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Women’s History Month at WHOI

March 8, 2013

Mentors & Mentees
MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Jill McDermott learned about hydrothermal vent chemistry from one of the masters—she was one of Karen Von Damm’s last students. McDermott recalled her mentor’s face lighting up at the prospect of finding a vent in the very deep ocean, well below 2,500 meters. Unfortunately, Von Damm passed away before her dream was realized by Chris German and others in 2009. Today, McDermott studies the chemistry of fluids issuing from the Mid-Cayman Rise 4,960 meters below the surface—at the Piccard and Von Damm vent fields.(Photo by Julia DeMarines)