Background
From 1999-2003, I attended Mary Washington College, now known as the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I'm originally from New York. After graduating high school in 1999, I was anxious to get out of the state and try something new. I was spoiled rotten at MWC because they opened up a brand new science center my first fall semester and had state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.

I had four passions in college: music, art, theatre and chemistry. I did my best to satisfy them all through classes and extra-curricular work but ultimately decided to major in chemistry. I completed a summer of research under my mentor, Dr. Leanna Giancarlo, studying scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on graphite surfaces and long chain alcohol liquid/solid interfaces. During this time I fell in love with physical chemistry. Dr. Giancarlo hired me as a lab assistant while she taught her physical chemistry class in the 2002-2003 academic year, and I figured my future would be filled with quantum mechanics, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

I had applied to a few chemistry graduate schools, but I didn't get accepted where I had originally planned, or got accepted without a scholarship. After graduation in spring of 2003, I moved back to New York to get a job. I figured a year off with a good chemistry job would juice up my resume before re-applying for the next year.

A job and inspirations
I spent that year out of school working at the Research and Development facility for Estee Lauder. The work, though stimulating, was not challenging, and I found myself craving a classroom and textbooks. Never thought I'd hear myself say that, but it’s true.

I began reading Carl Sagan's published works, textbooks, and novels, and again found myself falling in love with a new topic. Sagan's work educated me on the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect, the “training wheels” I felt I needed if accepted to a graduate program to pursue environmental chemistry professionally.

Grad school at FSU
I was accepted to Florida State University for Fall Semester of 2004 and joined Professor William T. Cooper’s Lab in Spring Semester of 2005. I am now a Ph.D. candidate in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at Florida State University. This is my fourth year at FSU, working for Bill Cooper on my three Ph.D. projects, Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry: Characterization of Dissolved Organic Matter.

I am participating in the I6S cruise to assist Esa Peltola, from the chemistry division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory of NOAA, with dissolved inorganic analysis of ocean water. We are assessing the ocean's role in controlling atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. We focus on observations of the carbon dioxide exchange across the air-sea interface and its eventual penetration into the deep ocean. The water-column measurements we collect will help evaluate the total carbon content of seawater and its changes over time.

Esa and I collect water samples via rosette at each station from the sea floor through a series of prescribed depths all the way to the surface. We carry them back to our mobile lab, a land/sea container shipped intact from Esa’s AOML and NOAA workspace in Miami, Florida. All our analytical instrumentation, including two of the DIC (dissolved inorganic carbon) instruments we use to evaluate carbon dioxide levels, and our computer software, reside in the container; wherever we ship the container, it’s ready to run. Here it’s located on the RV Revelle’s stern (back) deck.



Personal impressions of ship-board life
So far, the work has been quite enjoyable. Getting used to the rocking and pitching of the ship has been an easy adjustment for me because I find the ever-changing movements of the ship amusing. Its constant motion keeps me literally on my toes. We all have to be ready for anything, so it's easy to stay focused. The night crew members and scientists I work with are wonderful people and we are enjoying learning a little bit about each other every day.

My shift is from midnight to noon so I never miss the sunrise. It’s easily the highlight of my day, and at times it’s difficult to go back to work after viewing the amazing cloud formations and colorful skies. Being outside for the majority of the day is just wonderful. Yesterday we saw finback whales swimming right next to the ship. I saw three at one time, but I’m sure there were more — huge, huge whales — 70 to 80 feet. They’re considered the fastest large whale, and they’re second in size only to the blue.

Though still a full time physical chemistry student, I’m fortunate that my boss, Bill Cooper, gives me the opportunity to focus my research on environmental chemistry, biogeochemistry, and even at times, oceanography. I couldn't feel more connected to the environment, so I know I'm in the right place.

Photo (1) of Juliana.

The photo (2) you see is a recovery of the rosette of sample bottles from a trip to the ocean bottom, sampling there and at specified intervals all the way to the surface. Juliana's employing this sampling technique.