Participant Interview:
Sharon Walker
Oceanographer
NOAA PMEL Vents Program

Today I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Sharon Walker, an oceanographer working for PMEL/NOAA. Ms. Walker has been working with PMEL since she was in college at the University of Washington. Ms. Walker started at PMEL as a Physical Science Student Trainee. After graduating from the University with a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography, Ms. Walker was hired as a full time employee at the lab. Ms. Walker has conducted ocean research on approximately 40 different cruises in the 21 years she has worked with PMEL. Her longest cruise was a trip to Easter Island lasting 40 days and 40 nights.

Ms. Walker's work focuses around the MAPR (featured on 7/26 in the Teacher Report) and the CTD. Her many responsibilities include quality control, data collection, data processing and merging, and development of user-friendly computer software to accompany various instruments. While on Leg 3 of the VENTS cruise, Ms. Walker is working from 6:00p.m.until 6:00a.m. When most people are getting up in the morning, Ms. Walker is just going to bed. Can you imagine the first meal of your day being dinner? It takes several days to get used to working all night but your body does adjust to the schedule change. You can often find her in the middle of the night charting our progress during a tow-yo or coordinating the tripping of nisken bottles during a CTD cast.

When not out on a research cruise, Ms. Walker enjoys hiking and spending time with her family. Ms. Walker is an excellent resource for information about the cruise. Thank you for spending some time with the Teachers-At-Sea.

Sharon plotting the CTD positions during a tow.