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Submerged in learning

May 13, 2015
Adam Zenone wearing a mask

From an undersea habitat to an icy expedition, Adam Zenone had the scholarly summer of his life.

Clarion University graduates have done some pretty amazing things. Professional athletes, TV news anchors and CEOs line the pages of the alumni record, and the list grows ever longer. Still, it's hard to imagine that any Clarion alumnus has had quite the summer that Adam Zenone ('11) had in 2014.

Zenone, a biology graduate with a particular interest in marine biology, moved seamlessly from Clarion to Miami in pursuit of his master's degree at Florida International University. There, he knew he would have the opportunity to do great things, but in his wildest dreams he could not have imagined joining a mission with Jacques Cousteau's grandson, Fabien, or that he would spend 16 consecutive days in an underwater habitat. Now, he's done both, and can only succinctly describe the experience as, "indescribable."

"When I look back on it," Zenone said, "it kind of feels like a dream. The minute I came to the surface, I looked back down at the habitat and wondered, 'Did that really happen to me?'"

After working "top-side" on a prior mission 

and conducting his own related experiment, Zenone's professors and the team behind the underwater expeditions took note and asked Zenone to join an upcoming project, "Mission 31."
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, really. In a nutshell, I'm just blown away," Zenone said after learning he'd be joining the Mission 31 crew. "We'll be underwater for over two weeks. We won't see the sun; we won't be coming up."

The water bearer

underwater photoThe habitat Zenone and his crewmates lived in, known as the Aquarius, is located 63 feet beneath the surface of the ocean in the Florida Keys. The Aquarius sits near a deep coral reef – the focus of Mission 31.

Once under water, the crew got to work on their mission's objective: studying the relationships between predators and their prey within a coral reef. Zenone explained that there is far more to the predator-prey relationship than who eats whom. Mission 31 was specifically interested in the environmental effects the predator-prey relationship had on this Florida Keys reef region. By adding predatory grouper into the environment, they were able to study the changes in the seagrass environment--a popular feeding ground for herbivorous life in the coral reef.

Underwater photoTheir mission was part of a larger effort to determine the human impact on this and other reef areas. In this case, the crew's findings could demonstrate the negative effects of overfishing the grouper to the coral reef environment.
One of Zenone's major tasks involved deploying, monitoring and maintaining the SONAR acoustic equipment used on the mission. Along with his crewmembers, he spent between eight and nine hours in the water each day, using diving equipment.

"Time flew," Zenone said. "We blew through the days like nobody's business." With a third of his day spent in the water, Zenone spent the rest of his time in the Aquarius, preparing for other outings, logging data, eating and sleeping. When he had some extra time, he also kept a blog (http://zen1for31.weebly.com/).
Since food tends to spoil quickly in the underwater pressurized environment, many of Zenone's meals consisted of freeze-dried food. According to Zenone, the food was usually pretty tasteless, so he and his crewmates added dried peppers and hot sauce to add some flavor.

"Occasionally we'd receive fresh food deliveries from the surface," Zenone said, adding that the Mission 31 crew looked forward to those meals immensely.

Golden opportunity

Giant fish underwaterProving that success comes down to both what you know and who you know, Zenone--who worked closely with professors from Alaska for Mission 31--was soon invited to join another research project--this time near the Bering Sea. Already having the summer of his life, Zenone quickly accepted the offer.

"We left the Keys and two days later I was in Alaska," he said.

There, he and the research team worked with robotic vessels as part of an effort to map and monitor the bottom of a mining area in Nome, Alaska. With this map and future studies, scientists will have a better understanding of the environmental impact of the "Bering Sea gold rush," the focus of the Discovery Channel series "Bering Sea Gold."
Zenone explained that there are very few regulations surrounding the mining of gold in Alaskan waters. "Mapping these areas will allow us to see what they look like before and after the miners come," he said.

At mother's knee

It's hard to believe someone with this level of opportunity and attention could be so humble, but Zenone is exactly that. In fact, even in the midst of his whirlwind adventures to the farthest regions of the United States, Zenone gave a lot of credit to his alma mater.

"Honestly, without the Clarion biology department – and the fantastic caliber of professors there – I wouldn't be anywhere, at least in terms of the level I've gotten to," he said. "Every step of the way I learned directly from them. They were really good at getting us out in the field, providing hands-on experience, and teaching us how to be professionals."

After a pause, Zenone said, "I wouldn't have made it to grad school without them."

Last Updated 1/11/21