MITS is pleased to share this NewsWorks article about MITS Board Member, David Remsen. Read on for information about what David does at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole!
Weird Science Jobs: Grocer of the Seas
By Carolyn Beeler, NewsWorks
July 23, 2015
David Remsen aboard the Marine Biological Laboratory’s research vessel off the coast of Cape Cod. (Carolyn Beeler/WHYY
In February, a British engineer announced he had found the strongest natural material on Earth, the teeth of a type of sea snail called the limpet.
The discovery could inspire the invention of a super-strong man-made material, and add to the list of scientific breakthroughs owing their start to research on sea creatures.
Scientists already know more about the nervous system, HIV and cancer from studies on squid, sea squirts and clams.
Before they can even start studies like these, though, someone has to get marine animals out of the sea and into their labs.
Grocer of the seas
At the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass, that someone is David Remsen.
Remsen is the kind of sea-ready East Coaster who wears shorts and sunglasses on a research boat when everyone else is wearing a coat. He oversees a team that catches, stores and raises marine animals for biomedical researchers at the lab to study.
Remsen grew up in Woods Hole, a town on Cape Cod that has a population of about 800 but boasts six major marine research institutions.
“You can’t swing a stick without hitting a marine biologist of some kind around here,” Remsen said. “I just was exposed to this my whole life.”
Remsen credits a summer science school in Woods Hole with igniting his passion for marine biology.
“What better way [to get interested in science] than mucking around with a bunch of seven year olds in the swamps and on the beaches, getting dirty and showing off in front of your friends picking up critters?” Remsen said.
Click here to read the rest of this article at NewsWork’s website!