By Essie Martin
You may have met Dr. Anya Hopple at our Field Research Station Opening, or perhaps you know her through her most recent work as a scientist at the Smithsonian Ecological Research Center, where she was leading an effort to understand the effects of extreme weather events on forest systems. Here is a link to her most recent publication exploring carbon fluxes in microbial systems as they respond to a changing climate. She brings with her a wealth of ecological, climate and collaborative knowledge and we are so excited that she’s finally here.
We are getting to know Anya through the lens of island work and living, which is generally a little muddier and a little saltier. Anya has joined us on island the last two weeks getting to know our systems and habits on the island while acquainting us with her own organization tools, which are helping us become even more efficient and focused on our research efforts.
Anya has taken to island life with ease; she joins us with a smiling face for daily morning meetings, she offers solutions for the riddles and crosswords we puzzle out over breakfast, and has forged her own island routines. Anya is also acclimating to island research after dissecting a scallop perfectly on her third try, taking a turn behind the wheel of our skiff, and grappling our longline to collect scallops. She has transitioned into a directing role beautifully, challenging and questioning the way and the why of how we do things, creating new organizational setups, and encouraging us with high fives.
Yesterday, after a long season of spawning attempts, our Lead Scientist Phoebe Jekielek convinced our scallops to spawn and we were able to deploy a trial fertilization experiment. Anya sprung to action and hopped on the boat to be our surface support for our SCUBA team! Anya tackled surface support with the same attitude she has joined the rest of island life– with enthusiasm, a method-minded brain, and a knack for anticipating the needs of those around her.
We are delighted to have Anya as the newest member of our team, we can’t wait to see where her vivacity and zeal take us in the future!
