Yes — I am an invertebrate zoologist. I study how marine animals, especially annelid worms, are constructed: how their nervous and blood-vascular systems are organised, how they develop from larvae, and how they evolved to live in partnership with symbiotic bacteria. In practice, that means a mix of microscopy, comparative anatomy, developmental biology, and fieldwork.

A research cruise is fieldwork at sea. It is hard work, both psychologically and physically. We collect animals and sediment from the seafloor — sometimes from great depths — using dredges, corers, and remotely operated vehicles, then sort, photograph, and preserve the material on board for later study. The days are long and weather-dependent, and the work goes on around the clock — but always shared with colleagues from many different disciplines who share the same mindset.

Yes. Nikolai Andreyevich is my great-great-grandfather. Like others in the family, he was drawn to the sea, and he wrote a great deal of music about it. He was also attentive to nature and depicted it in his music, from birds to his well-known flight of the bumblebee.

Most of the photographs come from Pixabay. The wonderful tubeworm pictures were created by Gabriela Yukari Iwama — the most adorable tubeworms I have ever seen.

Just as a lighthouse lights the way at sea, I believe scientific knowledge should light our understanding — of how the natural world is organized, and how we should interact with it.