Maple Syrup, Mounties, and Whatnot... Let me tell you aboot Canada

Recently I was sent to British Columbia, Canada on a work trip. Specifically I was doing the planning and operations for a 10 day underwater mission to study rare microbialites in freshwater lakes called the Pavilion Lake Research Project. Come on, let me show you.

This is a microbialite underwater

 

Here's what it looks like when the divers deliver it to the lab

The scientists think they are super awesome with double rainbow powers. 

They study them in their laboratories

And stab them with tweezers

Besides studying the microbialites in their labs, the team uses submarines to study them in their natural environment. And for this year, that was Kelly Lake, located about 5 1/2 hours North East of Vancouver.

This is the most naturey picture I have ever taken. Go me. BTW all the other pictures are by Henry Bortman from Astrobiology Magazine (he's the bomb.com)

That's one of the scientists and pilots, Mars, inside the sub (her real name is Margarita)

The subs would get lowered into the water and off they go into the depths of the lake. The lake was about 135 feet deep.

So yeah, these subs go in the water and drive around on a pre-planned traverse (path). They take videos, and we can even talk to the pilots from the mobile Mission Control Center (mMCC). 

That's the outside of the mMCC. It's basically a giant trailer with lots of computers inside.

Here is the inside. That's me in the corner, but you probably can't tell. Inside, we can hear the sub pilot, talk to the pilot, see where the sub is going, and view the video coming from the sub.

That's a full on microbialite moment. The scientists were having quite a joyous time

Here I am working on the plan. I would track how the subs were doing on their timeline and feed that information to the Flight Director who would decide to tell the pilot to speed up, slow down, or move to the next point along the path.

 So let's talk about wardrobe. My friend Lindsey got me these fab boots. And I was prepared with 700 jackets, scarves, and even mittens should I require them. It was July, but temps got down to the 40s and 50s, and it felt even colder out on the lake.

Needless to say my foot wear was a hit

This was a pretty neat project to be a part of, so thank you to the people of Pavilion Lake Research Project. And thank you to the amazing staff at the Cariboo Lodge in Clinton, BC, where we stayed. Also, thank you to Henry for taking these fab pics (especially this last one). 

Peace, Love and Universal Healthcare,
Engineeringirl