Meet the Science Party! Michelle Lee

Hi everyone, I'm Michelle a current PhD student at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory / Columbia University in Marine Geology and Geophysics advised by Dr. Suzanne Carbotte and Dr. Maya Tolstoy.

WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF RESEARCH?

My area of research is Marine Seismology. My current research focuses on using multichannel seismic data to image and characterize melt lenses beneath the rift zones of Axial Seamount.

WHAT IS A FIRST TIME FOR YOU ON THIS EXPEDITION?

Even though I work with multichannel seismic data, I have never collected the data on a cruise! So this will be a first time for me! This will also be the first time I’m spending more than 20 days on a cruise.

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED TO LEARN/DISCOVER?

I am most excited to learn about how to collect MCS data and to be able to see it being done on board. I am also excited to learn more about Axial.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT MARINE SCIENCE?

I got into Marine Geophysics as an undergraduate at the University of Washington when I started working in a Marine Geophysics lab looking at methane plumes on the seafloor. I really enjoy learning about the seafloor because it encompasses so many unique and fascinating aspects yet most people don’t even know it exists.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF

A fun fact about myself is that I can speak 4 languages. I can speak three dialects of Chinese fluently and can speak Japanese and Korean to some degree. Another thing about myself is that I love to swim and have been a swimmer since I was 3 yrs old, joining a swim team when I was around 10 years old. My main strokes are freestyle and butterfly.