Day 2: Meeting the Researchers by David Zhu

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July 1st, 2019

Day 2: Meeting the Researchers
by David Zhu

Today our group was able to travel to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) and meet up with some of the students there to tour the campus as well as to learn more about what they study and what we will be studying. My favorite part of the morning was when the SIO researchers led our groups in engaging conversations, showing us around the site and explaining how things worked. One interesting moment was when one of our guides found some ice samples that were dumped out onto the pathways, which were discarded pieces of Antarctic ice core samples. He explained how studying the gas bubbles trapped in these ice samples allows scientists to learn more about the Earth’s atmosphere in the past. What really surprised me was the ingenuity of methods used to study climate change, and the extent researchers put into their pursuit of learning about the environment.
Panorama of the SIO campus from the third floor of Vaughn Hall.


We had the opportunity to interact more with the researchers during their lectures, where we learned not only about their field of study but also about their personal experiences. While following along with the lecture, I felt really at home, learning about the ocean and the atmosphere, while intrigued about the personal stories like trips to Antarctica for field research. It was a completely different experience than traditional classroom setting, being able to ask questions to an expert in the field as well as learn about what the career is like. This experience changed my perception of the program- no longer was it a program where I was learning textbook material in classrooms, it became an experience unlike any other where I was able to learn about the things I love with people who share similar passions as me. I look forward to more opportunities like this throughout the rest of the trip to dive into my passion.

David on the SIO campus, holding a piece of Antarctic ice from the ice core lab.

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