We are currently in Cee, a small town on the Costa da Morte in the SW of Spain with Matt Smith from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee trialling the SaFa (in situ Sample Archiving Instrument)

The Safa is small boat deployable autonomous in situ sample and archiving instrument designed my Dr Matt Smith at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Whilst currently essential, ship-based sampling methods are both expensive and logistically challenging, particularly when observations are to be performed during dangerous or inconvenient conditions. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and in situ sensor instrumentation represent the future of aquatic sciences as they offer enhanced broad-scale observations while reducing personnel and transportation costs. The Sample Filtration and Archival (SaFA) instrument, developed in Dr Smith’s lab, is an open-source, programmable instrument that collects and filters 24 water samples and preserves them for subsequent molecular biological analysis in the laboratory.