Marine life science research & education

Science+art+snail embryos

RI EPSCoR SURF alum Beatrice Steinert, Brown University Class of 2016, set out to recreate a 19th century experiment by the embryologist Edwin Grant Conklin, to collect, study and sketch the embryonic developmental stages of Crepidula fornicata, commonly known as the slipper snail.

Going with the flow

Most of us don’t give a second thought to suspension bridges spanning across bodies of water, offshore oil platforms straddling ocean waves, or power transmission cables strung across the sea floor.

As long as the structures perform as designed, what happens beneath the surface remains out of sight and mind. Unless they fail, underwater cables and pipes — typically circular cylinders — withstand the dynamic loading of the ocean without much attention.