Some lab DIY

While we wait for all the parts to be delivered to make our new ice rig, I decided to do a little lab do-it-yourself work. We had a small section of extra wood countertop laying around from the old tops that were ripped out and so I bought some new legs from my tiny startup fund.

I sanded the counter top to remove the old stains and grooves and covered both sides with wood treatment wax. Then I buffed it smooth. Now I have my own little corner work bench for ice-related projects.

 

Ted in the Marianas

Lab renovation was on hiatus this month while Heather and I were diligently working on an NSF proposal and Ted was out at sea. Ted goes out to sea quite a bit. Back in January he joined a multi-University collaboration to deploy a slew of Ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) in the Marianas. They used this bad boy, the Tommy Thompson research vessel, shown docked at the Guam Navy pier.

I should point out that all of these pictures come courtesy of Doug Wiens of WashU St. Louis, shown below with our own David Gassier and Brent Evers of IRIS. Doug was the lead scientist on the project.

Here the captain of the ship explains how the OBSs should be deployed.

The crew worked round-the-clock deploying the seismometers. Here's our Ted and other Lamonters working the night shift. The crew put out an amazing 85 seismometers in two weeks! Incredible!