People
Monica Riess
Graduate Student, UW (Legs 1 & 2)
I am a second year graduate student in the Oceanography department at the University of Washington this fall studying with Deborah Kelley. I completed my undergraduate degree in oceanography at the University of Washington in June, specializing in Marine Geology and Biological Oceanography. I am particularly interested in the interactions between microbes and rocks, particularly in hydrothermal systems and methane seeps. I returned to school after realizing that my Spanish degree was a wonderful skill, but that I was much more interested in the sciences. A semester with the SEA Semester program confirmed oceanography as my career choice. I continued sailing as a deckhand, teaching environmental education aboard an 80’ schooner in Long Island Sound, then working as an Able-Bodied Seaman, Fisherman, and Survey Technician aboard a NOAA fisheries research vessel before returning to school. My primary goal of this cruise is to refine my research interests and goals and develop a project for my graduate studies while learning about the work aboard research vessels from the scientist’s point of view.
