Undergraduate Research Accomplishments Accomplishments: 2023 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research Fellowship for Physics Major

Viktoriya A Balabanova, a Physics major at the College of Engineering, is the winner of the 2022 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Spring Research Fellowship. Viktoriya's project is titled “Using cloud computing and satellite observations to provide context to in situ oceanographic measurements.” The research focuses on utilizing cloud computing tools to search very high-resolution satellite imagery of the ocean surface and explore interesting scenarios from data and observations provided by recent large filed campaigns (SPURS1, SPURS2, S-MODE, ASIRI and MISOBOB). This project will give Viktoriya the opportunity to create cloud computing environments on AWS, and access and manipulate NASA Earth Science data. Furthermore, she will be able to learn more about flows in nature related to weather and the ocean and gain more experience in MATLAB and/or Python, while getting introduced to lab -based research career opportunities that exist locally. As a fellow Viktoriya will work on her project to provide meaningful results in one semester work. Project topics of other selected undergraduate researchers in this competitive opportunity span the vast spectrum of research in ocean sciences and engineering conducted in WHOI’s science departments and the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). Viktoriya will have the opportunity to attend and participate in a busy schedule of talks, seminars and a hands-on, one-day ocean sampling cruise onboard the R/V Tioga focusing on data collection and sampling methods with advanced oceanographic technology and instruments.