Colleen Durkin
@cadurkin.bsky.social
Oceanographer and lead of MBARI's Carbon Flux Ecology team. I think a lot about sinking particles, the carbon cycle, and microscopic creatures. Otherwise: fiber art, designing/making clothes, chickens. Views expressed here are my own.
Reposted by Colleen Durkin
MBARI’s mechanical technicians and engineers collaborated closely to build a titanium frame capable of holding cameras, sensors, and instruments used in the SINKER—SINKing Ecology Robot—imaging system, which collects vital carbon data. 🔧 🌊 🔬
Learn more: youtu.be/6_elP8a1o0M?...
Learn more: youtu.be/6_elP8a1o0M?...
MBARI's team of mechanical technicians make innovative new tech come to life
YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
MBARI’s mechanical technicians and engineers collaborated closely to build a titanium frame capable of holding cameras, sensors, and instruments used in the SINKER—SINKing Ecology Robot—imaging system, which collects vital carbon data. 🔧 🌊 🔬
Learn more: youtu.be/6_elP8a1o0M?...
Learn more: youtu.be/6_elP8a1o0M?...
I want to see the particles that sink carbon to the deep ocean, all the time and in real time.This summer we built an instrument that collects images of sinking particles every second, and visualizes them in 5 different ways. @mbarinews.bsky.social
youtu.be/4xXGlnCoik8
youtu.be/4xXGlnCoik8
How MBARI scientists are studying the ocean’s carbon flux in real time
YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
youtu.be
November 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I want to see the particles that sink carbon to the deep ocean, all the time and in real time.This summer we built an instrument that collects images of sinking particles every second, and visualizes them in 5 different ways. @mbarinews.bsky.social
youtu.be/4xXGlnCoik8
youtu.be/4xXGlnCoik8
Reposted by Colleen Durkin
Just recently, on linkedin, the former director of NASA GSFC said that more than 32% of the Goddard workforce is gone.
32%
That is insane.
They are destroying us completely.
32%
That is insane.
They are destroying us completely.
October 16, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Just recently, on linkedin, the former director of NASA GSFC said that more than 32% of the Goddard workforce is gone.
32%
That is insane.
They are destroying us completely.
32%
That is insane.
They are destroying us completely.
The Carbon Flux Ecology team is teaching at #coessing2025 this week at University of Ghana! Who else is here? Let’s connect! We are teaching a marine imaging class, but excited to talk all things ocean science and engineering. @mbarinews.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The Carbon Flux Ecology team is teaching at #coessing2025 this week at University of Ghana! Who else is here? Let’s connect! We are teaching a marine imaging class, but excited to talk all things ocean science and engineering. @mbarinews.bsky.social
Our first deployment of a surface-tethered sediment trap in Gulf of Guinea! We are trying to build these arrays using supplies from the Tema canoe fisherman’s market. @mbarinews.bsky.social
August 3, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Our first deployment of a surface-tethered sediment trap in Gulf of Guinea! We are trying to build these arrays using supplies from the Tema canoe fisherman’s market. @mbarinews.bsky.social
Reposted by Colleen Durkin
Congratulations to Natalia Llopis Monferrer for being selected as an awardee of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation 2025 Awards in Field Biology! 🔬 🎉
Learn more about the awards and Natalia's work: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali....
Learn more about the awards and Natalia's work: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali....
Natalia Llopis Monferrer - Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation
Field research is vital to the work of Natalia Llopis Monferrer because the delicate organisms she studies, Rhizaria, can’t be grown in labs. Researching them
www.maxwell-hanrahan.org
July 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Congratulations to Natalia Llopis Monferrer for being selected as an awardee of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation 2025 Awards in Field Biology! 🔬 🎉
Learn more about the awards and Natalia's work: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali....
Learn more about the awards and Natalia's work: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali....
Congratulations to the latest Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation Field Biology Award winner Natalia Llopis Monferrer!!! I am so proud of her! www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali... @mbarinews.bsky.social
Natalia Llopis Monferrer - Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation
Field research is vital to the work of Natalia Llopis Monferrer because the delicate organisms she studies, Rhizaria, can’t be grown in labs. Researching them
www.maxwell-hanrahan.org
July 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Congratulations to the latest Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation Field Biology Award winner Natalia Llopis Monferrer!!! I am so proud of her! www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/award/natali... @mbarinews.bsky.social
Dropping these two beauties in Monterey Bay this week. Both measure carbon sequestration in the deep ocean. Lots of good data to come. @mbarinews.bsky.social
July 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Dropping these two beauties in Monterey Bay this week. Both measure carbon sequestration in the deep ocean. Lots of good data to come. @mbarinews.bsky.social
Can a teeny little phytoplankton cell sink through the mesopelagic 🌊? Usually, we assume they must be packaged inside larger aggregates. We found that a small but distinct part of the population does sink through the mesopelagic!
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Solitary phytoplankton cells sink in the mesopelagic ocean
Phytoplankton, and their carbon, are typically exported from the surface ocean when packaged inside larger, sinking detrital particles. This process draws carbon out of the atmosphere, where it can be...
doi.org
July 9, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Can a teeny little phytoplankton cell sink through the mesopelagic 🌊? Usually, we assume they must be packaged inside larger aggregates. We found that a small but distinct part of the population does sink through the mesopelagic!
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Sailing on the R/V Endeavor this week with my besties.
July 8, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Sailing on the R/V Endeavor this week with my besties.
How do phytoplankton export carbon into the deep sea? Which phytoplankton taxa drive the most carbon export?
We used DNA to identify which phytoplankton are packaged in exported particles during the NASA EXPORTS field campaigns. @mbarinews.bsky.social 's summary:
www.mbari.org/news/marine-...
We used DNA to identify which phytoplankton are packaged in exported particles during the NASA EXPORTS field campaigns. @mbarinews.bsky.social 's summary:
www.mbari.org/news/marine-...
Marine snow provides new clues about the export of carbon to the deep sea • MBARI
Genetic sequences in microscopic particles of sinking organic material reveal the mechanisms of carbon transport into the deep sea that can help improve satellite-based models of carbon export.
www.mbari.org
June 24, 2025 at 11:28 PM
How do phytoplankton export carbon into the deep sea? Which phytoplankton taxa drive the most carbon export?
We used DNA to identify which phytoplankton are packaged in exported particles during the NASA EXPORTS field campaigns. @mbarinews.bsky.social 's summary:
www.mbari.org/news/marine-...
We used DNA to identify which phytoplankton are packaged in exported particles during the NASA EXPORTS field campaigns. @mbarinews.bsky.social 's summary:
www.mbari.org/news/marine-...
Our event got the Monterey County Weekly bump. Can’t wait to see what @celiajimenez.bsky.social wears tomorrow.
www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinio...
www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinio...
Knitters throughout the world unite to work on their craft in public, including in Monterey.
Celebrate Worldwide Knit in Public Day in Monterey, June 14. Join fiber crafters at Colton Hall for a collaborative community event.
www.montereycountynow.com
June 14, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Our event got the Monterey County Weekly bump. Can’t wait to see what @celiajimenez.bsky.social wears tomorrow.
www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinio...
www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinio...
I hear that lots of people are gathering in public tomorrow. I can’t believe there are so many people celebrating Worldwide Knit in Public Day! #WWKIPD 😉
June 14, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I hear that lots of people are gathering in public tomorrow. I can’t believe there are so many people celebrating Worldwide Knit in Public Day! #WWKIPD 😉
Can’t wait to join them in August with our team from @mbarinews.bsky.social ! We are excited to learn from our colleagues in Ghana.
#URIGSO professor Melissa Omand, co-PI of the Ocean Margins Initiative, and GSO researcher Pierre Marec recently traveled to Ghana to launch a major study of the northern Gulf of Guinea, a region central to food security, fisheries, and carbon cycling. 🌊 🧪 🦑
📸 Elise Hugus (WHOI) & Melissa Omand
📸 Elise Hugus (WHOI) & Melissa Omand
June 14, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Can’t wait to join them in August with our team from @mbarinews.bsky.social ! We are excited to learn from our colleagues in Ghana.
June in Monterey=turning the heater back on 🙁#coastalupwelling
June 12, 2025 at 2:48 AM
June in Monterey=turning the heater back on 🙁#coastalupwelling
June 14th is Worldwide Knit in Public Day! Join you fellow yarn enthusiasts on the lawn at Colton Hall from 12-4 in Monterey. All fiber arts are welcome. Bring a picnic and your latest project. 🧶🧺 #montereybay
May 18, 2025 at 8:57 PM
June 14th is Worldwide Knit in Public Day! Join you fellow yarn enthusiasts on the lawn at Colton Hall from 12-4 in Monterey. All fiber arts are welcome. Bring a picnic and your latest project. 🧶🧺 #montereybay
Reposted by Colleen Durkin
Why do some planktonic protists develop a gelatinous matrix? We suggest that this original adaptation is a strategy to cope with ocean oligotrophy: doi.org/10.1111/1462...
Led by @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, and thanks to all co-authors, I'm very happy to finally see it out!
#protistsonsky
Led by @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, and thanks to all co-authors, I'm very happy to finally see it out!
#protistsonsky
May 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Why do some planktonic protists develop a gelatinous matrix? We suggest that this original adaptation is a strategy to cope with ocean oligotrophy: doi.org/10.1111/1462...
Led by @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, and thanks to all co-authors, I'm very happy to finally see it out!
#protistsonsky
Led by @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, and thanks to all co-authors, I'm very happy to finally see it out!
#protistsonsky
This week at work: SCUBA diving with our underwater microscope in Hawaii. Can’t wait to share the amazing view we are getting of the plankton!
It’s hard to beat field work in Hawaii with @cadurkin.bsky.social @lenaunderwater.bsky.social and others of the @mbarinews.bsky.social team..!
We are using blue-water scuba diving to study #ctenophores, siphonophores, radiolarians, and #bioluminescence.
🦑🌊🧪🤿
We are using blue-water scuba diving to study #ctenophores, siphonophores, radiolarians, and #bioluminescence.
🦑🌊🧪🤿
April 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
This week at work: SCUBA diving with our underwater microscope in Hawaii. Can’t wait to share the amazing view we are getting of the plankton!
I ❤️ this crew!
At MBARI, our “office” is Monterey Bay and its deep submarine canyon. ⌨️🌊
For many of our staff, that means spending a lot of time on the water. The crew of the research vessel Rachel Carson is a small team that supports a large variety of science and engineering operations. youtu.be/dtAD1tBKspo?...
For many of our staff, that means spending a lot of time on the water. The crew of the research vessel Rachel Carson is a small team that supports a large variety of science and engineering operations. youtu.be/dtAD1tBKspo?...
The crew of R/V Rachel Carson helps us study our blue backyard
YouTube video by MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
youtu.be
March 25, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I ❤️ this crew!
Reposted by Colleen Durkin
Friends, sign up! or send your students, postdocs, techs or whomever wants to play with NASA PACE data!
Application deadline in just 4 days for the OCB-NASA PACE hackweek in August 2025! 🌊
OCB-NASA PACE Hackweek – apply by March 24! A social coding event w/lectures, tutorials + project work (data processing+analysis) to kick-start research using the Earth science data streams from OCI, SPEXone, HARP2 instruments on PACE + other satellite data.
www.us-ocb.org/pace-hackwee...
www.us-ocb.org/pace-hackwee...
March 20, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Friends, sign up! or send your students, postdocs, techs or whomever wants to play with NASA PACE data!
And…..we got it back!
March 17, 2025 at 11:46 PM
And…..we got it back!
Beginnings of a collaborative art project with my knitting group 🧶 #weekendknitting
March 17, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Beginnings of a collaborative art project with my knitting group 🧶 #weekendknitting
Dropped this giant platform in the ocean yesterday carrying new imaging instruments. Hope to see some beautiful marine snow data when we recover next week! @mbarinews.bsky.social
March 11, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Dropped this giant platform in the ocean yesterday carrying new imaging instruments. Hope to see some beautiful marine snow data when we recover next week! @mbarinews.bsky.social