June Teisan – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

May 15, 2015August 21, 2021

June Teisan, Tuna: From Plankton to Plate (and a side of STEM careers), May 15, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
June Teisan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
May 1 – 15, 2015

Mission: SEAMAP Plankton Study
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Friday, May 15, 2015

Science and Technology Log:

Bluefin tuna are incredible creatures. Remarkably fast predators, they can swim at speeds up to 40 miles per hour and dive deeper than 3000 feet. They hunt smaller fish and invertebrates, and grow to between 6 to 8 feet long and weigh in at 500 pounds on average. Bluefin tuna are prized for their meat in the US and in other countries. Because bluefin tuna are relatively slow-growing, they are more vulnerable to overfishing than species that are faster growing or more productive. Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn in the western Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico. Since the early 1980s, NOAA has worked to conserve and manage the stock of bluefin tuna by monitoring stock in the Gulf of Mexico.

The data collected on plankton cruises provides one piece of the complex puzzle of the regulation of commercial and recreational fishing. Ichthyoplankton data is added to findings from trawl teams catching juvenile sizes of certain species, analysis of gonads and spawn from adult fish caught on other cruises, and other stock assessment information. Data analysis and modeling examine these information streams, and serve as the basis of stock assessment recommendations brought to policy makers.

Below is how we collect the plankton:

Hosing down the Neuston net to collect plankton in the codend.

Plankton from codend is transferred to sieve.

Sieve is tilted and plankton is transferred to sample jars.

Sample jar is topped off with preservative solution.

Jars are labeled and boxed for analysis in the lab.

Spring ichthyoplankton surveys have been conducted for over 30 years, and my Teacher at Sea time has been an amazing glimpse behind the scenes of NOAA’s critical work maintaining the health of our fisheries.

SEAMAP Full Cruise (3) — SEAMAP Cruise Track May 1 – 15, 2015

Personal Log:

I expanded my career queries beyond the NOAA science team to interview a few of the ship’s crew members aboard the Oregon II and heard some terrific stories about pathways to STEM careers.

ENS Laura Dwyer – Navigation Officer, Oregon II

Path to a STEM Career: Laura’s career path began with a bachelor’s degree in International Business. After college she spent time as caretaker for her aging grandmother, then moved to Bali and certified as a scuba instructor. When she returned to the states, Laura investigated the NOAA Corps, and took more university courses for the science credits she needed to apply. In doing so she earned her Master’s in Marine Biology. Laura began her Basic Officer Training in NOAA Corps in January 2013, graduated, and now serves her country as Ensign on the Oregon II.

Best Part of Her Job: Laura knows she has a ‘cool’ job: she gets to pilot a 170 foot vessel.

Favorite Teacher: Mrs. Coppock. Laura’s 3^rd grade teacher…She was in her late 60s or early 70s but every year Mrs. Coppock would start the school year by doing a head stand in front of the class. The inspirational lesson behind this gymnastic move was two-fold: Women can do anything they set their mind to, and age is just a number.

Path to a STEM Career: Larry earned a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology. He worked as a fisheries observer out of NOAA’s Galveston, Texas lab, and volunteered as a guest biologist on NOAA vessels Gordon Gunter and Oregon II. Larry was raised in a military family with both parents serving in the Army, but had not known about the NOAA Corps until he met Corps officers during his time on NOAA vessels. Larry graduated with BOTC 116 in June 2010 and serves as Lieutenant, Junior Grade (LTJG)on the Oregon II.

Best Part of His Job: Larry appreciates that his work allows him to do and see things most people don’t experience, like being up close with 8-10 foot tiger sharks brought in on long line survey cruises or a rare encounter with sea turtles that have been tagged and released.

Favorite Teachers: Frank Ramano and George Cline, both college professors who were passionate about their work and helpful with any questions, offering guidance when Larry needed it.

Olay Akinsanya – Junior Engineer, Oregon II

Path to a STEM Career: Olay chose a career in the military because it was a great combination of hands on work and potential for training and further education. He served 8 years in the Navy, earning a GSM certification (Gas turbine Systems Mechanic). After his military service, he took exams with the Coast Guard to certify to be able to stand engine watch, which means qualified to be responsible for entire engine room. Olay then found out about NOAA through a friend and now works as a junior engineer on the Oregon II. He enjoys the work and finds it a good fit for his schedule; the shorter trips allow him to visit on shore with his daughter regularly.

Best Part of His Job: The opportunity to continue to build his skills and experience, to advance his career. And the food is good!

Favorite Teacher: Adrian Batchelor, a teacher at Mid-Atlantic Maritime School. “Mr. Batchelor is retired military, holds a GSM, and spent a lot of time with me, explained the job, encouraged me to reach out at any time. He’s been a great mentor.”

Classroom Fish ID Activity:

Correctly identify the “by catch” fish we brought up in our plankton nets. (Hint: we netted Flying Fish, Mahi Mahi, Half Beak, Little Tunny, File Fish, Sargassum Trigger Fish, Chub, Burr Fish, and Sargassum Fish). Enter your answers as a comment to this post!

Shout out to the students in Ms. Meredith Chicklas’ classes at in Troy, Michigan, and in Ms. Kelly Herberholz’s classes at Dakota High School in Macomb, Michigan!

A BIG thank you to the NOAA Fisheries Staff in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to the officers and crew of the Oregon II, and the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program Staff for this incredible adventure.

May 11, 2015August 21, 2021

June Teisan, Science at Sea! May 9, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
June Teisan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
May 1 – 15, 2015

Mission: SEAMAP Plankton Study
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Sunday, May 10, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
1600 hours ; Partly Cloudy; wind 6 knots; air temp 27.5C; water temp 28.4C; wave height 3 ft

Science and Technology Log:

It’s been fascinating to work beside the fisheries science staff here on the Oregon II. Moving through the station protocols – deploying nets and sampling devices, processing, preserving, and cataloging the ichthyoplankton samples, analyzing the chemistry of water samples – I have learned so much and enjoyed every minute.

transferring water samples from CTD to lab bottles

waiting to deploy the CTD with science team member Jonathan Jackson

Personal Log:

I am always curious about why people choose the careers they do. At what point did a door open, who pointed the way, when did the proverbial light bulb go on? So I asked a few members of our science team the when, how, and why behind their chosen career.

Alonzo Hamilton

Path to a STEM Career: When his asthma closed the door to a career in the Air Force, Alonzo reluctantly headed to community college instead. From his stellar work at Prentiss Normal and Industrial Institute in Prentiss, Mississippi, he earned a full ride to Jackson State University.

When Alonzo showed up for registration at JSU the first day, the attendant at registration told Alonzo that he had not just one, but two academic scholarships! He needed to make a choice between the scholarship he knew he had and an additional biomedical research assistant scholarship. He rushed over to speak with the director of the biomed program, only to be told that the scholarship had been given away without consulting Alonzo. Angry and disappointed, Alonzo stormed out down the hall and literally ‘turned a corner’ into the first door he saw: The Office of Marine Sciences. He asked the director of that division to explain her program to him, which she did and encouraged him to join. As they say, the rest is history. Alonzo finished his bachelors degree in biology, and went on to Master in Marine and Environmental Sciences. Since 1984, Alonzo has worked with NOAA in the Trawl Survey Unit of NOAA Fisheries in Pascagoula.

Best Part of His Job: He enjoys the new discoveries he sees out on the water.

Favorite Teacher: 6^th grade Ms. MaeDora Frelix – “Because she was pretty, and smart, and she said I was smart, so that topped it off”

Taniya Wallace

Path to a STEM Career: Taniya always liked science and in high school took the medical program vocational classes which involved clinicals in the hospital and shadowing doctors. However, after she passed out during rounds one day, Taniya decided she didn’t want to be a nurse. She did, however, find a new science interest; she job-shadowed her aunt who was working at Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and loved it. She attended Mississippi Valley State University in Ittabena, MS with a biology major and a minor in chemistry. She completed her bachelors in May 2010 and is now working in marine sciences, with part of her work assisting with research on NOAA vessels.

Best Part of Her Job: Being out on the water, the fact that it is always something different.

Favorite Teacher: Mrs. S. Williams, 7^th grade science “because she opened my eyes to a new world, it wasn’t regular textbook material. She did nature walks, integrating arts – keeping science exciting and interesting.”

Denice Drass

Path to a STEM Career: Denice always liked science, and on vacation trips to the beach as a kid she decided she wanted to do marine biology. She selected a university that had marine bio as undergraduate major. Millersville University in Pennsylvania was part of the Wallops Island Marine Science Consortium of Virginia so Denice could take summer marine science classes in Virginia, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology. She then earned her Masters’ in Marine Biology from the Florida Institute of Technology. Denice spent 7.5 months working for the state of Florida on their Red Drum Stock Enhancement Program (red drum fish Sciaenops ocellatus) then moved to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Mississippi Laboratories in 1993.

Best Part of Her Job: “Variety! It’s never the same thing twice, and I can go between field work and lab work so that keeps everything interesting.”

Favorite Teacher: Denice had so many wonderful teachers she can’t pick just one.

BOB Trio — Alex Beels, Craig Trebesh, and June Teisan with BOB (basic observation buoy) in the background

The classroom shout out for this blog goes to students with Ms. Alexandra Beels, Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Mr. Craig Trebesh, SOAR Academy in Sheridan, Colorado.

May 6, 2015August 21, 2021

June Teisan, Ichthyo-WHAT? Ichthyoplankton! May 6, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
June Teisan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
May 1 – 15, 2015

Mission: SEAMAP Plankton Study
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
12:00 hours; Partly cloudy skies; Wind 080 (WNW) 9 knots; Air temp 25.8C; Water temp 25.7C; Wave height 3-4 ft.

Science and Technology Log:

From my very first shift the day we left port at Pascagoula, I’ve been out on the ship’s deck deploying nets and processing samples. Samples of what, you ask? Ichthyoplankton! Ichthyo-What? Ichthyoplankton are the eggs and larvae of fish, and are typically found less than 200 meters below the surface, in the “sunlit” zone of the water column. We have 40 testing sites or “stations” ahead during this cruise, as shown below.

SEAMAP_OregonII — The blue area holds the SEAMAP Plankton stations we plan to sample on the first leg of the spring cruise. The other stations will be sampled on the second leg May 17-31.

With my noon to midnight teammates Pam Bond and Jonathan Jackson, and the invaluable Oregon II deck crew to operate the winches, I’ve learned to draw samples from the Gulf with specially developed equipment: the Bongo net, Neuston net, MiniBongo net, and S-10 Neutson net, and the CTD sampler.

The Bongo and its smaller cousin the MiniBongo are designed with funnel-shaped nets that collect samples into a cylinder at the end of the net. Once the nets are sprayed down to chase the last of the biomass into the PVC cylinder or “codend”, we take the cylinders to the processing table to sieve the biomass, transfer that to the glass lab jars, and fill with preservative solution.

The name “Bongo” makes sense once you see the shape of the apparatus!

The Neuston net is affixed to a large metal rectangle and is pulled along the surface of the water for a ten minute time segment. The mesh of the Neuston is not as fine as the Bongo, so smaller plankton slip through and larger organisms are gathered.

Once the samples are gathered they must be sieved, transferred into lab jars, and preserved. Immediately after collecting the samples, we walk the buckets holding the codend cylinders to the back deck where the processing table holds the equipment and solutions we need for this part of the process.

Personal Log:

I’ve been on board the Oregon II for five days, and I am deeply impressed by many facets of this scientific journey.

The level of dedication, professionalism, and passion of the NOAA science team: This work is high caliber data gathering in sometimes grueling conditions, with monotonous waiting periods in close quarters; but the good humor, dedication to best practice field science, and mutual respect and support among the team is always evident.
The complexity of running a working research vessel: From the Commanding Officer down the chain, each crew member has their jobs and each person is vital to the success of the excursion.
The importance of the work: Our fisheries are a vital food source; to manage the stocks and avoid overfishing we need data to make management decisions that ensure a healthy ecosystem.
The beauty and jaw-dropping magnificence of the Gulf: This vast expanse of water – teeming with life, driving weather patterns, supplying us with food and fuel – is a sight beyond words.

Finally, here’s a shout out for Teacher Appreciation Week! Kudos to all my colleagues across the country and especially to the teaching staff at Harper Woods Schools in Harper Woods, Michigan for all you do everyday!

huzzah — And a special hello for the students in Mrs. Wesley’s class all the way from the Gulf of Mexico!

May 1, 2015August 21, 2021

June Teisan, The Big Blue Marble, April 30, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
June Teisan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
May 1 – 15, 2015

Mission: SEAMAP Plankton Study
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015

Personal Log

The Big Blue Marble. Ever heard the term?

That’s a description of Earth, our home planet. Our amazing, unique, beautiful, water-rich planet.

It is the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams that give Earth its stunning blue hue and foster life on our planet. I am passionate about protecting our water resources, and equally passionate about sharing this stewardship mission with students and peer educators. So I’m beyond excited that tomorrow I begin a two-week adventure that combines my love of teaching and my passion for water stewardship by sailing with the crew of NOAA’s Oregon II research vessel!

Growing up in Michigan, the Great Lakes State, I enjoyed spending time on the beaches, swimming and boating on the lakes, canoeing the rivers, and exploring the rich diversity of life in these habitats. An early interest in science was probably fostered by these experiences, and motivated me to be a science teacher.

I have taught middle school life science in a small district near Detroit for 27 years, and early in my career I realized that many of my urban students grew up without a connection to nature or exposure to Michigan’s aquatic treasures. So I built exciting outdoor, ‘place-based’ learning and citizen science research into my curriculum, applying for grants to fund the field work and lab supplies.

My students and I have constructed water-quality buoys and deployed them in the Great Lakes.

PIC B — June’s students building a bouy.

We have searched together for macro invertebrates in leaf litter collected in wetland areas.

Teams of these incredible student-scientists have won awards for their lake research.

With all of my water studies and curriculum work, I’d heard about NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program. For 25 years the Teacher at Sea program has offered a premier educator training experience that launches an educator on an authentic research expedition to work side-by-side with world-class scientists in the field. The teacher can, in turn, share this adventure with students in their classroom. In my case, I’ll be sharing my ocean experiences with educators and students across the country! As an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow placed in NOAA’s office of Education in Washington, D.C., I am spending the year presenting to teachers at professional development conferences nationwide, so I’ll bring a vibrant, first-hand account of the Teacher at Sea program to my audiences of educators. And although I don’t have a class of my own right now, I’m also in touch with K-12 students through my home district and in the classrooms of my former student teachers. So let the adventure on our big blue marble begin!