Hi from somewhere a few hours west of Iceland! I’m Apsara P. Vijayan, a chemical Oceanographer from India. I am so excited to participate in the research expedition POLAR BEAST, organized by the GEOMAR-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research. This will be my third ocean expedition, my first time in the polar ocean, and my first time on an international expedition.

I am a first-year PhD student from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech).  I work with Prof. Mark James Hopwood at the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering. Our team is currently involved in laboratory experiments at various scales to understand the effect of one potential geoengineering technology, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE). During my PhD, I will be specifically interested in investigating the interaction of organic matter with the minerals that could used for OAE. We want to know whether or not OAE could help safely create new CO2 sinks in the ocean and whether or not it has any biogeochemical side-effects.

During this cruise, I will be assisting a team of scientists from diverse groups in trace metal research. My new lab friends are from South Africa, France, China and the UK. I hope this will be a great opportunity for me to closely observe their work and learn new techniques. Meeting scientists from other groups around the world will also yield a chance to help me for build a better career as an oceanographer in the future.

Today we’re busy building a temporary clean room on board where we will handle samples which are sensitive to contamination. More later when we’ve finished and are getting ready for samples…