What is your background and what are you working on now?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist, like many people who grew up in British Columbia I suppose. Then I went to university and realized that I didn't want to take any more biology classes but I liked physics, so I did my undergrad in physics at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. During that time, I worked as an intern at a particle accelerator, which was cool, but at the same time I found it way too esoteric. I like things that I can see and touch and understand through those kind of observations. I ended up doing a summer internship with one of the physical oceanographers at UBC and got to go on a research cruise which was so much fun. There were orcas jumping and we were studying internal waves, and I really enjoyed it. After that I decided to do my masters in physical oceanography which is amazing because I never considered that I’d go to grad school. Getting a PhD was also never part of my plan. Instead, I ended up working for environmental consulting companies in Vancouver that were particularly focused on the mining industry. I figured that even although I don't necessarily agree with a lot of what mining companies do, if I am somebody who is educated I can make a difference from the inside.
One of the projects I worked on was based in Papua New Guinea. Because the islands there have these very steep mountain slopes, they can't put the mine tailings on land and the only place they can go is in the ocean. When you mine for gold you use all sorts of harsh chemicals, cyanide for example, and the leftover slurry containing all sorts of awful things gets pumped into the ocean below the thermocline. I was sitting in my office in Vancouver looking at historical data and picking the depths at which these things were going to be released at. When I eventually got to go to Papua New Guinea, this beautiful island surrounded by coral reefs and with indigenous communities that are mostly subsistence fishers whose main source of food and income would be negatively impacted by a big release of slurry from the mines, I realized that I couldn’t keep working for the mining companies anymore. I decided to get my PhD and ended up going to graduate school in Florida.
My approach to science back then was, and still to this day is, that I’d be happy to work on almost anything if I’m surrounded by nice people. Luckily, I found a great PhD advisor and I worked on coastal inlets for my PhD which involved lots of fun fieldwork. Later I applied for a postdoc at SIO and was lucky to get to work with Jen MacKinnon on a cool project that had direct implications for helping us understand climate change and the role ocean mixing plays in that.
Today my main interest is looking at where the coast meets the deep ocean and how energy and heat, and many other kinds of things are fluxed in between those two regions. The continental slopes are an interesting area because you have things happening in the remote ocean, like big internal waves moving around and coming and hitting the slope. But do they make it on to the shelf before they lose all their energy? Do they interact with the stuff that is coming from the coastal areas? And what are the small-scale processes that drive energy or heat flux in these regions? The next bigger project I’m part of will be studying internal waves near the equator.
What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography?
There are two things, quite different ones. One is working with nice people that are both intellectually stimulating but also fun to hang out with, luckily there are many of those at Scripps! The other one is how we can make small steps to help improve what we know about the ocean environment and climate change. Sometimes the small steps don’t always feel motivating, it can be hard to see the small stuff having an impact, but in those times, it is the friendly people that I work with that keep me going.
Post shift soak with fellow MOD members
When you were a kid, did you expect to be a scientist?
No no, for a long time I wanted to be a veterinarian. I even volunteered at a veterinary hospital for a while, but then I realized that whenever they did surgery I had to go to the bathroom because I would get all clammy so that career probably wasn’t for me... I don't think I expected to be a scientist actually. I definitely did not expect to go to grad school at least. When I was in college, I used to have a rough “6-month plan” ahead, but beyond that it was mostly unknown. It turned out pretty ok though.
Were there any particular things from your childhood that drew you to study the ocean?
Yes! Growing up in British Columbia, where you're right on the ocean all the time, no doubt had an impact. My dad would take us sailing to these beautiful fjords, we went canoeing, and I would spend all summer in Vancouver playing in the ocean with my friends. I’ve always felt very connected to the ocean, and I think that was a big driver of how I ended up here. During my time in grad school in Florida I lived in a small place right in the middle of the state, and it was the first time I had lived away from the ocean. It felt very weird. I did not feel like a complete person for the longest time.
What skills or abilities do you think are useful when getting into oceanography or academia in general?
Flexibility is one big thing. I remember one of my advisors telling me that early on and I really agree. When you go out and measure things in the ocean you often have one idea of what you're going to measure, but then you get there and you put all the instruments in the water and you go “hmm, that was unexpected”. To be able to be flexible and adapt to new data, new people, new situations and learn to trust that you’ll figure it out regardless, that is a good skill. Being curious is another useful thing, but I also don’t think that you’ll feel curious about your work all the time, every single day. Sometimes things are just a bit of a slog, and you’ll have to figure out how to get through it.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
One of the things that keep me excited about coming to work is interacting with people. I could easily work from home in front of my computer all day, but I’ve realized I need that social aspect too and that’s why I usually try to meet someone for coffee or for lunch most days a week. My days are typically spent doing science about half the time, and the rest goes into project meetings, proposal writing, committee meetings and other logistical stuff. I’m also always keen to grow my skillset in general, for example I’ve been trying to learn Python for the past year which has been a fun challenge.
What drew you to Scripps?
During my PhD I worked with a professor at Scripps on a project. His office was in the Coastal Studies Building right down by the pier and I got to come to La Jolla and spend a month here and I thought “wow, this is amazing!”. I did my PhD at a very small university where not that many people were studying the ocean, and coming to Scripps I couldn’t believe how many people were here all sitting around doing oceanography! That, and getting to work on the postdoc project together with Jen were my two motivations. She is awesome, and the project was fun and definitely outside of what I had done for my PhD, which was exciting.
Ben and Amy
Is there a particular scientist/person/thing that inspires you?
Well, I can pick two people. One of them is Jen because she loves her job like no one I've ever met. The awareness with which she interacts with people, colleagues and students alike, and the way she approaches science is amazing. The other person would be my partner Ben. He is so creative, detail oriented and good at making things. He reminds me that there is a lot of benefit to mindfully thinking things through! Recently when we were building a table for our deck outside I went “ok, let’s just make it!” while Ben inspired us to really think about a clever design, getting the angles right and what the right materials would be. He does that in a way that is not at all my default, so I really appreciate that and find it inspiring and aspirational. We also make a good team that way!
Do you have a fun fact that you'd like to share that not everyone knows about you?
I led a past life where I used to spend every waking second outside of work playing ultimate frisbee. When I was in college, I played on the university team and the Vancouver women’s City team and actually went to the World Championship in Hawaii representing Canada one year. But when I turned 27, I just stopped and haven’t played much since, even though I still have many friends from those days who still play. My highlight would be playing at the College Nationals representing UBC in Boston on a team full of my super close friends.
Written by Kerstin Bergentz