Author | Lightnews

Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · 1d

Working with engineers and other scientists to make this dream a reality is a privilege that I don't take for granted. I can't wait to analyze this data and share soon. You can learn more about this ongoing work here: www.mbari.org/news/new-mba...

New MBARI technology reveals ocean carbon storage in real time • MBARI

SINKER is an innovative new instrument equipped with advanced microscopes and cameras to collect detailed data about carbon sinking in marine snow.

www.mbari.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · 1d

I want to see the particles that sink carbon to the deep ocean, all the time and in real time.This summer we built an instrument that collects images of sinking particles every second, and visualizes them in 5 different ways. @mbarinews.bsky.social
youtu.be/4xXGlnCoik8

How MBARI scientists are studying the ocean’s carbon flux in real time

YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

youtu.be

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Reposted by Colleen Durkin

planktonteuta.bsky.social @planktonteuta.bsky.social · 18d

Just recently, on linkedin, the former director of NASA GSFC said that more than 32% of the Goddard workforce is gone.
32%
That is insane.
They are destroying us completely.

Linkedin post from Makenzie Lystrup stating 'Goddard lost more than 32% of its workforce just since February. it's not limited to JPL or any one organization. we should be looking at the impacts across all science organizations.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Sep 6

YES!!!

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Aug 18

Seen in Accra

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Aug 11

The Carbon Flux Ecology team is teaching at #coessing2025 this week at University of Ghana! Who else is here? Let’s connect! We are teaching a marine imaging class, but excited to talk all things ocean science and engineering. @mbarinews.bsky.social

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Aug 3

Our first deployment of a surface-tethered sediment trap in Gulf of Guinea! We are trying to build these arrays using supplies from the Tema canoe fisherman’s market. @mbarinews.bsky.social

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Reposted by Colleen Durkin

MBARI @mbarinews.bsky.social · Jul 23

Congratulations to Natalia Llopis Monferrer for being selected as an awardee of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation 2025 Awards in Field Biology! 🔬 🎉

Learn more about the awards and Natalia's work: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali....

Natalia Llopis Monferrer - Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation

Field research is vital to the work of Natalia Llopis Monferrer because the delicate organisms she studies, Rhizaria, can’t be grown in labs. Researching them

www.maxwell-hanrahan.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 17

Congratulations to the latest Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation Field Biology Award winner Natalia Llopis Monferrer!!! I am so proud of her! www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali... @mbarinews.bsky.social

Natalia Llopis Monferrer - Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation

Field research is vital to the work of Natalia Llopis Monferrer because the delicate organisms she studies, Rhizaria, can’t be grown in labs. Researching them

www.maxwell-hanrahan.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 16

Dropping these two beauties in Monterey Bay this week. Both measure carbon sequestration in the deep ocean. Lots of good data to come. @mbarinews.bsky.social

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 9

When I was in grad school I spent a lot of time thinking about individually sinking phytoplankton cells, and wondering if it actually mattered in the real ocean. It is nice to finally answer that question!

Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 9

New publication by @mlmlsci.bsky.social Master's student Annie Bodel, @mbarinews.bsky.social, and @megestapa.bsky.social

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 9

Can a teeny little phytoplankton cell sink through the mesopelagic 🌊? Usually, we assume they must be packaged inside larger aggregates. We found that a small but distinct part of the population does sink through the mesopelagic!
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Solitary phytoplankton cells sink in the mesopelagic ocean

Phytoplankton, and their carbon, are typically exported from the surface ocean when packaged inside larger, sinking detrital particles. This process draws carbon out of the atmosphere, where it can be...

doi.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 9

Aft deck tools.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jul 8

Sailing on the R/V Endeavor this week with my besties.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 24

Key takeaways:
1) Most phytoplankton were exported in sinking particles.
2) Almost all of these exported taxa were packed in large particles.
3) Diatoms and Hacrobia were enriched is the key particle types.
4) POC flux magnitude is correlated with relative composition of these two taxa in particles.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 24

This work was lead by former postdoc Sasha Kramer, who is starting a new faculty position at Boston University. Her expertise in ocean optics lead us analyze this molecular/biogeochemical/microbial data with a fresh perspective, leading to new insights. doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Sinking particles exporting diatoms and Hacrobia predict the magnitude of oceanic POC flux

Abstract. Carbon flux to the deep sea can be dictated by surface ocean phytoplankton community composition, but translating surface ocean observations into

doi.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 24

How do phytoplankton export carbon into the deep sea? Which phytoplankton taxa drive the most carbon export?

We used DNA to identify which phytoplankton are packaged in exported particles during the NASA EXPORTS field campaigns. @mbarinews.bsky.social 's summary:

www.mbari.org/news/marine-...

Marine snow provides new clues about the export of carbon to the deep sea • MBARI

Genetic sequences in microscopic particles of sinking organic material reveal the mechanisms of carbon transport into the deep sea that can help improve satellite-based models of carbon export.

www.mbari.org

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 23

😢

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 20

I have been fantasizing about making a zine for a while now….i am sick of digital communication and algorithms.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 14

Our event got the Monterey County Weekly bump. Can’t wait to see what @celiajimenez.bsky.social wears tomorrow.

www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinio...

Knitters throughout the world unite to work on their craft in public, including in Monterey.

Celebrate Worldwide Knit in Public Day in Monterey, June 14. Join fiber crafters at Colton Hall for a collaborative community event.

www.montereycountynow.com

Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 14

I hear that lots of people are gathering in public tomorrow. I can’t believe there are so many people celebrating Worldwide Knit in Public Day! #WWKIPD 😉

Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 14

Can’t wait to join them in August with our team from @mbarinews.bsky.social ! We are excited to learn from our colleagues in Ghana.

URI Graduate School of Oceanography @urigso.bsky.social · Jun 11

#URIGSO professor Melissa Omand, co-PI of the Ocean Margins Initiative, and GSO researcher Pierre Marec recently traveled to Ghana to launch a major study of the northern Gulf of Guinea, a region central to food security, fisheries, and carbon cycling. 🌊 🧪 🦑

📸 Elise Hugus (WHOI) & Melissa Omand

Melissa Omand (front, center) and Pierre Marrec (top, second from right) are two GSO community members who are part of the Ocean Margins Initiative doing ocean science work in Ghana.

Ocean Margins Initiative scientist Melissa Omand (left) talks with fellow PIs Edem Mahu (center) and Amala Mahadevan (right). (Photo by Elise Hugus, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Pierre Marrec (right) works with three scientists on the PlanktoScope, a low-cost device that pumps seawater through a capillary slide to reveal, photograph, and classify the astonishing array of life within it.

Fishing vessels along the waterfront on Ghana's Gulf of Guinea.

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Colleen Durkin @cadurkin.bsky.social · Jun 12

June in Monterey=turning the heater back on 🙁#coastalupwelling

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