"So what exactly does Chris do for work?" This seems to be a question Jackie hears often. To help answer this question, we have compiled a few pictures to illustrate what it is I do. But before I get to that, here is a quick summary. I work for the University of Hawaii at Manoa Oceanography Department as a Marine Instrumentation Technical Associate. Basically I am our labs technician/engineer for designing and creating mounts and brackets for underwater/marine instruments. It is alot of fun and can range from using PVC to high quality 316 stainless steel and even some titanium. I have just completed the UH scientific SCUBA diving class and will begin to be the lead diver for our diving operations as well. What I do is actually quite a difficult question to answer because my job changes all the time.
A breif summary of some of the things I have done at work are as follows...
- Before the UH job I went on a NOAA ship for Marine Debris Cleanup in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. See our previous posts for more pictures (2006).
big net
looking for net
lunch break with an endangered Monk seal
hauling in a big net
- Boat driver for many of our diving operations and equipment testing
- Design & fabricate mountings for our instruments
We now are using video cameras for wave data. This one is in Waikiki.
Portable sand mounted tower
for video cameras that measure wave swashing on the sand.
Acoustic sonar mount
(measures sand ripples and scouring)
Drifter
(this one is still in progress, but measures currents by using GPS)
Wave and Current instrument mounts
(this is for the ones we use most often. We have measured waves and currents at Waimea, near Haleiwa, Pipeline, Waikiki, Guam, and many other places)
- I Helped to Install Tide gauges In Lanai HI, Cape Verde, Senegal, and the Azores.
Lanai Tide Gauge
- Most recently I went to Guam to install a bunch of wave and current profilers. I also got to help deploy a wave buoy.
new sensor on left, after 3-4 months on right
reef edge sensor !DANGEROUS!I got knocked over twice by waves and drug ~15ft across the reef
Diving the drop off just outside the reef edge sensor
wave buoy
- The Professor I work for and I have also been writing a paper on sea level extremes (tides vs storm influences)
6 comments:
ummm...I specifically remember that you also used to tend small parentless children and you would teach them random facts about poop, farts and vegetables. I also seem to remember that in the past you also took married pregnant women out on dates to the zoo to watch naughty monkeys! (don't forget those important jobs in your list of things chris does) hahahahaha...naughty monkeys...hahahaha
Jackie - how dun to find your blog through my sister Heidi. Looks like you are enjoying life!! Tell your family hello!
It sounds like you have an intense/cool job. Do you love it?
YEAH! Chris Kontoes rocks! You shall forever be dubbed "Aquaman"
wow! like a real life action hero!
Hey, I like checking out your blog! Chris: Very informative post! You must love your job! Jackie: I know we don't know each other, but I just wanted to say that I, too, am in love with DISNEYLAND, and I enjoyed your photos. Oh, and I like your hair in the new post where you are holding your niece. :)
thanks for letting me visit your blog!
Deb
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