Mei Sato

Mei Sato
Oregon State University
email: msato@coas.oregonstate.edu
web: people.oregonstate.edu/~satomei/MeiSato/

I’m currently a postdoc at Oregon State University.  I gained my background in marine biology during my undergraduate studies in Tokyo, and broadened my field to biological, physical, and acoustical oceanography in graduate schools in Maine and Victoria, Canada.  I am interested in how biological and physical variability affect animal behavior (e.g., diel vertical migration) and distributions in the ocean, and how those interactions affect trophic dynamics.  I am particularly interested in small-scale biological-physical interactions which drive population and ecosystem dynamics.  High spatial and temporal variability in these processes and their interactions make our study challenging, but also exciting!

With the recent advancement in technologies, it is essential to expand my toolbox to encompass new approaches that have potential to increase our understanding of animal behavior underwater including autonomous platforms.  This training program was a great opportunity for me to gain integrative understanding of sensors on the platforms and their operations, as well as how to lead a research cruise with a diverse group of scientists.  I think the most difficult part of being a Chief Scientist is making a decision when the sea state is not perfect, but not bad enough to call off the operation right away.  Establishing understanding and good communication with crew and other scientists in a short period of time (1 day!) was also a big challenge.  Because deployment/recovery of AUVs involved cranes, mutual understanding of operation processes was critical for everyone’s safety on deck.  This training program provided me the opportunity to experience difficulties that I will need to prepare for in the future and to learn how to deal with the situations once it happens.