13 May, 2003

Although I was provided a rental car for the commute to Scripps from my "villa" where I stayed, I opted to walk back and forth each day which included a mile on the beach- tough going to be sure!

When I finally reached the Institute, and removed the sand from my shoes, Jim gave me the grand tour of the lab facility and introduced me to many of the technicians that develop and maintain the equipment that we'll be using during our cruise. In fact, some of them will be on the Palmer as well, so it was very interesting getting to know some of the people that I'll be working very closely with this summer.

In the chemistry lab, I met Dan and Sue who gave me an overview of the analyzer that will be used to measure the amounts of several nutrients that are present in the sea water. Sue, who will run the machine during the cruise, was busy calibrating the analyzer while Dan was packaging the chemicals that will be used to conduct the various nutrient tests.

Sue with the nutrient analyzer.

Dan in the chemistry lab with the nutrient analyzer.