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Into The Storm, Under The Ocean The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) offers many summer internships and programs for midshipmen to take part in each year. One of those internship opportunities is a program called Training and Research in Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes in Tropical Cyclones (TROPIC), an internship program offered to rising first class (senior) and second class (junior) midshipmen during the third block of their summer training. The program, created by Navy Capt. Beth Sanabia, a permanent military professor in the oceanography department at USNA, began in 2011. During the months of July and August, Sanabia and her TROPIC team work directly with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as the Hurricane Hunters, from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, to improve hurricane forecast accuracy by understanding what is happening under the storm during tropical disturbances in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The TROPIC team augments the Hurricane Hunters’ atmospheric measurements by collecting ocean data in and around the storm environment.
“The combination of being able
to solve real-world science problems in an operationally-focused
environment and gaining an understanding into the mechanics under
the storm is what made the program worth doing,” said Sanabia, who
has a doctorate in meteorology. “Having midshipmen evaluating these
problems punches so many tickets. It advances them professionally,
it stretches them operationally and academically, and it requires
them to think.”
“They are doing real research that is often cutting edge,” she
said. “We don’t know what the answer is, and that’s a really hard
thing for midshipmen because they are, like many of us, focused on
achieving an objective in a ‘see the hill - take the hill’ sequence.
They want a clear objective – to look for something and find it –
and for this type of research it doesn’t work that way. You have to
be open-minded about an analysis and see where the data leads, then
adjust your approach accordingly. It might take a couple of
different techniques to identify a signal and then some deep thought
to understand what physical processes are happening. Thankfully,
these midshipmen are a trusting and tenacious bunch. They trust the
process and work hard, and inevitably everything comes together and
they get solid results.” The TROPIC team is also composed of scientists from other organizations, including Steven Jayne, a senior scientist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Jeffrey Kerling from the Naval Oceanographic Office. The program is funded through research grants from the Office of Naval Research. “The professional and academic development of the midshipmen who
participate is really important to me,” said Sanabia. “I’m grateful
for the support from the Academy and the funding from the Office of
Naval Research, and I’m grateful that the midshipmen are all in on
it and really give it their best shot, not just in the summer, but
in the academic year too. We’ve been able to make some good advances
to better understand what’s happening in the ocean under the storm,
and we’ve been able to answer some really hard science questions
that were not understood before we started.”
“Captain Sanabia demonstrated impactful
leadership throughout my involvement in the program,” said
Midshipman 1st Class Irene Norman, an honors oceanography major.
“She gave us room to plan our own data collection, make mistakes,
and learn from those mistakes. She stayed late with us when we had
to work on processing and made sure we took time off to recharge.
She challenged us to continue improving our analysis and briefs, and
she sets the standard of an officer who expects excellence and gives
their people the support they need to succeed. I hope to one day be
an officer with some of her intelligence, toughness, and
commitment.”
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