Kristen Delano
M.S. candidate and Research Assistant
School of Marine Science/Virginia Institute of Marine Science
College of William and Mary
Gloucester Point, VA 23062
kris@vims.edu

Currently I am a Master's student in the School of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary and my thesis project is investigating factors affecting the population dynamics of the clam, Macoma balthica. I'm looking at condition (weight) and fecundity (number of eggs) of clams in different habitats in two different rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. I get to do both field sampling and laboratory work as part of my project so I never get bored! The Chesapeake Bay is a beautiful and dynamic ecosystem and I feel lucky to be able to spend many days out on the water exploring and investigating it as part of my work.

I was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and then later moved to Virginia where I grew up just outside of Washington D.C. When I was younger I used to explore the beaches of Duxbury, Massachusetts with my father - I believe that is where my love for the ocean began. In college I took a Marine Ecology course, which inspired me to consider pursuing marine biology as a career. Shortly after that I became dive certified. Diving opened up the underwater world to me and to this day amazes me every time I go. Eventually I got a job at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and enjoyed it so much that I applied to the Master's program in Marine Science here at William and Mary - and the rest is history!

I'm very lucky that I get to dive fairly often as part of my research assistant duties. I've been able to dive in the Chesapeake Bay and the Bahamas doing everything from sampling clams in the mud to counting fish on oyster reefs to determining where spiny lobsters are preyed on the most. And the water isn't always clear. In fact, in the Chesapeake Bay (on a good day) the visibility is only a foot or two in front of you. Two dives I've done that stick out in my mind are when I dove off the coast of the Chesapeake Bay and saw a huge school of spawning spadefish, a 4-foot barracuda, tons of black sea bass, a conger eel, and an American lobster all on the same dive. The second memorable dive was in the Bahamas searching the crevices of a deep reef to find and count spiny lobsters, being 'escorted' by Grouper while doing the surveys (they can be very curious and like to swim with you), and seeing a black-tipped reef shark cruising the reef for food.

For this Aquarius Mission I'll be a member of the Topside Support Team. I get to dive a couple times a day to help our Aquanaut team conduct experiments on coral bleaching. We will also take care of anything at the surface that needs to be done in support of the mission. It's my first time being involved with the program and I can't wait to get started!