Maite Gato-Fuentes

It turns out that my collaborator and @NSF #REU student @MaiteCGF is something of a wild Pycnopodia whisperer! She has found 2 of the last 4 known Pycnos in Oregon!

On a happy note, thankful that today we found another #Pycnopodia sunflower star! ~10 cm, 9 m depth, Port Orford OR. See previous thread. @MaiteCGF (pictured) found it! We've now documented 3 Pycnos in OR this summer during our @OregonSeaGrant funded work. twitter.com/awegalloway/st…

Last week during a #Kelp2Whales research dive in Port Orford, we had a close encounter with a gray whale named Dual! He’s named after the two spots on his dorsal fin, can you find them?🐋 @awegalloway @lisahildy95 @GemmLabOSU @CTELab @UO_OIMB @osuportorford

As you can see, the post-dive stoke-factor is high for the dive team:

It happened again! 2 weeks in a row finding a different Pycnopodia seastar at the Coos Bay jetty! This one was smaller, ~15 cm diameter. Also cool was high densities of juvenile Dungeness crab! Video shows my dive buddy *who found it* @MaiteCGF for scale! @UO_OIMB @NSF #REU

The @UO_OIMB Research Experience for Undergrad (#REU) program starts soon! This year I am stoked that I'll be working with @MaiteCGF and @A_K_Sullivan on our Oregon kelp forest ecology project #Kelp2Whales. You'll want to watch out for these rising scientists! Welcome to @CTELab:

Jamman soundcloud.com/jamman-chalmer…