Application procedure:
Applications should include a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and we would also like you to complete an online form. The cover letter should include a statement of your research interests (with specific mention of one of the following potential projects or areas), relevant coursework and grades, and complete contact details (home and work phone numbers and email address, if available). MBARI is an equal opportunity employer.
Below you will find a list of some potential projects and mentors (this list will be updated, so please bookmark and check this page from time to time). Clearly identifying a specific research interest/area is an important part of your application and is essential in the application process. Please contact George Matsumoto if you have any questions. I have provided links to the mentors home pages (if available) so that you can learn more about the various mentors, please DO NOT contact the mentor directly.
The Joseph Andrew Gashler Internship: This special internship opportunity has been created by the Friends of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to honor the life and memory of Drew Gashler who was a MLML graduate and a MBARI employee. A current MLML graduate student will have the opportunity to participate in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) project at MBARI. MBARI will define the project and identify an MBARI mentor for the MLML student. Friends of MLML and MBARI will provide the stipend to the MLML student. This practical work experience is tremendously valuable and may serve many functions for an MLML student. Both institutions hope that this practical work experience will prove valuable to the selected student. For a first year student, it may jumpstart his or her master's thesis project; for any student, it may launch a rewarding career. The primary project for this intern will likely be the AUV Docking System as detailed below.
AUV Docking System: This project will contribute to the development of a docking system capable of supporting an extended deployment of an AUV (several months). Realizing the full power of the seafloor observatories under development at MBARI demands realizing the synergies between systems fixed to the seafloor and mobile platforms (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles). Seafloor cabled systems distribute power and communication to the interior of the ocean, while networks of AUVs provide dense, adaptable coverage. A docking system is required to provide an AUV access to seafloor observatories power and communication infrastructure. Future observatory programs will be vastly improved by leveraging the fixed infrastructure to realize sustainable, flexible AUV presence. A simplified version of MBARI's current CTD AUV will be used as the docking platform. To provide focus, an initial event response science mission is being selected. A favored option is to detect and respond to tidally generated high-current events in the canyon. The system will be implemented incrementally, the intent being to provide a scientifically useful platform with a subset of the docking capabilities in order to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of docking. This project is open to all applicants.
Ocean Chemistry: Become a part of an energetic laboratory team investigating the geochemistry of methane hydrates, and breakthroughs in identifying the future of a high CO2 ocean as climate change and greenhouse gases evolve. We have deployed novel tools, including laser Raman spectrometry at 3.6 km depth, for the measurement of hydrates and hydrothermal vents. We are carrying out studies of the fate of CO2 released on the ocean floor, and investigating techniques for simulating the biogeochemistry of the mid-21st century ocean. See: <http://www.mbari.org/ghgases/>
Francisco Chavez, Gernot Friederich, and Tim Pennington
Biological Oceanography: We are looking for an intern in the areas of phytoplankton biology, carbon cycling, California Current biology or climate change. We have collected a number of datasets (bio-optics, particulate organics, stable isotopes) on our cruise and mooring programs that need analysis and could be developed into excellent intern projects. The exact project will be tailored to the intern selected.
Automated visual event detection: Our project involves implementing a computer vision system that analyzes video collected by our ROVs to detect, classify and identify organisms visible in the video. We are collaborating with labs at Caltech and University of Southern California to adapt and extend computer vision systems modeled after the human visual system. The internship involves analyzing videos from midwater and benthic dives and comparing the analysis with processing performed by the computer vision system, mining the MBARI database of annotated ROV dive video to collect representative sample video clips for analysis, and participating in development. We welcome applicants with a background in computer science, machine vision, and marine biology.
Kim Fulton-Bennett and Lisa Borok
Science writing: The exact nature of the assignment(s) that we will give the intern will be determined later, but this intern will definitely be involved in science writing for the MBARI web site. This might mean working on two or three "home-page stories" or a combination of writing a home-page story and helping create a general overview of some aspect of MBARI research. We are looking for an applicant with strong writing skills and a functional working knowledge of html. Experience with a graphics program such as Photoshop would be a plus. Please include some writing samples with your application.
Bioluminescence and fluorescence: Interns will work on a project related to bioluminescence, fluorescence, and gelatinous zooplankton (including ctenophores, medusae, siphonophores, radiolarians, polychaetes, urochordates, or molluscs). Areas of focus include molecular biology and chemistry of bioluminescence, dietary linkages between jellies, molecular phylogeny of zooplankton, functional ecology of bioluminescence, biological oceanography related to distributions of zooplankton and luminescence. Previous experience in protein chemistry or molecular work will be useful but not required for particular projects. A day or more at sea will be involved with most projects.
Thruster Design and Control: This project is a continuation of previous efforts in thruster design and control. The project goals are to use the working desktop prototype and to design, build and construct a full size working version for installation into an autonomous underwater vehicle. The next phase of the project for the summer of 2006 is to solve the mechanism design, detail the system mechanical drawings, build the components, instrument the device, install the actuators, test and collect the relevant data. The component designs will be designed for full ocean depth operation and the associated environmental conditions. Understanding of brushless DC motors and stepper motors a plus. Familiarity with LabView and constructing a motor controller also a plus. Knowledge of materials and electro-mechanical mechanisms a must. The components will be the used for the follow-on and final phase of construction. All test results and data will be part of the documentation package submitted for licensing, candidate must have good written and verbal skills. Candidate must also be able to work with machine shop personnel and solve problems in a timely fashion.
Intern Logistical Coordinator: This intern will be assisting with the MBARI intern program. This assistance will likely include assisting the interns with travel logistics during the program as well as coordinating some educational activities on the weekends. It is expected that this intern will also be working on their own independent research project. The successful applicant will be an alumni of the MBARI intern program and will stay in the same housing as the interns. Letters of recommendation are not required, but please elaborate on what your research project will entail in your application letter.
Thermal Fluid-flow meter: Accurately measuring the rate of fluid flow in ocean-bottom sediments is important in the fields of marine geology and benthic biology. This intern will design and build a thermal fluid-flow meter. The meter will consist of a probe, approximately one meter long, which contains an electric heater and a number of thermistors. The probe will be inserted vertically into ocean-bottom sediments, and connected to electronics which control the heater and record the thermistor temperature readings. The intern will work with scientists to define the instrument's functional requirements, and with engineers and ROV pilots to design the hardware.
- Midwater Ecology: Interns will have the opportunity to develop a project compatible with the lab’s several ongoing research projects concerning the ecology and systematics of mesopelagic and bathypelagic animals. Members of the lab group are currently working on the ecology, physiology, behavior and systematics of a number of midwater animals, including pelagic free-living isopods, other crustaceans, fishes, and gelatinous zooplankton such as: polychaetes, medusae, siphonophores, ctenophores, larvaceans, and doliolids. Intern projects may involve the ROV Ventana, an extensive archive of quantitative video and hydrographic data, and a seawater lab. A molecular component of the project is also a possibility.
John Ryan and Erich Reinecker
Seamount influences on epipelagic plankton ecology: Observations above oceanic seamounts show that although the seamounts may peak more than 1 km below the surface, their influences on circulation and plankton ecology can extend through the mesopelagic and epipelagic zones to the surface. The water column above Davidson Seamount will be mapped at high resolution for the first time in May 2006, using the MBARI Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Dorado. In this project, the intern will explore the coupling of seafloor topography and pelagic ecology off central California through analysis of multi-disciplinary measurements from the AUV and water samples above Davidson Seamount.
Chris Scholin and Christina Preston
Environmental Sample Processor: Molecular diagnostic procedures for identifying microbes, their genes and gene products typically require the return of discrete samples to a laboratory for analysis. As a step towards overcoming this limitation, we are exploring use of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP), a novel instrument that can be used to detect water borne microorganisms remotely, subsurface, in near real-time. The ESP automates application of custom DNA probe arrays to detect particular species and transmits results of those assays via radio modem. The ESP also archives samples for microscopy and nucleic acid analyses. To date, assays for several bacterioplankton groups, harmful algal species and invertebrate larvae have been tested and deployed on the instrument. We are interested in developing several other assays to target other bacterioplankton groups that can be used in conjunction with the ESP.
Marine Chemistry: There are two potential projects that we have been discussing. Project 1 involves the study of particles on filtered seawater samples that have been collected over the past few years and samples that will be collected during an early July cruise (6 days) along the central CA coast. This would primarily involve SEM time, and going to sea. Plus, taking some local samples independently of the cruise might be possible. Project 2 requires someone who is interested in marine chemistry and has some engineering skill/interests. It would involve assisting in the development of a design/plan for extraction of trace gases (and in the future trace solutes) from large volume of seawater. There are some established techniques for doing this at a small scale, but scaling up for a shipboard system that we could build in 2007 would be the goal. The intern would also participate on a 6 day cruise, and learn about and help with ongoing studies of methane in the water column. What we want to do initially with the extraction system is to get enough methane for a 14C measurement and this would require about 1500 gallons of water pumped up onto the deck of the Western Flyer, and then having the method extracted by centrifugal extraction or vacuum degassing. Preconcentration of the methane would also be a necessary step before the 14C AMS measurement.
Molecular ecology: We use molecular tools to study evolutionary and ecological relationships between populations of deep-sea animals and their associated symbiotic bacteria. Vesicomyid clams transmit their bacterial symbionts vertically, and the hosts and symbionts exhibit parallel phylogenetic patterns. However, vestimentiferan tubeworms acquire their bacterial symbionts from the local environment, and the hosts and symbionts exhibit independent phylogenetic patterns. We regularly discover new species of mussels, clams, snails, and worms from deep-sea hydrothermal vent and cold-seep environments. We are interested now in assessing the geographical structure of genetic diversity within and among symbiont populations and their invertebrate hosts.