Two early-career scientists will lead an international team on a 25-day expedition the Atlantic Ocean
Oceanographers Joe Gradone and Corday Selden are preparing to step into the most consequential assignment of their careers so far.
On Aug. 7, they will board the research vessel Falkor (too) in Bridgetown, Barbados. Two days later, the ship will leave port, carrying Gradone and Selden into the Atlantic Ocean as co-chief scientists leading an international team of 19 scientists on a 25-day research expedition.
Related: Inside the science at sea
The voyage is being made possible by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to oceanographic research that operates the 363-foot R/V Falkor (too) as a global platform for ocean science. Through a competitive selection process, the institute provides researchers with access to ship time, advanced technology, and technical support at no cost.
For Rutgers, the result is a rare opportunity: Two early-career oceanographers will lead an international team aboard a vessel equipped for ambitious, round-the-clock science. The ship carries eight laboratories, advanced sonar systems and high-performance computing capacity, allowing researchers to collect, process and interpret data while working far from shore.
“Schmidt Ocean Institute’s support gives Rutgers scientists and students access to extraordinary shipboard capabilities,” said Josh Kohut, dean of research at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and director of research at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. “For Joe Gradone and Corday Selden, this expedition is both a major scientific opportunity and a defining career moment as they lead an international team studying processes that are difficult to observe but essential to understanding the ocean and its global reach.”
The expedition will be Gradone and Selden’s first as chief scientists. Gradone is an assistant research professor, and Selden is an assistant professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at the school. Together, they will plan daily science operations,and manage dozens of interconnected research projects aboard a vessel moving through a changing sea.
Their partnership brings together distinct but closely connected areas of expertise. Gradone’s work centers on physical oceanography and autonomous platforms, including robotic ocean gliders that help scientists observe the ocean beneath the surface. Selden brings expertise in the biological and chemical sampling that will occupy much of the team’s time at sea. Together, they are trying to connect the ocean’s fine-scale physical structure with its chemistry and biology.
That combination will matter once the ship reaches the open ocean. The scientists will be studying a form of mixing called salt finger mixing, which occurs when water layers with different temperatures and salt levels interact. These small-scale movements may influence marine life, ocean chemistry and the movement of carbon through the sea.
The goal is to capture a range of those mixing conditions and understand how ocean circulation impacts mixing and, in turn, how it affects the living ocean.
“Do we capture the spectrum in salt fingering that we’re trying to capture?” Selden said, describing one of the central measures of success.
Some of that answer will come in real time. Instruments lowered into the water will send back information that can help the scientists decide where to sample next. If the team isn’t seeing what they hoped to find, they will work with the ship’s crew to adjust course.
“We’ll know that while we’re on the ship,” Selden said.
Full article at Rutgers Today