Meet the Science Team!

Who’s on the science team (at a glance)?

1. Cheering from land: Zach Eilon — Principal Investigator (UCSB)

2. Josh Russell — Chief Scientist (Syracuse University)

3. Anant Hariharan — Co-Chief Scientist (UCSB)

4. Will Frazer — Co-Chief Scientist (Carnegie Institution)

5. Jess Saunders — Graduate Student (UCSB)

6. Helin Henstridge — Graduate Student (UCSB)

7. Kenni Godana — Graduate Student (UCSB)

8. Cate McLeod — Researcher (UCSD)

9. Dilini Walakulu Arachchige — Graduate Student (Southern Illinois University)

10. Crystal Luna — Graduate Student (LSU)

11. Giselle San Ramon — Graduate Student (UCSB)

12. Kavi Gollamudi — Undergraduate Student (UCSB)

13. Cristhian Salas — Graduate Student (UCSB)

The Science Party is led on land by Zach Eilon, with Josh Russell serving as Chief Scientist and Anant Hariharan and Will Frazer as Co-Chief Scientists. Our group also includes graduate and undergraduate students, along with researchers from several universities. Each person brings their own background and perspective to the project, so I sat down with each of them for a short interview to introduce the team.

Joshua (Josh) Russell is an Assistant Professor of Seismology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Syracuse University. While he has participated in previous OBS deployments, this cruise marks his first time serving as Chief Scientist.

When I asked Josh how the experience has been so far, he explained that even though the journey is just beginning, it has already been an important learning experience in what it takes to plan a cruise. What has stood out most to him is “seeing the excitement of the students who are sailing for the first time.” He reflected on his own first cruise in graduate school aboard the R/V Kilo Moana, which he described as transformative. “It helped me realize: yes, I’m on the right path, and I want to lead one of these someday. Prior to that, I was considering leaving academia.” Now, stepping into the leadership role himself, Josh hopes that the students on this cruise will also look back on the experience with the same sense of excitement, community, and inspiration.

Anant Hariharan recently completed a postdoctoral position at UCSB and will soon begin a new postdoc at UCSD. Anant has worked on diverse seismic datasets, including tomography from a previous OBS experiment that imaged small-scale heterogeneity. On this cruise, he serves as one of the co-chief scientists. When I asked Anant about his responsibilities, he explained that much of his role involves coordination. “I work with the chief and co-chief scientist to ensure that we and the crew and team from WHOI are all on the same page on our operations plans,” he said. This includes setting the deployment schedule and making sure workflows for processing bathymetry from novel measurements are in place. Beyond shipboard logistics, Anant also manages the outreach website for the experiment and is collaborating with Zach and the other co-chiefs to create a document that will lay out a new set of standards for OBS experiments going forward.

William (Will) Frazer is a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie’s Earth and Planets Laboratory, specializing in observational seismology of the crust and mantle. Having previously sailed aboard the Marcus G. Langseth, Will is no stranger to shipboard operations. I asked him what he is most looking forward to on this research cruise. “I’m most excited to share the experience of a research cruise with students who have never gotten to experience it,” he said. “Living and working on a ship is something very few people get to do, and it is awesome to be a small part of providing that opportunity.” He added that this afternoon, the team would have their first training on lab data collection and tag lines with the ship’s science officer in preparation for deployment. “It is great to see students as enthusiastic about collecting seismic data from the sea floor as I am.”

Jessica (Jess) Saunders is a first-year graduate student at UCSB, having recently completed her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina. She will begin working with the data collected from this experiment in about a year, using it to explore the structure and dynamics of Earth’s interior. Since this cruise is one of her first experiences as a graduate student, I asked Jess how she feels about being part of the deployment and the future recovery of the data she’ll be working with in the coming years. “I feel so fortunate to start my graduate education with field work; what better way is there to learn than some hands-on experience?” she told me. Jess described the excitement of jumping in headfirst to such a large project and emphasized how rewarding it feels to learn alongside so many brilliant scientists. At the same time, she acknowledged that beginning a new chapter can be daunting but explained that “building a broad community of like-minded thinkers is making that transition easier.” For Jess, being directly involved in the collection of the data she’ll later analyze is a “fantastic opportunity” that fuels her passion and makes her feel “so lucky”.

Helin Henstridge is also a first-year PhD student, joining the Eilon Lab at UCSB after completing her undergraduate degree at UCSD, where she specialized in biophysics. Now transitioning from biophysics into seismology, Helin shared what she was most excited about in making this shift and what she was looking forward to on this cruise. “I think I’m most excited to be working with something I can physically observe,” she said. Much of her earlier work in biophysics dealt with abstract concepts or the statistical mechanics of cell growth and function. “So, I am very happy to be switching to work in a field where everything feels more real and concrete.” For Helin, this cruise represents both an academic transition and a personal milestone. She is especially eager to learn more about geophysics and to gain her first hands-on fieldwork experiences as a graduate student.

Keneni (Kenni) Godana is a fourth-year PhD candidate at UCSB and a mid-ocean ridge expert. Her research focuses on apparent attenuation, or how seismic waves lose energy at ridges, using synthetic data and simulations to separate true effects from outside influences such as elastic focusing. While her original plan was to use the dataset collected from this experiment, delays and the timing of her program mean she will not be able to work with it directly. Still, she is contributing to the project by participating in the deployment and by teaching high school students about mid-ocean ridges. When I asked Kenni how she feels about contributing from this different perspective, she explained that while it is disappointing that the dataset will not be central to her thesis, she is glad the data is being collected at all. For her, the experiment represents something “much broader than a single paper.” She also emphasized how meaningful it is to step outside of her usual routine. “It’s incredible to witness science happen in such a tangible way,” she said, “as someone who spends most of their day coding in a single room.” 

Cate McLeod is a laboratory technician at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She has participated in a wide range of projects, from deep-sea ecology to paleomagnetism, gaining experience across different aspects of Earth science. When I asked her what motivated her to join this cruise, Cate reflected on her varied background. “My research and professional background has definitely jumped around a bit,” she said, noting that while her path may not look cohesive, each experience has shaped the interdisciplinary perspective she hopes to bring to her career. Her time at Scripps working in regional seismology first introduced her to seismic research. As much as she enjoyed interpreting existing datasets, she realized that to gain a well-rounded understanding, she needed direct fieldwork experience. “Participating in the cruise would give me at least the first half of that experience,” she explained, adding that the opportunity to go to sea again was motivation enough on its own.

Dilini Walakulu Arachchige is a PhD student at Southern Illinois University. She is no stranger to OBS deployments, having just returned from another cruise shortly before joining this one. With her growing experience at sea, Dilini brings a valuable perspective for the rest of us. Reflecting on her previous trip, she explained that working on recovery gave her a strong foundation. “Even though I’m now moving from recovery to deployment—which might feel like working backward—in some ways it actually helped me a lot. Now I know what we’ll get in the end when we complete the process right.” This time, she is looking forward to putting that knowledge into practice. For her, each cruise adds another layer of confidence—not just with the instruments and workflow, but also with the rhythm of shipboard life. “That’s the reward of being at sea again for me,” she said.

Crystal Luna is a PhD student at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on understanding how oceanic crust forms and evolves through elemental analysis of different minerals. When I asked her what she was most excited to learn or experience on this expedition, Crystal highlighted the value of crossing disciplinary boundaries. “I’m excited to learn more about the geophysics perspective,” she explained, noting that she also hopes to share her own petrologic and geochemical insights. Too often, she observed, researchers become pigeonholed into narrow areas of study, which can lead to fragmented interpretations. “The connection of various perspectives leads to a more holistic understanding of how Earth systems interact,” she said. For Crystal, being part of this cruise is about more than just the immediate science; it is also about building collaborations. “I hope this can open the door for future collaborations and even publications between our communities,” she added. Looking ahead, she is especially eager to see how the new geophysical data informs our understanding of mantle structure, a key yet unresolved question, and how it may reshape conceptual models of how oceanic crust is accreted and evolves.

Giselle San Ramon just completed her undergraduate degree at UCSB and decided to continue her academic career there as she pursues a master’s in geophysics. When I asked her about the transition to graduate school and what it has been like sharing this experience with fellow students who were once her TAs, she described it as “an adventure.” Giselle was originally supposed to join the cruise as an undergraduate during her final quarter, but when it was postponed, she felt fortunate to be accepted into the graduate program and invited back as part of the science party. Having already shared an office with geophysics students during an internship, she explained that in some ways the shift has been smooth. “Past TAs are now close friends whom I at times cat sit for,” she joked. For her, the cruise is not only about science but also about deepening those connections while making new ones along the way.

Kavi Gollamudi is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UCSB majoring in geophysics. He has been part of the Eilon Lab for a couple of years, contributing to different projects and gaining research experience along the way. On this cruise, Kavi stands out as the only undergraduate in the science party. When I asked him about his perspective, Kavi explained that he doesn’t feel out of place among the group. The science party is relatively young, and with many first and second-year graduate students on board, the small difference in age helps bridge the gap. “I don’t feel left out in any sense… the science party as a whole is remarkably young, and I don’t feel much of a disconnect,” he said. For Kavi, the most exciting part is finally being able to do fieldwork. “As an undergrad in a geophysics lab, we seldom get to do fieldwork, since all my data comes from seismometers that others have deployed,” he explained. Experiencing science in the natural environment was one of the reasons he chose earth science in the first place, and this cruise brings that full circle. Looking ahead, he noted that “as I think about what I want to do after I graduate this year, I’m sure this experience will be first in my mind, for better or for worse.”

If you have sailed this far into the blog, thank you for following along. Before I close, I will share a little bit about myself. My name is Cristhian Salas, and I am a fifth-year PhD candidate working with Zach. My research has not been directly focused on mid-ocean ridges, as I have been working on Alaska, a complex subduction system. However, I plan to expand my work to Iceland, where mid-ocean ridge processes interact with a hotspot in an even more challenging setting. Additionally, I have always been interested in seismic instrumentation. As part of my responsibilities in the Eilon Lab, I have been making sure that our land-based seismic stations are running, but this is my first time taking part in an ocean deployment. This cruise is especially exciting for me because I get to see a whole new side of fieldwork, and I am hoping to learn as much as I can from the experience. This is just the beginning of our time at sea, and these are the people you’ll be hearing more from as the cruise continues. Everyone has their own story and perspective to share, and together we’ll be giving a glimpse into life and science on board. Stay tuned for more blog posts as we dive deeper into this adventure. 