Page 49 of Love in the Lab
Her hair is wet, slicked back into a messy ponytail. She’s wearing yoga pants as normal, but her T-shirt is inside out and backward. Dark circles rim her eyes, and I wonder if she slept at all last night.
I jump to my feet in concern. Is this because of me?
Even as I stand, I notice further details. She’s clutching a notebook in her hands; it’s flipped open to a page filled with calculations and notes in her sloppy handwriting. Her eyes, though tired, are bright. Her expression is one of excitement and determination.
Dr. Gantt also stands up. “Dr. Delaney! This is a private meeting.”
“I’m so sorry to intrude, but you have to hear this. It’s the breakthrough we’ve been looking for!”
Dr. Gantt and I exchange a look, and she props a hand on her hip. “Well, I’m intrigued.” She smiles and gestures Molly forward into the room.
Molly closes the office door behind her and takes a seat in the chair next to me. She’s practically buzzing with energy as she sets her notebook on Dr. Gantt’s desk.
“There’s a hurricane coming, probably. Hopefully!” A laugh bubbles up out of her mouth like she can’t stop it. Her cheeks turn pink.
“Hey,” I say soothingly, laying my hand on top of hers. “Tell us what’s going on.”
Molly turns her head and meets my eyes. She takes a deep breath, in and out, and faces forward. “I’d like to send the ocean gliders out before the hurricane to collect data in real-time as it passes through.”
I sit back in my chair. She told me she was working on proving a correlation between hurricanes and red tide outbreaks. I can see how live data that track the properties of the water in the Gulf before, during, and after a hurricane would be useful. Even potentially game-changing.
Dr. Gantt tilts her head, her braids swinging with the motion. “Tell me more,” she prompts.
Molly explains her hypothesis that the changes tropical storms and hurricanes cause in the ocean, or in this case, the Gulf,might be so severe as to create conditions for outbreaks of harmful algal blooms. “I created and ran a data model that compared our Gulf water samples from the last two years with weather data. It showed a statistically significant correlation between hurricanes, or even just tropical storms, and the conditions for an outbreak.”
Dr. Gantt smiles, clearly catching on to the idea. “So, if we deploy the gliders during the upcoming hurricane, we could see in real time how the storm changes the water.”
“Exactly.”
Dr. Gantt drums her fingertips on the desk. “It’s a risk though. Gliders are expensive equipment. Could they be damaged?” She looks at me.
I clear my throat. “Of course it’s possible, but—”
“But there’s documentation of gliders at sea during storms. NOAA uses them to collect data to help improve hurricane forecasts. A university in Florida left a glider out unintentionally during a category four storm last season. They set it to avoid surfacing to send data until the storm passed. It was safer underwater. It survived, and it was the same model we have.”
“But they didn’t use their data to make any connections with red tide?” Dr. Gantt asks.
“No, it wasn’t their focus. But it is ours.” Molly wears a hopeful expression as she answers Dr. Gantt’s questions.
Dr. Gantt turns to me. “What do you think, Dr. Stanch?”
I don’t hesitate. “The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward,” I respond with a grin. “Let’s do it.”
Molly squeals and claps her hands. Dr. Gantt breaks in. “Okay, okay, it’s not a done deal. We still have safety to consider. We’ll want the gliders as close to the center of the storm as possible, but we might not know where that is until just a few days out. Can we safely launch the gliders before the storm gets too close?”
Molly points to the calculations in her notebook. “I’ve been watching the forecasts and, yes, based on the current expected track and speed, we should be able to go out and deploy the gliders using thePulsebefore the water gets too rough.”
Dr. Gantt frowns. “Do we have to deploy them by boat? Why not on the shore, and program them to travel into place?”
I shake my head. “It would take too long. If we launched the gliders from the dock, it could take them days to get into position. They wouldn’t be ready in time for the storm.”
“What timeline are we looking at then?”
Molly jumps in. “Right now, Hernando is forecasted to make landfall, probably in or near New Orleans, late on Thursday. That gives us roughly three days. The track should be more predictable by tomorrow night after Hernando passes over Cuba into the Gulf. If we deploy the gliders Wednesday, we have the best chance of accurate positioning and a safe voyage.”
“Okay, then. I’m officially green-lighting this expedition with the caveat that it must be done safely. If anything changes significantly, let’s come back together and reevaluate.”
I bounce my right knee, my foot slapping the floor in a way that reminds me of a dog during a satisfying scratch behind the ears. I’m fidgety now for a whole different reason. This is going to be so much fun.
