Searching for Life in the External Hellenides

Oct 10, 2026

Rural Greece is quite picturesque. It takes a certain breed, like Ingo, to desire to venture deep into the cave systems that the local residents easily overlook. Having spent decades in the area, where his parents reside in a quiet village, Ingo's curiosity, kindness, and expertise has proven an instrumental role during this international cave-diving expedition. The thrill of stumbling upon a species I have never had the pleasure of knowing, is a special one shared with my team. And as I shiver and listen to this underwater cave system which appears to growl from below while being so untouched by human hands, I surrender completely to the Hellenides and her thunderous roars.

Adopting MAPALA (Mahasiswa Pecinta Alam)

August 30, 2026

It's striking to exist in a country with unassuming surface features that lead to such beautifully decorated palaces. Indonesia's counter-cultural ideals and resurgence of MAPALA or "Nature Lover Students" applies holistically to a place that can only be described as unbelievable. I'm in awe of the surrounding geology. Hydrologic and sea-level questions swirling around my head are only marginally drowned out by Robin's incessant Flank Margin Cave commentary. What kind of other caves will we find?

A new cave, an endless frontier

August 26, 2026

Sweat stings in my eyes as I rub the mixture of mud, sweat, and cigarette smoke away from my face. Ladder after ladder, rope after rope, we descend, passing by speleothems at a scale I could never dream of. We find shards of pottery and evidence of life in nooks and crannies as well as organic material that had been once burned into charcoal. The locals climb in barefoot, without light, and mumble Indonesian phrases I have yet to understand about foot placement as I slide and shuffle through a meter-wide gap. Brian's resourcefulness shines through after he retrieves my hammer using a makeshift noose after I fumble and drop my only tool down a void space.

Venturing under the jungle

July 31, 2026

Our Mitsubishi truck rumbles through the Mayan jungle, passing numerous mystical cenotes scattered generously for miles. As the sun radiates across the tree canopy, dancing beams of light and pockets of warmth drape over pools of cool, refreshing cenote water. Footlong iguanas and lizards scamper across pock-marked karst limestone that is studded with Pleistocene marine fossils. Various corals, urchins, clams, and more fossilized sea life are relicts of a time when the area was inundated by the ocean. When sea level fell during the last Ice Age, these flooded passages drained, allowing cave formations to slowly precipitate while humans sought shelter within them. Then, after sea level rose again thousands of years later and water filled the caves, the Mayans came and established an extensive civilization and regarded these cenotes as sacred pathways into the underworld.

As we enter the cool, dark water shrouded by stalactites overhead, I hear the echoes of swallows nesting in the caverns. The weight of our technical diving gear eases in the water, and an eerie sensation of time distortion washes over me. Earth’s pull, as we descend into the underworld, feels like an inescapable grip, and I find myself struggling to leave a place and people that I have grown fond of. If the Mayans were right, I’ll gladly go to Xibalba, “the place of fear.”

Traversing into other worlds

Jan 31, 2026

After some scrambling, sliding, squirming, and wriggling through dark and silent limestone passageways, the narrow crevices that once funneled us into burrow-sized holes suddenly opened up into spacious voids. Here, we took a breather and admired what once was home to relict bat colonies, and shelters from civilizations now forgotton.

The best classroom has no walls

Dec 22, 2025

Time to squeeze one more dive in. The water is 53.5 F this time. I may have blinded my dive buddy Nick for this shot, but he is very forgiving. Nick is sporting a nice back inflate bcd, backmounted doubles, and dry gloves. I managed to underweight myself and became too buoyant by the end. At this point, only tec divers seem to come out in the cold + 1 very brave open water diver who used a 7mm wetsuit. Insanity!!

Foggy mornings at the spring-fed lake

Dec 7, 2025

It's 8:30 am, 31 F outside, and the water temperature is 56 F. My dive hood is nowhere to be found but I want to practice my new skills and learn to get comfortable with a new dive configuration, new drysuit, and new environment. Thank god one of us is prepared (not me).

Testing the waters

Nov 9, 2025

A self-imposed goal of branching into the technical world was both opportune and serendipitous. Drysuit and sidemount seem to be pre-requisites for the cave-diving world. So be it!

SidemountNov92025.MOV

Exiting out the back of a sunken helicopter with two tanks and drysuit intact!

Why care about sea level? August 17, 2025

After spending the last seven years doing fieldwork in the western Atlantic, I've learned that sea level is not easy to nail down. Every ancient shoreline and rock outcrop is a timestamp or clue to past oceans which have fluctuated by over a hundred meters and over timespans between tens to hundreds of thousands of years.

Learning to read these archives poses a fun challenge and the most pragmatic way forward is to work together.

Understanding past sea-level change isn't just an academic pursuit. This affects how we prepare for future coastline, community, and climate challenges.

Celebrating 10 years of SCUBA diving

May 16, 2025

Today marks my 10th anniversary of diving!! It's going to be a great year for expanding upon some hands-on technical skillsets. Few photos exist from these early days but now I'm grateful for my instructor who documented some of my very first dives in Lake Travis, Austin TX.

Big cacti on campus at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) May 3, 2025

Mexico manages to intrigue me with every visit. This time, to the botanical gardens at the university campus in central Mexico City, I feel humbled by the gargantuan cacti surrounding me. Nearby, relict lava tubes with entrances blowing cool air indicate an underground cave system.

The haunting history of Xochimilco

May 2, 2025

While the atmosphere on weekends is festive, there is also something eerie about this borough of Mexico City. Opting to skip the loud parts of tourism, instead we went for a sunrise kayak through the channels of the "floating gardens" that wind through layers of tephra ash beds. Between random dolls that disappear and reappear, spooky legends of murder and jealousy, floating melons, and the morning fog, it was a strange encounter to say the least.

Looking for an atlas for sedimentology? March 10, 2025

Recommending these sites for all undergrads looking to learn more about sedimentology and other resources

An easy to read guide to learn/review sedimentology concepts (and more):

Geological Digressions by Brian Ricketts

The most comprehensive online database for looking at petrographic thin sections of carbonates:

Carbonateworld

Science Y'all Contribution

Jackson School Graduates: Where are They Now? Where Could You Go? July 6, 2023

If you are pursuing a degree in geoscience, where would you like to go after? Many students at the Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG) begin their studies under the impression that they are going into either academia or industry, but the job market is not so binary. Most students, at one point or another, consider different career paths from what they initially expressed interest or conviction in. In this post, we compiled profiles of notable alumni who have graduated in the last few years.

So where do JSG graduates end up in the career web?

The offroading was worth it November 12, 2021

Not sure how I managed to convince Jan and Jake into accompanying me to the most spectacular outcrop I have ever seen but wow I will never forget it. Cave openings are hidden in plain sight while the thunderous roar of waves crashing up against this section is something I can still hear in my dreams. Heavily karsted and dissolved Pleistocene carbonates make up this entire exposed section.

Through the Looking Glass May 5, 2021

Nature has a way of building formations that are both aesthetic and captivating. Spanning across different scales, dimensions, and times, we can't help but notice similarities in shape, process, and form. Although the mechanisms and drivers for formation are different for different processes, we stumble across similarities and ask ourselves why patterns and self-organizing processes exist so widely.

Microscopic

Here is an image of the benthic foraminifera, Alveolina, in cross section. This sample was taken from offshore India in the Mukta Field

Vs

Macroscopic

The Milky Way galaxy spans 100,000 light years, and contains up to 400 billion stars. Earth is just one little dot in an expansive system!

Past

Record of past shorelines represented by deposits.

Captured in the Turks and Caicos Islands April 2019

Vs

Present

Standing along the present shoreline facing the sunset.

Captured in the Turks and Caicos Islands March 2021

Diversity in the Reef Feb 9, 2019

Just can't beat the diverse marine ecosystems of Cozumel, Mexico! Just off the western coastline is a plethora of aquatic flora and fauna. Can eel spotting get any easier than this?

Here, off the coast of Cozumel, a free-swimming Green Moray eel follows us across the reef. Diving at around 65-85 feet, we see an abundance of hard and soft corals, sponges, algae, and the entrancing movement of the occasional legless passerby.

Hamilton Pool January 11, 2019

This collapsed grotto was the *perfect* swimming spot for locals. Back when the water was flowing, and the grotto was open for hiking, you could clamber over to the slabs of fallen limestone and look for Cretaceous fossils for hours.

Oh, Akumal January 7, 2019

In the Mayan language, "Akumal" translates to the "place of turtles." These turtles presumably nested here during ancient times. Now, this place in Mexico is a world-class free-diving spot with many nooks and crannies to explore amongst your favorite fish friends.

Flight Over Roatán Aug 14, 2018

What a relief it was to have made it to Roatan. Just off the coast of Honduras is a majestic island with topography that would be worthy of being featured in Jurassic Park.

Tonight, I will be stopping overnight at a backpacker's hostel and spend a layover day free-diving in nearby reefs and swimming near dolphins at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences.

PICTURED: These curious and playful "three amigos" swam up to me during a shore swim on the north side of the island.

Snorkeling Between Plate Boundaries June 8, 2018

Hello from the Silfra Fissure, a rift between the North American and Eurasian Plate Boundaries. The water is a balmy 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Although my fingers feel numb to the cold, I'm enamored by the incredible water visibility. Surrounded by basalt columns, I feel miniscule in comparison to the large scale tectonics happening around me!

Hunting for Xenoliths

June 6, 2018

Along the outskirts of Thingvellir National Park, the hunt for xenoliths began on the exposed slopes filled with olivine basalts. Perhaps hiking boots would have been better for this excursion.

My fixation with caves continues November 18, 2017

Between waiting for our sample bottles to collect dripwater and completing our research tasks between a highly efficient team of three, we decided to go look at some cave bacon!! Here I demonstrate (without touching the features) exactly how thick those bacon slices are.

Kara and I are timing the drip rates at various sites in comparison to monthly data at Inner Space Caverns to see if there is a lag time between rainfall and flow rates underground. We wear gloves when we come into close contact with speleothems because the oil on our fingertips can interfere with natural cave precipitation and the fragile subterranean environment.

Keep our springs clean! July 6, 2017

John and I were on a mission to recover trash from the patchy areas of Jacob's Well after a particularly rowdy fourth of July. But remember, dive within your limits! Too many divers have gone too far in this intricate cave network.

Little Cayman Island Geologic Mapping May 1, 2017

Paddling with a Purpose January 14, 2017

Another successful trip down the Rio Grande River. We measured water quality throughout our trip, navigated through several beautiful rapids, crafted a delicious filo-dough and apple dessert in Seabass's dutch oven, and spotted wildlife in the canyons from our canoes. Photo credit to my boat bud Kevin.

Kids like caves too July 23, 2016

See? There is something naturally interesting about caves on Grand Cayman Island. Even children are drawn to the water's edge. Maybe it's the sparkly calcite that forms in little pockets. Maybe it's the stalactites that hang from the curved ceilings.

How to Fillet a Lionfish July 18, 2016

1. Make sure the lionfish is dead (very important)

2. Put on gloves as an extra precaution. This can prevent you from getting jabbed by the venomous spines

3. Snip both the dorsal and lateral spines off carefully using scissors or a side cutter

4. Remove the scales, skin, and rib bones

5. Cut down the centerline

Remove the fillet, rinse under cold water, prep for battering or ceviche!

Bloody Bay Wall July 18, 2016

Today I searched for lionfish (invasive to Little Cayman Island) along the reef wall. John D's research on the crypticness of lionfish meant lionfish ceviche later for his research assistants. Of course we all volunteered to chip in.

A neat demonstration of Boyle's Law

July 10, 2016

Here, I'm holding an empty sample bottle that was filled with air at the surface and then brought down 80 ft to the bow of a wrecked ship near Cayman Brac. Can you imagine what this amount of pressure does to the air volume in our bodies??

Mapping for the National Science Foundation - Cayman Islands edition

June 22, 2016

Armed with tape measures, compasses, and a complete sense of adventure, we (as in me and two of my brave friends Noah and Emma) rappelled down into a cave I had recently found with the help of an island local and began to map out the dimensions of Dangerfield Cave.

Sacred Beaches for turtles and the like

June 14, 2016

The Cayman Islands are home to the green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and leatherback turtles. It was pretty magical to watch baby turtles hatch and race off into the ocean. Some beaches are better off untouched by commercial tourism and development, eh?

Cave without a Name

April 13, 2016

This one is quite the drive but well worth taking data from. For a full day, we collected samples and soaked in the beautiful scenery. This one has an underground flow network that is very attractive to cave divers.

Aloha from Volcanology Field Camp - Hawaii

August 6, 2015

Chasing active volcanoes has taken a different turn after sightings of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador. This is from the island chain of Hawaii, where Kilauea stands her ground, glows bright at night, and Pele's tears can be found all over the place.

Longhorn Stream Team tackles the Rio Chama River - New Mexico May 2015

Longhorn Stream Team tackles the Rio Chama, Taos Box and Racecourse in New Mexico.
Five new water quality test sites were recorded along the Rio Chama in May 2015!
Song: Down the Road by C2C

Programs used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Google Earth, Movie Maker, Lightworks Pro, and GoPro Studio
Filmed on GoPro Hero 3+ and Nikon d5300
Filmed, animated and edited by Scarlette Hsia

Water Quality Sampling through Big Bend - Santa Elena Canyon Jan 16, 2015

Scouting Santa Elena Canyon

Jan 15, 2015

Longhorn Stream Team is taking break on the Rio Grande River to take science. We're measuring water quality along 64 miles of the river and adding our parameters to a public database with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

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