At the Bottom of the World
A student's incredible research trip to Antarctica
When a friend told me about his work as a laboratory technician aboard the
Antarctic research vessel R/V Laurence M. Gould, I was immediately interested,
and applied for the same position. As an undergraduate of Biology and
Environmental Science at William and Mary, I've had the opportunity to work as
a research assistant both on campus and abroad, but I had never been so far
afield. I was thrilled when I heard that I had been selected for the 2008
research cruise, working in the Microbial Biogeochemistry lab under the
direction of Dr. Hugh Ducklow.
In January, our ship left from Punta Arenas, Chile. The lab I worked in studied the "microbial loop"--how water column bacteria cycle nutrients (such as carbon) in the ecosystem. We collected and studied water samples (some taken from depths of over 12,000 ft!) and ran experiments in our ship-board lab.
The month-long research cruise is part of the Long Term Ecological Research
(LTER) project, funded by the National Science Foundation. The LTER program
investigates the changing ecosystem of the upper water column near the West
Antarctic Penninsula, traveling from Anvers Island to points below the
Antarctic Circle, where scientists study light and sea ice as well as microbial
communities, plankton, and seabirds.
We saw incredible icebergs, broke through sheets of ice, and were stalked by leopard seals. We crossed the Antarctic Circle with proper fanfare and deference to King Neptune. I saw the sun set and rise in a 3 hour span, and experienced four weeks without true darkness. We met British scientists and "birders," Minke whales and Humpbacks, and tens of thousands of penguins. I had the privilege of working with an amazingly talented group of scientists, enjoying the Gould's rich shipboard community, and seeing a breathtaking, incomparable continent.
Experiencing the beauty of the Antarctic and recognizing its fragility has
made me even more determined to link science with policies that promote
responsibility, sustainability, and conservation. I am currently working as a
laboratory technician in the Wetlands Ecology lab at VIMS and will be working
as an environmental educator aboard the tall ship Adventuress this summer. I
plan to apply to interdisciplinary doctoral programs that focus on marine
biology and environmental issues, and to begin working toward my degree in Fall
2009.
text and photos by Erin Morgan, '07
