Interview: ‘Als ik in het Engels communiceer haakt de wereld waar mijn onderzoek over gaat af’

Open Kitchen Science

Qurious about hospital logistics

Today I was at a meeting with a bunch of scientists who (want to) do research in an open way, in some cases as a guest of a university, in some cases outside the university or as part of the university. It turns out that the university is not heaven on earth for everyone and competition for funds is fierce. It was estimated by this group that the time spent on applying for funds and teaching takes up to about 70 to 80% of their working time. And then there is the fierce competition between scientists that some have experienced and that stands in the way of collaboration.

I was unaware of this. I fund myself through my consultancy work and the University of Maastricht is hosting me for my PhD research. I work with a great team there and am very grateful for it. I have not experienced fierce…

View original post 739 more words

NASA: Extreme shrimp may hold clues to alien life

Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life

Emma Versteegh

Shrimp called Rimicaris hybisae at deep hydrothermal vents in the Caribbean seem to have different dietary habits depending on the proximity of other shrimp. Those who live in dense clusters like this one live off bacteria primarily, but in areas where the shrimp are distributed more sparsely, the shrimp are more likely to turn carnivorous, and even eat each other. Credit: Courtesy Chris German, WHOI/NSF, NASA/ROV Jason ©2012 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

At one of the world’s deepest undersea hydrothermal vents, tiny shrimp are piled on top of each other, layer upon layer, crawling on rock chimneys that spew hot water. Bacteria, inside the shrimps’ mouths and in specially evolved gill covers, produce organic matter that feed the crustaceans.

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are studying this mysterious ecosystem in the Caribbean to get clues about what life could be like on other planetary bodies…

View original post 677 more words

Santa Cruz

Earlier this month I gave a seminar at the University of California Santa Cruz, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, in their Whole Earth Seminar series. A very enjoyable experience. Their campus is a redwood forest, and the people were very welcoming and interested. Though, I maybe should have talked about shells instead of hydrothermal vents, as that was apparently how they stumbled upon my work.

The world’s deepest hydrothermal vents: An analog for Europa?

Two weeks ago a group of students from the University of Southern California visited JPL. They all did a summer program in ocean sciences. I was one of the people telling them what “real” ocean scientists do at JPL.

Previously unsuspected dietary habits of Rimicaris hybisae

Ocean Sunfish

It hasn’t much to do with geochemistry, but everything with my fascination for the oceans and what lives in them.

The ocean sunfish as pictured by Adriaen Coenen (http://www.kb.nl/bladerboek/visboek/browse-en/page_150r.html).

The first time my eye was caught by the ocean sunfish, was leafing through a book full of real and fictitious sea monsters by Adriaen Coenen. I bought a copy, and started reading everything about these weirdest of creatures. Also, it became top of my bucket list of animals to see, preferably while diving. Then a few weeks ago I visited Monterey Bay Aquarium and, when entering the Open Sea exhibit, just cried:”An ocean sunfish!” Such a cool and strange thing! It’s not the best of pictures, but here it is:

Ocean sunfish at Montery Bay Aquarium

There is a web cam of the Open Sea exhibit, featuring lots more fascinating fish including massive tuna, where you can see the “swimming head” lazily drift by from time to time:

Interview

Last week at Goldschmidt I was interviewed by Marie-Aude Hulshoff of the European Association of Geochemistry. They published a series of interviews with early career scientists on their website. She asked me about how I got here and about my future plans.

Gold(schmidt) Rush

Low water levels in Folsom Lake

One of the nice things about Sacramento is that, unlike LA, it has real rivers, with water in them and levees along them. This week I enjoyed a few beautiful morning runs along the American River, where there is a bicycle path on the levee. I almost felt at home!

As there were no oral sessions on Wednesday afternoon, we took the opportunity to explore the area some more and went to Folsom Lake, a reservoir in the American River about 40 km northeast of Sacramento. The on-going drought was very visible in water levels about 15 m lower than normal. Still, it is a beautiful area, and swimming was great.

Today’s plenary speakers Andrea Foster and Christopher Kim spoke about “The Environmental Legacy of California’s Gold Rush: Arsenic and Mercury Contamination from Historic Mining”. They noted that Thursday might be too late in the week to warn us for the widespread contamination with Hg and As.

Indeed, reading up on Folsom Lake I found out it flooded a mining town, Mormon Island, which has recently been exposed for the first time in 55 years because of the drought. Assuming the mine and its tailings are also under that lake, I might indeed have had second thoughts about swimming! However, apparently it is safe to eat the fish caught there, so I’m not too worried.