Natalie Monacci, MS
University of Alaska Fairbanks (USA)
Natalie, in high-vis polar gear, is sitting on a surface mooring monitoring seawater carbon dioxide dynamics (to study ocean acidification). This mooring site, GAKOA, had a sensor that went down, so she did a buoy ride to fix it. She has a field laptop on her lap. There are snow-dusted mountains in the background.
What’s the work that you do?
I am the director of the Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC). We observe the marine carbonate system in Alaska’s four large marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea. We use shipboard surveys, moorings, and remotely operated vehicles to monitor ocean acidification in the Pacific Arctic Region. The OARC is also a recharge center and we receive samples submitted from multiple users to monitor for ocean acidification in Alaska.
What keeps you going?
I was hooked on science when I took my first chemistry class. Then I found oceanography and realized I could do chemistry outside, and even better, at sea. I like the active parts of my job the most: lab work and field work. I have worked other places, but Alaska is a dream. Living and working in a place that is immense is inspiring, there is so much to learn and experience.
What’s your message to the world?
I am a career staff research scientist at a university. These positions are not what administrators are writing newsletters about. The majority of personnel I work with are staff and they are rarely seen in science highlights. I operate with the philosophy that every project requires all sorts of personnel and they are all valuable.
Organisation: University of Alaska Fairbanks (USA)
Nationality:
United States of America
Disciplines: