Barbara Prezelin, professor of ecology, evolution, and marine biology, grew up in the Northwest amid tales of the sea and three-masted sailing ships. Combining her love for the ocean with a passionate scientific curiosity, this biological oceanographer has spent the last 25 years traveling from the North Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea and from California to Antarctica seeking answers to questions about the role plant biology plays in ocean food web dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, and climate changes.

"What I do best is take students to the sea," she explains. More than 100 undergraduates have accompanied Prezelin on her research trips, all participating in oceanography fieldwork.

"I’ve been to a lot of regions, and every one is as different and special as the ships that get us there and the teams of researchers who work on them to achieve the goals of the program. On every trip there are undergraduate researchers who contribute greatly to the success of the cruise and who add a scientific enthusiasm that is infectious. They come back tired and happy and with a real sense of purpose about what they want to do."

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