It’s #WormWednesday and we’re busy processing buckets of sand we just brought back from the Florida Keys! We’re picking out Stilbonematid nematode worms to study their bacterial symbionts. We call this one “Chewbacca” because…well, it looks like a Wookie’e leg (the “hairs” are Thiosymbion bacteria)

I’m back in Georgia after spending two amazing weeks @scrippsocean.bsky.social for the inaugural California Intertidal DNA barcoding BioBlitz!! We got >100 unique nematode species in tubes for genome skimming (and 9 other meiofaunal phyla too in our team). News story here one.npr.org?sharedMediaI...

I’m hanging out at @scrippsocean.bsky.social for the next 2 weeks, kicking off the inaugural California Intertidal BioBlitz!!! Over the next two years, this project will produce 4000+ DNA reference barcodes for west coast marine invertebrates. I’m a nematode taxonomist here, ID’ing (round)worms!!

It’s been the most glorious summer day down here in GA - pleasantly warm with low humidity, crystal clear blue skies. I spent most of my workday writing outside!!

This is my Apple health data after getting off the research ship - when I was at sea I was averaging climbing 11 floors per day (!!!). A secret workout every day. Now I’m back to a slothful life on campus 😬

Aplacophoran molluscs are a spiky, early-branching lineage that often resemble microscopic worms. Here’s a fun hot pink species (Helicoradomenia sp.) that we recently found at hydrothermal vents in the South Pacific! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicor... #MolluscMonday #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

We made it off the ship!! Still packing stuff, but we got our first brief respite of normal land life at a nearby waterfront hotel - amazing curry and colorful drinks at the post-cruise party last night!! #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

Our #SnailsRising hydrothermal vent cruise is at an end - we are back in port in Fiji and demobilizing - today we’re packing up the lab and wrapping our pallets for shipment back to the USA! #NSFfunded

Trying to collect animals at hydrothermal vents is pretty hilarious - here, we are using an underwater vacuum hose to suck up shrimp (small ones were easy, large ones always ran away!) #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

Further proof we are surrounded…I don’t want to go swimming anymore

Out here in the South Pacific, a group of 5+ oceanic white tip sharks are constantly circling our ship (an aggressive & critically endangered species! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic...) They love chomping on the food waste discarded overboard #SnailsRising #NSFfunded @whysharksmatter.bsky.social

Video of the copepod zoomies - A dish full of hydrothermal vent meiofauna from our #SnailsRising cruise! #NSFfunded

This afternoon’s samples have tiny little red vent copepods zooming around! I’ve been pretty astounded by the vent meiofauna communities associated with larger animal (snail/mussel) patches! #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

This is what the inside of a hydrothermal vent chimney looks like! Literally sparkling inside, with formations of mineral crystals such as pyrite (fool’s gold - which is an apt warning for why we should all oppose deep-sea mining) #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

An even better closeup from The ROV van - the barnacle cirri (their little crustacean legs) are unfurling like a peacock tail. This stalked barnacle is genus Vulcanolepas en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcano...

They’re literally like deep sea flowers!!

Did you know there are BARNACLES at hydrothermal vents?? I did not until I saw them on this cruise - this morning we got a great view of this wavering field of stalked gooseneck barnacles! #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

These snails just gotta be, gotta be GOLDEN! (And they slayed our hearts on the ship this week) - These large Alviniconcha have lost their outer spikes (possibly melted away by hot vent fluid?) and exposed their golden nacre (= deep-sea mother of pearl!!) #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

It is a glorious day at the ocean surface in the South Pacific - the water is so clear and blue up here, while all those black smoker vents lurk 2000m below us! #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

Gorgeous vertical stacks of brittle stars hanging out on vent chimneys - kind of weird that they’re all lumped in a stack, any idea why @echinoblog.bsky.social? #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

So much awesome science happening out here in Lau Basin - we’re now surveying northern hydrothermal vent sites that were impacted by volcanic ash following the 2022 Hunga Eruption. Lots of “classic beehive” vent chimneys this morning covered in white bacterial mats #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

The hydrothermal vents we’re seeing today are beautiful underwater stalagmite castles 🤩🤩🤩 #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

A beautiful morning for an ROV launch! We’ve transited to the next (slightly deeper) ABE vent site in Lau Basin. I’ll be controlling the science cam in the ROV Van this morning (top blue container stacked on deck) #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

On my ROV watch this morning we started off sampling hydrothermal vent fluids and measuring vent temperatures! This fancy #deepsea robot is essentially functioning like meat thermometer and turkey baster (metal probe->stick in underwater 🌋) #SnailsRising ##NSFfunded

We have buckets of hydrothermal vent snails after our first ROV dive! These are cuties are Alviniconcha spp., who have endosymbiotic bacteria in their gills and can withstand balmier deep-sea temperatures (5-33 degrees C) near vents #SnailsRising #NSFfunded en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvinic...

First day of hydrothermal vent sampling in Lau Basin - our WhatsApp cruise group chat is full of live dive commentary, like “slurp that mussel bed”! (The ROV Jason has an underwater vacuum hose for suctioning up animals!) #SnailsRising #NSFfunded

My inner 10-year-old is super stoked - I used to go on school field trips to visit @whoi.edu, and now I’m at sea doing real science with the ROV Jason II. We’re officially BFFs forever #SnailsRising

We officially left port today!! Next stop, Lau Basin in the Tongan EEZ - we’ll be sampling four hydrothermal vent sites on this cruise, some of which were impacted by ash falling from the 2022 Hunga eruption 🌋 #SnailsRising

Made it to Fiji after ~33 hours in transit (taxi to ATL->flight to LAX->recheck bags->flight to Fiji->4hr taxi to get to the ship in port). Now enjoying this view of lush green mountains outside my cabin on the R/V Thomas G. Thompson 🤩🤩🤩 #SnailsRising

Officially on my way to Fiji to join my FIRST EVER hydrothermal vent cruise - the #SnailsRising expedition led by @symbiosisrox.bsky.social @larvallab.bsky.social - More updates soon, wish me luck with my stupidly large Pelican Cooler luggage