Cross-Border Student Exchange

The ocean knows no international borders. Oceanographers, on the other hand, are frequently faced with barriers to international collaboration and exchange. The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) is trying to change that with its Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX) program, which supports oceanographic research exchanges across borders. Jordan Snyder, a third-year student in the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science (IGPMS) was named as one of this year’s 11 ASLO LOREX fellows and recently returned from a summer exchange at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Snyder studies a complex physical phenomenon in the ocean called turbulence. Important oceanographic processes occur in the ocean’s uppermost layer: photosynthetic growth, sediment transport, and gas exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere. Turbulence can help stimulate these processes, but it is difficult to measure and observe. Snyder measures fine-scale turbulence in the surface of the coastal ocean using special cameras held by drones. At Dalhousie, Snyder used her instruments to measure the impact of turbulence during an ocean alkalinity enhancement experiment. Alkalinity enhancement is one option scientists are studying as a potential carbon dioxide removal strategy to mitigate historical carbon dioxide emissions.

“I love traveling for data collection,” said Snyder before the trip. “I think being able to spend an extended amount of time in a place really helps you get to know the system. And by system, I’m talking about not only the science, but also the local food, music, culture, and people. I’m excited to engage with researchers at Dalhousie University and explore Nova Scotia.”

Of her research here at home, Snyder says, “In Santa Barbara County we have some really cool physical oceanographic features that pop up in our backyard, like internal waves, frontal zones, and strong seasonal currents. Drones are capable of measuring the turbulence that occurs around the edges of these features, and I think there are local ecological applications that could benefit from drone-based observations. Ultimately, I want to figure out how these physical features that span the entire water column change throughout the seasons and how they “express themselves” at the surface of the ocean where we can see them from above.”

Snyder is the second IGPMS student to be named a LOREX fellow since the program started in 2019. You can read more about the ASLO LOREX program and the other funded projects here.