Colleen Jennings Portfolio
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Sub-Adventures and ISEA Conference

5/19/2016

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Still ever-working and exploring here in Hong Kong! After very successful repairs to our ROV with the help of City University, we ceremoniously untangled the ROV's 100ft long tether to prepare for its first emersion in both salty water and strong current. Soon after, we took an island-hopping ferry from Aberdeen Harbour to the Mo Tat village side of Lamma Island where we met with a fellow researcher from City University, Dr. Jhave Johnston. After conducting a couple water quality tests (Haley McQueen, Environmental Sciences) and capturing underwater footage with a Go Pro, we launched the ROV from the beach (accompanied by some interested dogs). The ROV responded well, but was overwhelmed by strong currents offshore and was retrieved from the water by Jennifer Rogerson (Marine Studies), who found that the tether had tangled in some debris. Professors Thomas Asmuth and Sara Gevurtz took turns piloting the ROV from an onshore laptop and OpenROV's IP address interface while I wrangled the tether from the beach. Even with the tangles, the ROV launch was a considerable success: with new information on piloting the ROV in heavy currents, we can begin to improve its design and functionality for the future.

​And now the ISEA 2016 Conference has officially begun. Last night, we attended its opening reception at Polytechnic University and had our first taste of the exciting week to come! On the schedule, we have nearly a thousand talks, panels, and in-progress presentations focused on interdisciplinary academic research and creativity with intermittent breaks for performances and open discussions with researchers and students from around the globe. Our own work-in-progress will be debuted here on Friday at 9:30 through a ten minute presentation given by Thomas and Sara. It's such a privilege to be here and to engage with mentors and peers in what will hopefully become a future career! I'll be updating again soon with more conference details and activities...
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No Rest for Research

5/13/2016

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There's no slowing down for this student: even after graduation, I had the rare opportunity to contribute to an incredible project both on my home turf in Pensacola and abroad. We are currently visiting in Hong Kong as participants in the internationally renowned ISEA conference which will be taking place across this region for three days in May. The project we are researching, Turbidity Paintings, is spearheaded by Professors Thomas Asmuth of University of West Florida and Sara Gevurtz of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Turbidity Paintings is a collaborative effort, utilizing the research methods across three departments: environmental sciences, maritime archaeological studies, and the arts. Our research assistants include Haley McQueen, Jennifer Rogerson, and myself. The focus in this project is the collection of water samples and turbidity images through both an ROV unit and on-site sampling. Our ROV unit was purchased through open-source company OpenROV and assembled at the University of West Florida. Using a HD webcam, the unit captures images at depths reaching nearly 100 feet. Our goal in this effort is to compare the clarity of the images with the information collected from water sampling and testing. Then, the images will be assembled together with the data collected as a gallery, showcasing the information both as aesthetic visuals and scientific recordings.

In combining the studies of science, humanities, and arts, we hope to forge cross-disciplinary relationships as a standard for research practices at the University of West Florida. Our efforts have been greatly supported by the Office for Undergraduate Research at West Florida, as well as the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, the Earth and Environmental Sciences, Archaeology, and Art Departments. We have also had overwhelming support abroad from the faculty and staff at City University of Hong Kong's Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre. 

Updates will continue to post as we prepare for the ISEA 2016 conference in Hong Kong!
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