Seminar: All Aboard the R/V Kilo Moana: An Oceanographic Research Cruise Experience

Kaja Reinhardt, MS Student
The MILLO Group, Ocean and Resources Engineering

*In-person ONLY (POST 723)*
*request Zoom Link here for extenuating circumstances by Wednesday (2/11) @ 11:59 pm HST

Let me take you aboard the R/V Kilo Moana for a 12-day oceanographic cruise in the North Pacific Ocean. Departing from Honolulu Harbor, the crew and science team led by Chief Scientist Dr. Oscar Sosa traveled nearly 400 miles north of Oʻahu before completing a transect back toward the Hawaiian island, sampling at multiple stations along the way. The goal of this project was to understand the coupling between nutrient limitation and oceanic methane production in oligotrophic gyres. In this seminar, I will take you with me into life at sea, a parallel universe full of early morning wake-ups, bunk beds with ocean views, countless CTD rosette deployments, wet shoes, Argo float launches, lab experiments, and shipboard routines. This NSF–BSF funded collaborative project brought together scientists, students, and volunteers from universities and institutions across the U.S., Taiwan, and Israel, and I had the opportunity to join and participate through the UNOLS Cruise Opportunity Program.

Seminar flyer