Artwork by Celia Jacobs, who illustrated portraits of the crew, the science team, and the science itself during this project.
The Across the Channel: Investigating Diel Dynamics (ACIDD) project was designed to examine day-night fluctuations in microbial, chemical, and biological cycles within the Santa Barbara Channel located off the coast of Southern California. However, just 10 days before the cruise was scheduled to embark on its mission, the Thomas Fire ignited in the Santa Barbara mountains. The timing of this major wildfire presented a rare opportunity to incorporate a direct investigation of how dry ash deposition impacts the Southern California coastal oceanic ecosystem.
The commentary “California wildfire burns boundaries between science and art,” led by Kelsey Bisson and Nick Baetge and co-authored by Sasha Wagner, was published in the journal Oceanography last month. The commentary describes the challenges of scientific research at sea and opportunities to integrate artistic perspectives that enable scientific findings to reach a broader community. The ACIDD team’s documentary “Aquatic Cathartic” is freely available online and offers an outsider’s perspective to seagoing oceanographic research in all of its glories and shortcomings.
