Oceanography | Vol.33, No.4
The Career Profiles Column
Needs Your Help!
WHO WOULD
YOU PROFILE?
Oceanography publishes “career profiles” of marine scientists who
have pursued fulfilling careers outside of academia. These profiles
are intended to advise ocean sciences graduate students about
career options other than teaching and/or research in a university
setting. They also include wisdom on how to go about the job search.
We need your help finding new people to profile! Please take five,
ten, or even fifteen minutes of your time to come up with some
names. Self-nominations are accepted!
Please send contact information to ekappel@geo-prose.com
https://tos.org/career-profiles
OCEANOGRAPHY
In this Oceanography section, contributing authors share all of
the relevant information on a homemade sensor or instrument
so that others can build, or build upon, it. The short articles also
showcase how this technology was used successfully in the field.
Oceanography guest editors Melissa Omand and Emmanuel
Boss are seeking contributions to DIY Oceanography. Contribu-
tions should include a list of the materials and costs, instructions
on how to build, and any blueprints and codes (those could be
deposited elsewhere).
For information on submission requirements go to
https://tos.org/oceanography/guidelines
See the library of DIY Oceanography articles at
https://tos.org/diy-oceanography
CALL FOR
CONTRIBUTIONS
Seen in Oceanography
True Colors of
Oceanography
Guidelines for Effective and Accurate
Colormap Selection
By Kristen M. Thyng et al.
…wherever color is used to represent
numerical values, its role transitions from
a mere aesthetic nicety to carrying the
responsibility of conveying data honestly
and accurately.
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.66
Send Us Your Feedback!
Have questions or comments for the Student Rep?
Interested in being a highlighted student?
Want to share your best career tips and tricks?
We need your input!
» studentrep@tos.org and @fishy_chrissy
Follow Us
The Oceanography Society
@TOSOceanography
@TOSOceanography
Oceanography
Number 22 – March 15, 2019
STUDENT NEWS
TOS Student Highlight
ISAIAH MILTON. I am a third-year marine and environmental science major work-
ing toward my Bachelor of Science degree at Hampton University. I became enam-
ored with marine biology in middle school after the father of a friend of mine came in
to talk about his occupation. He works for NOAA and he was studying marine mammals and how we
affect their migration. I do not remember every detail, but I do know that he sparked my perpetually
growing interest in studying the marine science.
When I was accepted to Hampton University in 2016, I did not know all of the things I was getting
myself into for the next four years. This department has offered me so many academic and research
opportunities, and connections with people and programs that have significantly changed my life
for the better. I had enlightening and inspiring summer research experiences because of this depart-
ment. I have done research in the Maryland Coastal Bays on Blue Crabs and the bacteria infecting
them through the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and I have scuba dived on the coral reefs of
Mo’orea, French Polynesia, through the Diversity Project at UCLA.
After completing these research projects, I was able to attend the ASLO conference through the
ASLO Multicultural Program (ASLOMP) two years in a row to present my research. I have made great
connections that have pushed me to pursue my PhD after I graduate. I am so grateful for the experi-
ences I have had in the past three years here at Hampton and in the field of marine science.
tos.org
Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020
Call for Input
Camille Pagniello is the TOS Student Rep-
resentative on the 2020 Ocean Sciences
Meeting Planning Committee. She and
her counterparts from AGU and ASLO are
building upon experiences from the 2018
OSM to create exciting events for next
year’s meeting. Ideas from TOS student
members are welcome, please send them
to Camille at cpagniel@ucsd.edu.
31 Tips for Thriving in
Graduate School (the last 7)
From https://graduateschool.vt.edu/
about/deanscorner/tips-for-thriving.html
25. Laughter is good for you. And so is
keeping a good sense of humor.
26. Goals are important for progress.
Set long term and short term goals.
Review regularly.
27. Don’t write a script about things to
come. Be attentive as the journey
unfolds and follow.
28. You might not have all the information
you need or want. It is OK to ask
questions. Ask!
29. Learn through active listening
and observing. Also, look for the
“unobvious.”
30. (originally the last one): Change
rhetoric and reality from surviving to
thriving in graduate school. Shared
responsibility. Please join.
31. It’s hard to thrive without a mentor.
Find at least one, maybe more
than one.
From the Rep
Self-assessment and
comparison.
How do we know if we’re
doing “enough”? If we’ll finish on time? If
we’ll be competitive on the job market?
I’m a fourth-year PhD student, and I
just submitted my first lead-author paper.
For the first three years, I was so sensitive
to my classmates submitting papers—it
felt like everyone around me was building
their resumes, and I wasn’t.
The wonderful flexibility that we have in
research comes at a price—we must learn
how to assess ourselves. We (with the help
of advisors and collaborators) decide when
the project is ready for submission. We
(mostly) decide how many hours we work,
and when, and where. Throughout our
schooling, we are assessed using grades,
which can largely be relative to our class-
mates. It makes absolutely perfect sense
that we use our classmates as yardsticks
against which to measure our effort and
productivity.
The reality, though, is that no two proj-
ects can be compared. Once we’ve been
doing this science thing long enough, we’ll
know intuitively that each project moves at
its own pace. Sometimes it takes months to
perfect a laboratory technique, and other
times we are able to do a new analysis with
pre-existing data. I think a lot of our anxiet-
ies in graduate school are normal “growing
pains” as scientists, and I’ll talk more about
that next month.
I’d love to hear from you about how you
deal with self-assessment—write to me at
chernandez@whoi.edu or @fishy_chrissy
on Twitter and Instagram!
— Chrissy
Have You Read...?
From academia to industry: Seven tips
for scientists making the leap. Crystal
Romeo Upperman shares her advice after
moving out of the lab and into the private
sector. Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/
d41586-019-00692-y
True Colors of
Oceanography
Guidelines for Effective and Accurate
Colormap Selection
Seen in Oceanography
WAVE NAVIGATION IN
THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
Comparing Indigenous and Western
Scientific Knowledge of the Ocean
By Joseph Genz et al.
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.52
WE NEED
YOUR INPUT!
Help Freshen
Your TOS Resources
Web Page
https://tos.org/opportunities
Have you used the Graduate Student/
Early Career Resources pages on the TOS
website? If so, tell us what you like about
it. If some types of resources are missing
that you’d like to have, please let us know
that, too. This page is for you. Help us
keep it fresh and useful. Send all ideas to
Jenny at jenny@tos.org.
Send Us Your Feedback!
Have questions or comments for the Student Rep?
Interested in being a highlighted student?
Want to share your best career tips and tricks?
We need your input!
» studentrep@tos.org and @fishy_chrissy
Follow Us
The Oceanography Society
@TOSOceanography
@TOSOceanography
Oceanography
Number 23 – April 18, 2019
STUDENT NEWS
TOS Student Highlight
NANA KAMIYA. I’m a third-year PhD engineering student at Kyoto University. I am
investigating subduction zones using paleo-geothermal analyses and rock mechan-
ics experiments. As an undergraduate, I majored in geology and conducted struc-
tural geology fieldwork on land. For my PhD, I am concentrating on engineering aspects of geology,
performing consolidation tests. Rock engineering can inform different geological processes, thus
pursuing studies in the engineering department is very interesting and worthwhile for me.
When I was a second-year master’s student, I joined International Ocean Discovery Program
Expedition 370, Temperature Limit of the Deep Biosphere off Muroto, as a physical properties spe-
cialist. The two-month expedition was aboard Chikyu, the Japanese scientific drilling vessel that is
capable of penetrating deep below the seafloor. The science party was composed of microbiologists,
geochemists, sedimentologists, and physical properties specialists. We probed the temperature of
limit of life by exploring the combined geological structure, chemical environment, and population
of microbes as revealed through drilling. This experience was very exciting. I found that the field of
geology is like a house of microbes! The combined geology and microbiology discussions made me
see geology in a whole new way.
Combining the knowledge gained from samples collected from both land and beneath the sea is
important for understanding subduction zones. Until now, I have mainly analyzed on-land samples,
but the active subduction zone is located in the ocean. I look forward to doing some more marine
geology based on my experiences on Chikyu.
tos.org
More Resources
Conversations with Women of Color
in STEM: #Vanguard STEM
https://www.vanguardstem.com/show-content/
Try an episode of this live, monthly web-
series featuring a rotating panel of women
of color in STEM discussing a wide variety
of topics including their research interests,
wisdom, advice, tips, tricks and commen-
tary on current events.
From the Rep
Growing Pains
Did anyone else have really
bad growing pains as a kid?
I remember in elementary school that my
shins hurt so badly, just because I was
growing. I hadn’t done anything to cause
it, and there wasn’t really anything to do
except wait for it to get easier.
This is how I’ve started to think about
my stress and anxiety in graduate school.
First of all, I think that most people in their
twenties have these feelings. In some
ways, grad school is like your first job—it’s
a roughly five-year contract, and both
you and your supervisors are feeling out
whether it’s a good fit for you. In nearly
any first job, there is a big learning curve;
there’s wondering if you’re learning it
fast enough or doing it well enough, and
there’s worrying if it’s even what you want
to be doing.
There might be some ways to ease this
stress and uncertainty, but mostly it just
abates with time. You have to keep walk-
ing, writing, culturing bacteria, building
instruments, analyzing data, whatever it
is…and one day you look around and real-
ize you’re a scientist. We should certainly
work to reduce the types of stresses that
stem from systemic societal issues, but we
shouldn’t fear the growing pains. If you’re
reading this, you’re doing great—trust the
process and keep going.
I’d love to hear what you think—write
to me at chernandez@whoi.edu or @fishy_
chrissy on Twitter and Instagram!
— Chrissy
Have You Heard?
WorkLife with Adam Grant
https://www.ted.com/series/worklife_with_
adam_grant
You may want to check out this podcast.
Titles include:
» How to love criticism
» Become friends with your rivals
» Networking for people who hate
networking
» And more
Hello PhD
http://hellophd.com/
Or, how about this podcast? Titles include:
» How to give a perfect poster presentation
» The secret life of pets (in grad school)
» Conference like the pros
» Plus many, many more
Seen in Oceanography
THE MICROBIAL LOOP
By Lawrence R. Pomeroy, et al.
Methods and concepts to explore
the significance of microbes in the
ocean’s web of life.
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.45
Tell Us What You Think About
the Career Profiles Page
https://tos.org/career-profiles
Oceanography has now been publishing
“career profiles” for almost a decade. We
profile ocean scientists who have careers
outside of academia. The idea for this col-
umn came from you —graduate students.
• Is 10 years enough? Shall we discontinue
this column after December 2019?
• Are we asking the right questions?
• Are we profiling the types of careers
you’d like to hear about?
• Is there some other column you’d rather
us publish?
Please send your ideas and comments
to Oceanography Editor Ellen Kappel at
ekappel@geo-prose.com.
Send Us Your Feedback!
Have questions or comments for the Student Rep?
Interested in being a highlighted student?
Want to share your best career tips and tricks?
We need your input!
» studentrep@tos.org and @fishy_chrissy
Follow Us
The Oceanography Society
@TOSOceanography
@TOSOceanography
Oceanography
Number 24 – May 15, 2019
STUDENT NEWS
TOS Student Highlight
THOMAS MORROW. Here’s my history in a headline: “Florida man moves to Idaho
to study seafloor structure and tectonics.” I am a PhD candidate at the University of
Idaho, with a BS in geology from the University of Florida. Despite my efforts to move
further inland, I study oceanic lithosphere rheology, deformation, and tectonics thanks to inclusive
approaches to data sharing, open access repositories, and telepresence-enabled cruises.
Most data I work with (e.g., bathymetry, satellite gravity measurements) are from openly available
compilations such as the Global Seafloor Fabric and Magnetic Lineation Database and the Global
Multi-Resolution Topography Data Synthesis. One of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had as
a graduate student is waiting years for another researcher to share their observations, even after
publication or embargoes end. Certainly, scientists that collect observations deserve the first oppor-
tunity to publish their findings, but once this information is out, they should share data as openly
as possible.
I recently participated via telepresence in a NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer cruise to the Pacific
Ocean. Immediately after, I added newly collected bathymetry soundings to a manuscript while the
Okeanos Explorer crew sent the data on to their open access archive. Competition for funding and
ship time have often been limiting factors in my graduate school experience, but open access data,
like the GSFML and GMRT compilations, and telepresence-enabled cruises, like the Okeanos Explorer
program, remedy these constraints and make our research communities more inclusive. They allow
students—regardless of where they live—to publish compelling results, even when they can’t easily
access field opportunities or analytical facilities.
tos.org
Mental Health Resources
• Psychology Today. Find a therapist
using this listing of mental health profes-
sionals. https://www.psychologytoday.
com/us/therapists
• Mental Health in the Sciences. Nature
series offering stories and advice on
how to maintain good mental health in
the hyper-competitive science environ-
ment. https://www.nature.com/articles/
d41586-018-04998-1
• PhDepression. Support and resources
for PhDs, post-grads, and grad students.
https://www.thephdepression.com/
From the Rep
It’s the 70th Annual
Mental Health Month!
Since 1949, Mental Health
America has highlighted the importance
of mental health in May. This year’s theme
focuses on the value of animal compan-
ionship, spirituality, humor, and social
connectedness. There are some great
resources on their website (http://www.
mentalhealthamerica.net/may).
Mental health isn’t something that
matters only for people who have been
diagnosed with mental health disorders.
Mental health encompasses how any indi-
vidual handles their feelings—stress, grief,
anger, and also happiness. It is about how
we deal with life, including health, relation-
ships, and work difficulties. Ultimately, tak-
ing care of our mental health will prevent
us from burning out.
Tending to our mental health is per-
sonal and multi-faceted. For me, a thera-
pist is absolutely essential. For most of us,
strong connections to a support network
is required. Some folks have medication as
part of their toolkit. Others rely on regular
exercise, spending time with friends or
family, cuddling with their pet, watching
their favorite Netflix shows, and not check-
ing their email from home.
Building a toolkit doesn’t mean you
won’t have bad days, but your bad days
will be a lot less likely to turn into bad
weeks, months, or years. Resilience, not
perfection, is the goal—and resilience is
about how you bounce back, not whether
you stumble.
Be kind to yourself. Value your mental
health. Set the boundaries you need. Try
out some new habits. Or, you know, take
a day off from holding perfectly to your
habits. And if you’re struggling, maybe try
reaching out to a friend, mentor, or your
campus mental health office.
— Chrissy
Have You Read?
Three Tips for Giving a Great Talk
» Tip No. 1: Find a central focus
» Tip No. 2: Get the details right
» Tip No. 3: Present clearly
Read the full article in Science: https://doi.
org/ 10.1126/science.caredit.aax7352
Have you read the latest issue of
Oceanography Student News?
https://tos.org/opportunities
Each newsletter includes a regular column by the student
representative to the TOS Council, profiles of TOS student
members, information about student activities related to
TOS-sponsored meetings, and links to relevant student
resources and articles in Oceanography magazine. Feel
free to forward the links to the newsletters to other stu-
dents, or print out a copy and post it on your department
bulletin board. Any questions? Email TOS Student Rep
Chrissy Hernández at studentrep@tos.org.
After issuing an open call to the TOS membership for nom-
inations, the Council selected eleven members for the new
TOS Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee.
Susanne Craig, Co-Chair, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center/Universities Space Research Association
Beth Orcutt, Co-Chair, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Mona Behl, University of Georgia Sea Grant
EeShan Bhatt, MIT/WHOI Joint Program
Dick Crout, Naval Research Laboratory
Erin Meyer-Gutbrod, University of South Carolina
Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida,
College of Marine Science
Tashiana Osborne, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Charitha Pattiaratchi, The University of Western Australia
James Pierson, University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science
Amber Shearer, Garden School Foundation
TOS JEDI COMMITTEE
https://tos.org/diversity
INTRODUCING THE NEW