Principal Investigators

	Dr. Alan Shiller has been the driving force for this project. He's participated in many cruises to this area, and was the lead author for the overall NSF proposal. Alan's specialty is trace element geochemistry: he uses the chemistry of elements in water to track physical, biological, chemical and geological processes. He will be accompanied by Kjell Gundersen (a visiting scientist at USM), and by a number of graduate students. To learn more, please go to Dr. Shiller's website.
	Dr. Jim Krest is really excited to be going back on the Pelican again. Last time onboard, Jim was a M.S. student at the University of South Carolina, and before that he worked as a technician for Alan Shiller. Since then, the Pelican has been lengthened, the crew has mostly changed, and Jim has gotten a little grayer. This project will be a continuation of the work he did for his Master's thesis, hopefully allowing him to answer a couple of questions that arose from that work. His specialty is measuring radium. There are four natural isotopes of radium that can be measured in environmental samples, and these isotopes make useful tracers for looking at how water moves and mixes in the coastal ocean. To learn more, please go to Dr. Krest's website.
	Dr. Kyeong Park was recruited by Alan and Jim to help them do a better job explaining the mixing processes on the coast. Wheras Alan and Jim are chemists, Kyeong is a physical oceanographer, and he specializes in modelling transport processes and water quality in the coastal ocean. As a modeler, he has been invaluable in planning the sampling for the cruise to make sure we get enough data to describe the system. To learn more, please go to Dr. Park's website.

Research Assistant & Students

	Kevin Martin is a technician for the University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Marine Science. He received his Bachelors degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Chemistry back in 2002 from Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. In 2006 he received his masters in Marine Science with a concentration in Geological Oceanography. During his time as a graduate student at USM he conducted research in the Ross Sea, Antarctica and in the Gulf of Mexico. After graduating from USM he worked for Sea Education Association as an assistant scientist, only to find his way back to USM in the spring of 2007 to become a technician. His role on the cruise is to assist in the deployment of instrumentation, primarily the optical package and trace metal pumping systems, and the collection of water samples.
	Jade Shiller is a research assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi's Department of Marine Science. She works in Alan's lab, analyzing water samples from all over the country for trace metals. On this cruise, however, she is helping collect biological samples that will help characterize the algae present in this part of the Gulf. She also has a BSc in Marine Biology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. To learn more, please visit Department of Marine Science, University of Southern Mississippi.
	Ashley Lojek received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinnati. She is currently a Master student at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of Marine Science. She is studying biological oceanography under Dr.Steve Lohrenz.
	Philip Riekenberg is currently working for Dr. Brian Fry at Louisiana State University in the stable isotope laboratory. His B.S is in biology with a concentration in freshwater and marine systems, from the University of Texas, Austin. He is interested in pursuing a masters degree in the next 2-3 years in oceanography.
	Joining us on MAG-Mix2 is Caroline Coker, a science teacher for the Mobile County Public School System in Mobile, Alabama. She received her Educational Specialist degree in Secondary Science from the University of South Alabama and currently teaches chemistry, physics, and marine biology at B. C. Rain High School. On this cruise she is helping collect water and sediment samples. Some of the analyses she is conducting onboard are the Total Suspended Solids (TSS), salinity measurements, and radon gas measurements. She also assists with box core and sediment grab samples, which will be analyzed back in our labs at USF St. Petersburg.
	Iuri Herzfeld is a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii, Department of Oceanography. For his PhD he is researching the mechanisms that enhance groundwater exchange at the land-ocean interface in high islands of the Pacific. He has worked in the soils, wetlands, and coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Now, aboard RV Pelican, he has been eating better than in any of his other field expeditions and getting lots of Gulf of Mexico open water ship-time. For the past year, Iuri has been working part-time in Dr. Krest’s laboratory setting up a segmented flow nutrient analyzer. To learn more about Iuri’s research interests and past experiences visit his personal website.
	Leslie Wallace is a M.S. student under the advice of Dr. Jim Krest and Dr. Kent Fanning at the USF College of Marine Science. Leslie's first experience at sea was on the Pelican at age 15 when she joined a group from Dauphin Island Sea Lab researching jellyfish in the Gulf. Leslie has since graduated from Eckerd College with a B.S. in marine geology, finished a year of grad school, and has somehow found herself back at the Pelican, this time with a hefty stash of seasickness medication. Leslie's research interests include understanding the role humans play in introducing elements like Radium to seawater and sediment on the Louisiana shelf, specifically the role offshore oil production plays in this process.
	Alanna Lecher is an undergraduates student at USF and participated in the 1st cruise. She is majoring in environmental science, with special interest in mathematics. She is the author of the mag-mix blog, and can be contacted through the comments link of the blog. In addition to assisting Dr. Krest in his research, Alanna is particularly interested in modeling groundwater flow. She is very excited, about this trip, as this will be a good opportunity to get out of the lab and into the field. Some times you can forget what sunlight is when only working in a lab without windows. Alanna hopes you will enjoy tracking the crew on this trip, and that you will participate in the blog.
	Erik Oij is an environmental science graduate student at USF under the advice of Dr. Jim Gore and Dr. Jim Krest. He received his B.S. in environmental science from USF in 2005. Erik has been assisting Dr. Krest since January 2006. Erik has assisted Dr. Krest with local projects in the Tampa Bay area. This will be Erik’s first experience at sea. In addition to Erik's assistance on this research trip, Erik is currently researching benthic macroinvertebrates in Columbus, Georgia for his master's thesis. To learn more, please visit Environmental Science & Policy, University of South Florida St Petersburg.
	Lisa Vlaming is an undergraduate student at USF and she is currently interning with Dr. Krest. She is an Environmental Science major. She is excited at the opportunity and experience she will gain from this cruise and working in the field. At the moment she is helping Dr. Krest and Iuri Herzfeld with their research in the lab, but will soon begin a project of her own with phosphorus fractionation.
	Xuri Wang: My name is Xman. I am a graduate student of the University of Southern Mississippi. My research interests focus on the biogeochemical cycles of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and carbohydrates in the estuaries. My work on this cruise is preparing for trace elements, DOC and nutrients analyses. MAGMIX-II is my first scientific research cruise and offers me a great opportunity to explore the aquatic realm from the upper rivers out to the ocean.
	DongJoo Joung: Despite the fierce picture, DongJoo is usually one of the quietest and gentlest people on the cruise. We think he just dislikes having his picture taken. DongJoo is a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern Mississippi, working with Alan Shiller. He is sampling for dissolved trace metals, especially for leachable iron.
	Wei-Jen Huang: Wei-Jen is a graduate student at the University of Georgia, working with Wei-Jun Cai. Wei-Jen joins us on the second MAG-Mix cruise, analyzing water samples in nearly real-time for dissolved inorganic carbon.
	Wei-Jun Cai: Wei-Jun is a professor at the University of Georgia whose research interests include carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange, measuring dissolved CO2, dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity in coastal waters. Unfortunately, Wei-Jun has not been able to participate in any of the cruises, but he has sent members from his research group on both cruises so far, and the data they collect will be invaluable for our study of the coastal system. http://www.marsci.uga.edu/directory/wjcai.htm
	Kjell Gundersen; Kjell is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. On the cruises, Kjell can usually be found collecting water samples for oxygen analyses, or hunched over Alan’s automatic titrator for dissolved oxygen. He also has an incubator up on the second deck of the ship which occasionally drips water down on the unwary scientists below, when the boat rolls just right. If he writes his own biography for us, we’ll be happy to replace this lame one (J.K.). http://www.usm.edu/marine/faculty/kjell_gundersen.php