What's your job on the Atlantis? I'm just a visiting scientist on the ship, so I don't work for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute per se, but my job is to experiment with methods of collecting DNA and RNA from the Alvinella worms. My other job is to keep myself from getting hurt or killed, as the ship is actually a semi-dangerous place. So I try to follow the rules as much as possible and listen to the crew.

How long have you been with the ship? This is my second "Extreme" voyage.

Where are you from? Originally? California. However, I have spent time in different places in roughly equal, 6–10 years, equal amounts of time. Thus, I would say, in the following order, the South Bay -Los Angeles, California, area as a child; middle and high school in Casper, Wyoming, plus two years of college in Lararmie, Wyoming; I finished college at Arizona State University in Tempe (Phoenix area), Arizona; graduate school in Little Rock, Arkansas; then my postdoctoral work in La Jolla (San Diego area), California. My last job sent me to Berkeley, California, for some time. My parents have moved around a bit, too —Tucson, Arizona; Leeds, England; Glasgow, Scotland; Yakima, Washington. I like moving, as you end up with friends everywhere and learn a lot more about things, about yourself and others, and about how things work each time you move.

What's the most unusual thing you've seen on a cruise? Other than the bottom of the ocean, I would say, no signs of human life other than the people on the boat. Since our research occurs in a specific place, we are not in a regular shipping lane, and not in an area of much air travel. Thus, you never see an airplane or another boat (well, we saw one this trip) at any time, day or night. Other strange things are flying fish, which I thought were some story creature like mermaids, and birds that show up out of nowhere, since we are a four-day drive from Costa Rica.

What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten? I would say Rocky Mountain Oysters (bull testicles), except they were deep-fried, so that's not very strange as deep-fried foods are all the same. Thus, I would say, and I put a disclaimer here saying that you should not try this at home, barbeque roadkill possum. I ate this in graduate school, but I knew what time it had died, so it was fresh. We also tried to cook it in a way to make sure we wouldn't get sick from some disease it may have been carrying. It was pretty good the first time. We cooked another one later on, but it wasn't too good, as we cut out some of our preparation steps, so it was pretty nasty. 65th street wasn't a good place to be if you were a possum.

What's the hardest thing you've had to endure? Dating someone from work; again, don't try this yourselves. Other than that, since I don't dig heights, I would say a canopy tour in Rincón de la Vieja, Costa Rica. A canopy tour is where you slide from tree to tree on cables using a small harness and a pulley wheel. The trees in the cloud forests are really tall, so we were pretty high off the ground. One of the cables went over a canyon 150 feet off the ground, and was 600 feet long. On the other hand, it was cool too, since we ended up in a tree next to a bunch of howler monkeys.

If you didn't have this job, what would be your next job of choice? Movie director, singer in some band, or a professional fighter, the no-rules kind, where I would practice a lot of Brazilian Jui Jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing.

What's the hardest thing you've had to endure? Again, I wouldn't recommend this, but, starving myself, and not drinking water for days on end to make weight for wrestling competitions. I remember my daily intake of food from Tuesdays–Thursdays being a pear, a peanut butter or oatmeal cookie, a shot of water, a shot of milk, a shot of orange juice, a shot of water with sugar and salt in it, and a shot of Coca-Cola. It was easy at first, but got too mentally and physically difficult later. I lost too much weight; you could see my heart beat, and my hair started falling out. Silly thing is, I didn't have to "endure" it, and I would have been better off wrestling in the weight higher up. The other things would have been the summer I lived in Phoenix, were it can get to be 120°F (that's without the heat index), without air conditioning.

Where's the coolest place you've ever been? Casper, Wyoming, on a -40° day (that's without the wind chill). Oh, you mean in terms of interesting... I'd say every time I go somewhere new, the place where I am is the coolest; however, when the place is connected to an event, I would say that makes it even better. What sticks out in recent memory is Black Rock City, Nevada, with my friend Dave, the night when they burnt the sculpture. That place is basically a temporary city made by artists, and there is a lot to see, and the environment is rough (you camp there), so that adds an extra edge. Another is "The Thing, the Great Mystery of the Desert" out in the middle of nowhere in southern Arizona — anyone who likes it seems not to tell others what it really is, even though there aren't any rules forbidding you to do so. But really, anywhere that requires any extended travel to get to — I just like driving and different places. Mission Beach, California, where I live, I can do about anything there ... go sailing, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, surfing, and such. Also, Wyoming had a lot of open land/nature going for it, which I miss a lot. I bought hiking shoes for Costa Rica last year, which I haven't used since. So, if it's not too late, I think after I finish writing a journal article, I may go to Yosemite, California, as Julie on this Extreme 2002 trip explained how nearby it is. I remember really liking that place as a child. I'm thinking of maybe asking my stepdad if he would like to go hike and camp up in Washington state, too, as he is experienced in these things, and I don't really know anyone in San Diego who has the interest, or if they do, the time. Costa Rica is cool.