Over the past month, the CARTHE team has worked tirelessly to conduct an elaborate experiment with hundreds of pieces of equipment and nearly as many people. We have overcome challenges, collected millions of data points, and will spend the next year (or more?) analyzing and publishing this data. But one thing you might not realize is just how much fun this group of individuals from across the world had while together in Louisiana!

We kayaked for work AND fun.

We pretended to fly planes after spending 4-5 hours in the back collecting data.

That awkward moment when you realize you wore the same shirt as 3 other people to a party.

We worked, ate, planned, and celebrated on the beautiful back porch of our house in Grand Isle.

We cannot share all of the details about the mysterious ceremony that occurred on said porch to recognize the handwork and commitment of everyone involved, spearheaded by our fearless leader, Jeroen the swamp king, orchestrated by the aberrant minds of Conor Smith and Laura Bracken, but here is a glimpse of the dedication this group has for everything they do (Jeroen is wearing a trash bag, moss, mud, rope, and more; Conor may be wearing shoe polish?).

ummmmm…. ?

We befriended several Grand Isle locals including this Harbor Police officer who helped us collect drifters along the beach AFTER his shift ended.  Thank you!

Conor Smith took great pride in repairing the torn Zodiac tube with the help of his new friend, Freddy the shrimper.

The most fun of all was getting out to sea and doing the work.  Science is fun!

It is evident that these people love what they do and love to share their passion with those around them. When people come together with a common purpose and complete dedication to a project, great things happen and a lot of fun is had!