What is your background and what are you working on at the moment?
I went to UCSD for my undergrad in mechanical engineering and graduated right before the pandemic. Thankfully I got a job right around that time too, but I had barely started when they sent us all home to work remotely “just for two weeks”, but we all know how that turned out. That job was in the oil and gas industry, which I was already hesitant about working in but had figured it was a good place to get some engineering experience, but it confirmed for me that it wasn’t really the field I wanted to be in for the rest of my life. It was also a huge company where you felt like a tiny cog in a big machine. Hence, after a little while I started thinking about what I’d rather do and thought back to a class I took at UCSD on marine instruments and sensor development with Todd Martz which I really enjoyed. I remember thinking “hmm, wonder if there are any engineering jobs where I get to do that” and looked at the Scripps job postings site and realized that yes, you can get to do cutting edge research and development, work on climate related questions, and travel, which checks all the boxes for me. I applied for a job and joined the MOD lab in early 2022.
Currently I’m the most junior engineer in the group, so I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can from the other engineers as I work on projects. I did a lot of mechanical work on the newest version of the T-PADS and right now I'm working on the level wind for the Beyster winch. I also do a lot of work on our various probes (temperature and microstructure). I am primarily a mechanical engineer, but I appreciate all the opportunities within the group to learn and practice skills from other engineering disciplines as well.
What keeps you excited and interested in working in the field of oceanography?
The fieldwork is one of the things I find most exciting about my job. To actually be able to use the things that you've designed, tested and made and go out there and collect data to help better understand our oceans, that is very cool to me. I've only done a few cruises, but so far I am liking it a lot.
When you were a kid, did you expect to be an engineer?
Both yes and no. There were a lot of things that I wanted to do when I was a kid. I specifically remember in second grade when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I answered “paleontologist” (I had to learn how to spell “paleontologist”). I had watched a lot of History Channel and Discovery Channel and just thought that seemed like the coolest job. At some point I wanted to be an inventor, and then an artist, and briefly a marine biologist, but “engineer” didn’t really occur to me until I joined a robotics club in high school. I like engineering because it's a good amount of technical thinking, but also you get to be creative, especially in an R&D job which is kind of perfect. I also get to be around all of the science in this group and learn so many cool things!
Were there any particular things from your childhood that drew you to work with the ocean?
I think I’ve always felt close to the ocean. I grew up a five minute walk from the beach in Santa Barbara. I did a lot of tide pooling and paddleboarding growing up, and volunteered at the aquarium that is on the pier back home. I remember the section on oceanographic instruments, you could take samples from the seafloor which was fun, and I guess that inspired me even if I didn’t know it then.
What skills or abilities do you think are useful when going into oceanography or becoming a member of the engineering development team?
I think creativity is a good thing to develop and nurture. But also, being comfortable asking good questions and making use of the tremendous amount of experience and knowledge that exists in the lab–people here are really smart and know so much. Having some persistence and not giving up is another one; being able to return to an engineering problem and think about it in a different way with new input is useful.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
It's different day-to-day which is nice. Sometimes I'll be doing CAD the whole day, other days I will be machining or soldering something. Some days I just putter around the lab organizing things and lending a hand with whatever is happening that day. Then there are the fieldwork days where you're on deck profiling for 12 hours straight. The variety is fun! I like the design work a lot, but I really enjoy being able to tinker with physical things too. I once spent a summer working in a machine shop, and as much as I enjoyed that, I also think it's very nice to have some variety and be able to bring in the creative aspect. It is hard to come by though, that kind of job where you can combine both things, and I feel very lucky.
What drew you to Scripps?
I think it was just the perfect set of circumstances. As I mentioned I took a class here and got a taste of what goes on at Scripps, plus I was looking to get out of the job I was in and wanted to stay in San Diego.
Is there a particular person/something that inspires you?
Picking just one person is hard! I feel like I could say that all of my coworkers in the lab inspire me because everyone is just super intelligent and creative. But I guess I’d have to say my dad too. He created his own business that manages energy controls for large buildings, like regulating lighting and HVAC, to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. I think it’s amazing that he decided to do something that makes the world a little better and also can navigate running a business et cetera, and it has been inspiring to see.
Do you have a fun fact that you'd like to share that not everyone knows about you?
Some people may already know this, but I'm very interested in native plants and ecology. I’m far from a professional biologist or botanist, but I’m still doing my best to learn about all the native plants that are around this part of the country. My mom works at a plant nursery so this interest of mine kind of came from her. I enjoy camping and going on hikes, and just being out in nature. Looking for and recognizing native plants is really exciting, especially when observing them throughout different seasons and learning how they function within an ecosystem. One of my favorite native plants is lupine—there’s so many different species within the genus, with some hyperlocal species that only appear in one county within California. They’re really pretty, with huge spikes of colorful flowers, often bright purple or blue (and they’re also a big hit with a bunch of different species of moths). There are even some that are currently blooming along the freeway exit on my commute home!
Written by Kerstin Bergentz