Summer Research Students Sample Ocean Water in Gulf of Maine

Students standing on the deck of a research vessel help lower canisters into the ocean water.

Students Ciro “CJ” Aprea ’18 and Caroline Fleming ’18 steady a lift filled with canisters as a winch lowers the contraption into the ocean. Using the canisters, or “Niskin bottles,” the students sampled ocean water at different depths to measure the temperature, salinity and density of the water, and to assess the amount of phytoplankton present. The trip off the Isles of Shoals in the Gulf of Maine, which included a visit to the Shoals Marine Lab, was part of the Weiss Summer Science Research Program. Aprea and Fleming, both biology majors, are research students working in the lab of Assistant Biology Professor Justin McAlister.

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