ABOUT CRAIG R. MCCLAIN & DSN

The deep ocean beyond the continental shelf represents the largest environment on earth. Given this and the lack of a centralized forum for news and findings related to the deep-sea, I thought it necessary in 2005, to start Deep-Sea News. That fall, I convinced Peter, shortly after we meet in Vienna at a meeting, to join this crazy ride.

I have been interested in the deep-sea since I was undergraduate and had the privilege of doing research with prominent deep-sea biologist for a summer. I returned to Michael Rex's lab to work on Ph.D. on how the environment through its control of body size and morphology, influences biodiversity. In my first post-doctoral fellowship with James Brown I explored how large-scale deep-sea ecological/evolutionary processes mirrored those found in other systems. In my current post-doctoral position at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute with James Barry, I am utilizing remote operated vehicles, combined with in situ manipulative experiments, to examine how local scale processes in food availability drive community assemblages.

ABOUT PETER ETNOYER & DSN

Peter's field research began in the Philippine Sulu Sea, and has since taken him to shallow tropical sites throughout the Caribbean, and deep sites in the North Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico using manned submersibles and ROV's. He enjoys scuba diving, kayaking, filmmaking, and writing, especially for the Deep-Sea News. His scientific work has been published in Oceanography and Deep-Sea Research II, and written up in Science magazine. Peter is an active member of NOAA's Ocean Exploration's Ocean Careers to Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers (OceanAGE) program. A full biography is here.

ABOUT KEVIN ZELNIO & DSN

Kevin is a graduate student teaching and research assistant at Penn State. His interests are in the study of biodiversity, community ecology and invertebrate systematics at deep-sea chemosynthetic environments, such as hydrothermal vents and methane seeps. He is interested in communities based upon a foundation species, or as he likes to refer to his dissertation: "Critters living on critters: a love story". His research takes place at hydrothermal vents on the Eastern Lau Spreading Centre, between Fiji and Tonga. Yes, he does take a week off before a cruise to hike, snorkel, and drink Fiji Bitter by the beach. Kevin is currently describing a new species of shrimp and several new species of anemones and zoanthid with colleagues. When not doing research or writing at DSN or The Other 95%, he spends most of his time being with his family, running on mountain trails, raising awareness for open access, thinking, playing guitar and songwriting.