Taking “Embedded Librarianship” to the Extreme

About a month ago, one of the Hopkins faculty members offered me the opportunity to help with research projects on Palmyra Atoll in the south Pacific. This is a small U.S. territory (less than 5 square miles of land) located about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. I will be working with a former Hopkins Marine Station graduate student, helping him install 180 coral settlement plates on the outer reef. I will also be helping a HMS postdoc place acoustic tags on grey reef sharks.

Palmyra Atoll USFWS

I leave on July 21 and will be away for a month. Don Kohrs and Vicki Pearse will keep the Miller Library running while I am gone. Despite being in one of the most remote places on earth, there is WiFi. I hope to be able to check my email once a day in the evening. Note that the Miller Library will suspend its participation in the Z39.50 until I return.

This is an amazing opportunity to SCUBA dive on one of the few remaining pristine coral reefs in the world and interact with other teams of scientists from UC Santa Barbara and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

If you are interested in knowing more about the trip, check out the blog I started to document my trip:

Librarian on Palmyra Atoll

There won’t be a lot of photos until I actually get there, but right now I am writing up the process of preparing for the trip.

Joe Wible, Hopkins Marine Station

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