Welcome Research Director Anya Hopple Ph.D.!

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! 

2023 Research Intern: Olivia Trahan

Hey everybody! My name is Olivia Trahan, and I’m the 2023 research intern! I’m here for the summer season all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina. Fun fact - I’ve never been up North, so I took a big jump coming all the way up to Maine! I’ve loved my time here so far and I’ve already had so many wonderful experiences, both on and off the island.

Back home, I go to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where I’m majoring in Environmental Science with a concentration in Conservation, and have two minors- one in Digital Art, the other in Coastal and Environmental Writing.

My journey to Hurricane started when I flew into the Knox County Regional Airport on Saturday, June 3rd and then hopped right over to the island the next day. Starting June 5th, the entire staff came on island and we had staff training for a week. Big thanks to our galley staff for keeping us well-fed.

Earlier in June the research team was finally able to get into the swing of things as the island filled with the hustle and bustle that comes with having our awesome school groups. I had a full first day of work! I got to do some knot tying and boat driving practice with Fern, one of our captains. It was my first time learning to drive a boat and it was so much fun. I do have to admit, I was kinda nervous learning how to navigate and understand how boats reverse, as well as how to idle and switch gears. After that, I then went out with Phoebe, Chloe, Esther and Lucy on the skiff to the aquaculture farm to do some much needed cleaning. We took a few cages out of the water, and spent a while sexing and sorting scallops- most of which were for Esther’s stable isotope project (more on that in the next blog)! We deployed some cages that we had re-filled with scallops, and then I accidentally dropped one off of the float at the farm… good thing we’ve got a grappling hook. We’ve been having a lot of fun getting to know each other during our hours spent cleaning on the farm.

I’ve also started brainstorming my summer research project that I would like to complete this season. Since I’m employed by the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute, I’ll get to travel off-island in August to participate in the Student Research Symposium, held on campus, where I’ll present the findings of my project. Phoebe and I have brainstormed some potential research ideas and questions, and I’m particularly interested in why there’s such a high number of encrusting and stocked tunicate species that settle on our spat bags. From every lantern net filled with spat bags, I’m processing the top and bottom bags- so there’s some super exciting factors there that could be used for comparison. For example, is there a difference in tunicate numbers in the bags closer to the top of the water column, or the bottom?

Either way, it’s gonna be really hard to choose something that isn’t too niche of a research question, and will bring tangible results while also not having a research question that would be too broad and have too many factors that need to be assessed. Either way, I’m very excited about having a project that will be all my own hard work!

Enjoy the photos from the week of cool and funny things we’ve been up to. I plan to make our research blogs a weekly thing, so these will be up as regularly as we can manage. Have a great rest of your week, y’all!

An Evening at Alnoba

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents.

It was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors;

We borrow it from our children.”

- Native American saying

This past October, I was invited to the Alnoba Leadership Awards at the Lewis Family Foundation’s brand new state of the art facility in Kensington, New Hampshire. On October 17, Phoebe, Bo, Kelly and I walked beneath cloudy skies on a winding dirt path lined with granite pillars inscribed with quotes from famous people. As we entered the building we were amazed by the tall ceilings and beautiful wooden beams supporting the structure. We arrived just in time to listen to the conversation moderated by David Conover, a board member for HICSL, between the President and Forester for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Jane Difley, Executive Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory, Jennifer Seavey, and Founder of Lubicon Solar, Melina Laboucan-Massimo.

After a beautiful farm to table dinner, we were surprised with an impromptu performance and led in group song, which was perhaps the best part of the night. I forgot his name, but he told us his project is called “Make America Sing Again”. After listening to his beat-boxing warm up, he led us in our own rendition of an African song. Then we sang “Lean on Me” in three rounds. If he can get a room of complete strangers to be able to sing with one another, he said, anything is possible.

Then the awards were given out. The CEO Environmental Responsibility Award for $10,000 was given to ReVision Energy Leadership Team including Phil Coupe, Bill Behrens, Fortunat Mueller, and Dan Clapp for their work with solar energy throughout New England. The ReVision leadership team donated $5,000 to the Conservation Law Foundation and $5,000 to Citizens Count. The Emerging Leader Award for $10,000 was given to Alex Freid, Founder and Co-Director for the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN). The Moral Courage in Leadership Award for $25,000 was given to Jane Difley, President/Forester for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

At the end of the day, we were thrilled to see the brand new facilities at Alnoba and honored to be a part of this amazing group of environmental leaders.

Written by Marketing & Stewardship Coordinator, Caroline Albertson

Pictures courtesy of Alnoba.org.