is excited to be part of the research team.
Grace Giles
Graduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Grace is a first year graduate student studying geology at the University of California, Santa Barbara with Professor James Boles. She is investigating the controls on kinetic isotopic fractionation of carbon and oxygen in well scales and waters in oilfields. Grace also received her B.S. in Geological Sciences from UCSB. As an undergraduate, she completed a senior thesis on the recently discovered perovskite to post-perovskite phase transition and worked with Tanya Atwater and collaborating professors to create educational geo-animations.
Scott Hansen graduated from Maine Maritime Academy receiving a B.S. in marine engineering technology, and a Coast Guard 3rd assistant unlimited horsepower engineer license in 1994. Since graduating, he has sailed as a merchant marine on various ships and tugboats, and worked as a port engineer for a shipping company. He recently moved to cape cod where he is concentrating on designing and patenting products for the bicycle industry for his company, Level Components, as well as working as a technician for the deep submergence laboratory at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Rachel M. Haymon
Chief Scientist and Professor of Marine Geology and Geochemistry
University of California, Santa Barbara
Rachel M. Haymon is a Professor of Marine Geology and Geochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is the chief scientist for the GalAPAGoS Expedition. She grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and later earned a B.A. in Geology from Rice University followed by a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prof. Haymon studies mid-ocean ridges with an emphasis on their hydrothermal systems, and teaches geology and oceanography courses at UCSB. She is a leading expert in mineral deposition at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Using remotely operated vehicles and the Alvin submersible, she has discovered and mapped hundreds of seafloor hydrothermal vents and animal communities along the East Pacific Rise (EPR), seeking to illuminate interactions between ridge crest hydrothermal, biological, and geological processes. In 1991, she led an Alvin expedition that was the first to witness and document an active eruption of the deep mid-ocean ridge, on the EPR crest at 9º-10ºN. With her colleagues and students, she subsequently pursued follow-up submersible programs to track the post-eruptive evolution of hydrothermal systems within and outside the 1991 EPR eruption area. More recently, she and her students and co-workers have studied mineral-microbe interactions in deep sea hydrothermal systems, and have investigated recently-discovered abyssal hill hydrothermal vents, biota, and mineral deposits on the flanks of the EPR. She is married to Prof. Ken Macdonald, and often works in tandem with him to explore the mid-ocean ridge. In the non-professional realm, she adores their three cats (Tula, Simba, and Gumbo), and loves to fly-fish in mountain streams; hike; watch wildlife; and share life's many joys with Ken, family, and dear friends.
Monica Heintz
Doctorate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Monica Heintz just started (Fall '05) working on her Ph D with professors Rachel Haymon and Dave Valentine at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is interested in microbial communities associated with marine hydrothermal systems, and specifically how these communities change and evolve as conditions in the system change. Currently she is investigating microbes in hydrothermal plumes at the Galapagos spreading center by comparing the phylogenetic diversity of particle-associated vs. free-living microbial communities within these plumes. To do this she is using both molecular methods to build phylogenetic trees and a new scanning electron microscopic imaging method, currently being developed in the Haymon lab by Chris Ehrhardt, to study microbe particle association. Her undergraduate degree is from the Colorado School of Mines in Geological Engineering.
Taylor Heyl
Research Technician
WHOI
Taylor received a bachelor's degree in marine and freshwater biology from the University of New Hampshire. She then worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Alaska before returning to school for a master's degree in deep-sea biology from the College of William & Mary. Her master's thesis focused on the characteristics of a species of deep-sea vesicomyid clam in relation to sediment geochemistry at the Blake Ridge methane hydrate cold seep. Taylor's interests in marine science have taken her to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Alaska, Antarctica where she worked as part of the Long Term Ecological Research Program (LTER) at Palmer Station, and most recently, to Fiji where she participated in the sampling of deep-sea mussel communities using the ROV Jason II at the Fiji-Lau back-arc basins. Her role on this cruise is to process images taken from Medea of biological communities at hydrothermal vents.
Justine Kimball
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Justine is a senior Biology major with a minor in Geology in the College of Creative Studies at UCSB. She works as a research scuba diver in Dave Valentine's lab, monitoring natural gas seeps. Scuba diving is one of her favorite activities along with interests in traveling and cooking. During her years at UCSB, she has been awarded the Hearst Scholarship from the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum to research and create a website on the different species of butterflies in the county. She was also able to participate at an Earthwatch sponsored paleontologist dig at the Mammoth Site in South Dakota through a Young Scholar award. She is an officer of WISE and plans to pursue a graduate degree in a science related field. She looks forward to being part of an active research expedition that is investigating an area of the ocean we still have much to learn from.
Jennifer P. Morgan
Acoustic Data Specialist
Hawaii Mapping Research Group
Jennie Morgan gained her undergraduate degree in geophysics at the University of Leeds (U.K.) before working as a research assistant at the Southampton Oceanography Centre. While there, she discovered a real interest in seafloor surveying and a passion to discover the unknown, leading her to a doctorate degree with Prof. Joe Cann. Her thesis compared the volcanic morphology of fast- and slow- spreading mid ocean ridges, using sidescan sonar, phase- and multibeam bathymetry. During her work, she developed some computer code to produce high-resolution bathymetry, and worked several datasets up from their raw format, collected onboard ships, through to the final useful products - sidescan sonar images and bathymetric maps. This was an aspect she found really fascinating and had a talent for, leading her to her current work with the Hawaii Mapping Research Group 
. Although she no longer does the pot-holing that she loves, she can't complain - Hawaii is a beautiful place to live, a little warmer than her native U.K., and she has started surfing and kite-boarding to make up for her loss!
Geoff Lebon
Research Scientist
University of Washington
Geoff joined the Vents Program at PMEL in 1985 as a NOAA Corps officer, transferring to JISAO at the University of Washington in 1988. During this time he has mainly worked with the particulate chemistry of different plumes using X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) to identify the bulk make up of the particles in the water. They are also able to identify individual particles by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At PMEL, he works with Joe Resing to analyze the total chemical makeup of the plumes and will be also working on pH, CO2, and dissolved trace metals to help come up with a complete picture of the chemistry of the plumes
Ken MacDonald
Professor, Marine Geophysics
University of California, Santa Barbara
Ken Macdonald, Professor of Marine Geophysics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, grew up in the San Francisco bay area and graduated from U.C. Berkeley in Engineering Geoscience. He received a PhD from the MIT/Woods Hole Joint Program in Oceanography in Marine Geophysics. He has led over 20 expeditions to the mid-ocean ridge and published over 100 articles on the subject. He has been fortunate enough to participate in some of the first fine-scale explorations of the mid-Atlantic Ridge and East Pacific Rise, using swath-mapping sonars, remotely controlled vehicles and research submersibles such as ALVIN. He has contributed to a number of interesting discoveries and advances in understanding ocean ridge systems including: the fundamental segmentation of mid-ocean ridges and the significance of ridge-axis discontinuities including overlapping spreading centers; the processes responsible for the creation and deformation of oceanic crust, particularly through the study of marine magnetic anomalies and quantitative geomorphology; the first measurements of heat flux from “black smoker” vents; and the interdisciplinary linkages between tectonic, volcanic and hydrothermal processes on mid-ocean ridges. When not exploring mid-ocean ridges or teaching about them at UCSB, he pursues windsurfing, flyfishing, and hiking in the mountains with his wife, Professor Rachel Haymon, another mid-ocean ridge explorer. Three general articles and video footage taken from ALVIN relevant to his talks can be seen or downloaded here .
Jason Meyer
Graduate Student
University of South Carolina
Jason Meyer is a graduate student at the University of South Carolina working toward a master's degree in geology/geophysics. He received a B.S. degree in Geology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, where he discovered an interest in volcanology and oceanography. Currently, his work involves seafloor mapping of different lava morphologies at mid-ocean ridges using sonar and submersible images. He has always been fascinated by the vastness of the seafloor and its mysteries, and feels we have much to learn about the Earth and ourselves from these depths. He is very excited to participate in this journey and experience such a unique place as the Galapagos.
Kayla Petitt
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Kayla is an undergrad at UCSB finishing up her B.S. in Geological Sciences, with emphasis on Paleobiology, and a B.A. in Studio Arts. Currently working on a research project exploring preservational bias in Professor Porter's lab, she is branching out to explore a different side of geology and is very excited to be a part of the GALaPaGos expedition. She loves being outdoors, and dinosaurs as long as they're not in her bathroom. Kayla is originally from the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Seattle, WA. She is also a part of the successful UCSB Gaucho Women's Track and Field program.
Webb Pinner
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
University of Rhode Island
Webb Pinner is a NOAA contractor finishing up his master's degree in ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island. On this expedition Webb is a data manager, which means he is responsible for maintaining detailed records of all the data and video collected by the ship and the underwater vehicles. Webb's previous data management experience includes this year's Lost City and Deep Sea Stepping Stones expeditions.
Joseph Resing
Chemical Oceanographer
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean
Joe is a research scientist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean, a cooperative institute between the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the University of Washington. He is an affiliate assistant professor of Chemical Oceanography at the UW School of Oceanography. Joe studied chemistry at DePaul University and earned his Master's and Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Hawaii. Joe has participated in over 20 major oceanographic expeditions and has spent more than a year's worth of days at sea. In his spare time, Joe likes to play basketball and soccer. He likes to coach his 8 year old son's soccer and basketball teams and looks forward to coaching his 5 year old daughter in her sports endeavors as well.
Cynthia Sellers
DSL Tech
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Cindy started college as a theater major, finishing with a BA in mathematics from Stonehill College. She spent eight years working in acoustics/anti-submarine warfare before starting at WHOI 17 years ago. She has worked in the Ocean Acoustics Lab as well as COFDL (Coastal Ocean and Fluid Dynamics Lab) and DSL (Deep Submergence Lab) doing data processing and analysis. She married expedition leader, Will Sellers, 14 year ago, and enjoys traveling, camping, cooking and gardening outside of work.
Will Sellers
Expedition Leader
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
After seven years in the US Navy working in helicopter avionics, Will joined WHOI's Alvin group in 1982 and worked there as a pilot through 1986. After a few years of contracting he joined DSL working on Jason in 1988, most recently taking on the role of Expedition Leader. Getting to travel to interesting places tops Will's list of why he loves his job, but there is also to the opportunity to play the 'reality video game' that is gathering samples from the sea floor using Jason's manipulator arms. Will's wife, Cindy, is also working on this expedition. His hobbies include woodworking and generally enjoying life.
Jamie Smith
Sonar/Data Systems Technician
Hawaii Mapping Research Group
Jamie was born in Springfield, Illinois and lived there until she moved to Chicago to go to school and play basketball at DePaul University. She graduated from DePaul in 2004 with a degree in environmental science, and now works for the Hawaii Mapping Research Group at the University of Hawaii as a sonar/data systems technician. Her job allows her to travel the world, work alongside some pretty great people, and live in Hawaii.
Nile Akel Sterling
Senior Sonar Data Systems Specialist
Hawaii Mapping Research Group
Akel was born and raised in Massachusetts, before moving to Hawaii at the age of 13 when he started to surf. He received a Bachelors degree in Geology and Geophysics in 1998, and a Masters in Marine Geophysics in 2003 - both from the University of Hawaii. His thesis investigated plate tectonic models derived from hot-spot chains. Akel has worked for the Hawaii Mapping Research Group since 2001 and has traveled widely, mainly around the Pacific Ocean, as a part of his job. His main duties include processing acoustic data from different systems, and he is also involved with the data systems onboard the Remotely Operated Vehicle 'JASON.'
Stacy Supak
Geophysical Researcher
Stacy Supak recently completed her Masters degree in Geophysics at UCSB. Her academic interests range widely and have included investigating bending induced fault populations and most recently her thesis work on the influence of ridge migration on the morphology and segmentation of slow- and intermediate-spreading centers. Although her undergraduate degree from Columbia University was in Environmental Civil Engineering, she has enjoyed her cross over to the earth sciences and she is actively searching for employment in this field. As a watch leader on the 8-12 am & pm shifts, she oversees all forms of data collection, edits pings, processes the multibeam EM300 data, and geologically interprets the side-scan sonar data when hydrothermal activity is detected.
Keith Tsudama
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Keith Tsudama is a senior working towards an undergraduate degree in Geology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Having grown up in Yreka, a small country town in Northern California, he developed a love for the outdoors which led him to spend summers working as a wildland firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). Currently in his final undergraduate year, Keith hopes the cruise will shed some light on a specific aspect of Geology he really enjoys, and can focus on for graduate school or a future career.
Sharon L. Walker
Oceanographer
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Sharon Walker has been an Oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, WA since 1979, and a member of the NOAA Vents program since it began in 1984. Sharon specializes in the development of methods and instrumentation for the detection, monitoring and mapping of hydrothermal plumes, including the PMEL MAPR. She has participated in numerous research expeditions to mid-ocean ridges and submarine arc volcanoes. During this expedition, Sharon will collect hydrographic and optical data using the MAPRs during DSL-120 tows, and with the CTD during other operations. She will integrate these data with additional information, such as navigation, to provide near-real time results about the presence and probable locations of hydrothermally active sites.
Sarah White
Undergraduate Student
University of California, Santa Barbara
Sarah White, of Manteca, California, is a fourth-year earth systems major and astronomy/planetary geology minor at UC Santa Barbara. She started college as a physics major, but switched to geology because she wanted to learn about all branches of science, not just physics. She became interested in earth systems science after taking one class on biogeochemical cycles and climate, and another on early life. She is currently working on a project with Dr. Frank Spera regarding impact cratering, but is also interested in trying new areas of research. She is considering graduate school, but is having trouble narrowing down her interests.
Scott White
Assistant Professor and Co-PI
University of South Carolina
Scott's interests are submarine volcanic processes and understanding how setting affects the behavior of volcanoes. Scott will be using the sidescan data and bathymetry from this cruise to understand how the excess magma associated with the Galapagos Hotspot affects the spreading ridge volcanic system. Scott White received his bachelor's degree in geology from the University of California at Davis, spent a year working at the USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory, and completed his doctorate at the University of California at Santa Barbara studying the linkages between volcanic eruptions and structural segmentation of the East Pacific Rise. Scott has been an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina since 2003, and has worked on a variety of projects including using sidescan data for classification of lava morphology on the East Pacific Rise, global compilation of volcanic rates and budgets, submersible dives on off-axis volcanoes around the East Pacific Rise, and mapping back-arc seamounts along the Aleutian Islands.
