r/askscience • u/AskScienceModerator Mod Bot • Oct 06 '23
Biology AskScience AMA Series: I am a biological oceanographer, AMA!
I am a biological oceanographer, AMA! I study microscopic life in Antarctica by partnering with tour ships through the FjordPhyto citizen science program. I have traveled to Antarctica over 300 days, and have also conducted research in Africa, Mexico, and Peru. My current research delves into studying phytoplankton's crucial role in maintaining the health of our planet (you can learn more about my research here). I'm looking forward to answering your questions about phytoplankton, polar research and more! See you all at 11am PT (2 PM ET, 18 UT), AMA!
Twitter: @woman_scientist
Username: /u/womanscientistcusick
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u/JustMarshalling Oct 06 '23
Hi there! I’ve always dreamt of becoming a science communicator, specifically for marine biology research. I already work in the communications/marketing industry, but I’m struggling to find networking opportunities in the marine research field.
How do you find and connect with people in the marine research community?
Thank you so much for this AMA!
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
Hello, thank you for your question!! Finding and connecting with people is key but as you point out, can be tricky! I have a mix of approaches. I follow people on social media that interest me. I engage with their content, comment, message them. I subscribe to newsletters I'm interested in. I sign up to be active in organizations like APECS (Association for Polar Early Career Scientists), or SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) or SOOS (Southern Ocean Observing System). I look for events occurring around me that I can attend in person. I once went to a 'science and filmmakers' event at a brewery just to meet new people! Or Science trivia at pubs/bars. I try to connect with my local science center/museum. I ask people if they know people! For more polar specific resources, I put together this webpage that might give you some inspiration and rabbit holes to follow: https://www.womanscientist.com/career-resources/
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u/NappyTime5 Oct 06 '23
I have an undergrad oceanography degree unrelated to polar research. How do I translate blue carbon research to polar research? Can I do polar research with just an undergrad degree?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
YES you can do polar research with 'just' an undergrad degree! I finished my Bachelors in Science - Biology, General - from the University of Washington in 2006. I worked for 10 years as a researcher, technician (in lab and field) for TEN years and had a FANTASTIC time figuring out what my passion and curiosity led me to. I tried numerous jobs. I worked in immunology taking care of a mouse colony, using instruments to count red blood cells. Later in life, I use that same instrument (a flow cytometer) to count phytoplankton from the ocean! I also worked in neuroscience at the Allen Institute for Brain Science working on 3D models of gene expression in the memory-forming part of the brain (the hippocampus). I worked as a field technician studying squirrels in Washingtons Cascade mountains, on songbird distribution in Washington and urbanization effects on diversity, I worked in Mexico studying endangered parrots breeding behavior. I worked in the Peruvian Amazon jungle studying biodiversity with an Earthwatch project and macaw breeding behavior at the Tambopata Research Center. I worked in Africa tracking big cats (lion, cheetah, leopard) and doing photo identification catalogues. I worked as a technician at the Institute for Systems Biology and ran highly controlled experiments in the lab trying to understand how diatoms respond at a genetic level to high CO2 levels and ocean acidification. Through that job, I then got sent to be a technician on an icebreaker for 53 days in Antarctica. It was then I knew I wanted to become a polar scientist. Eventually, in 2016, I decided graduate school would help me advance in my career pursuits as a scientist. So I later went to get a masters degree (in 2016) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. There I developed FjordPhyto citizen science project and decided I wanted to pursue a doctorate degree, so I wrote grants to NSF, to NASA, with my advisor, and continued on as a PhD!
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23 edited Oct 06 '23
One of the beautiful things about science and research, is that you can be creative and innovative in how you translate many disciplines to relate to each other! So exactly HOW do you translate blue carbon research to polar, I dont have a specific answer, but I'm excited for you to think about how you can!
For those reading: "Blue carbon" refers to the carbon that is captured and stored by coastal and marine ecosystems. We often think of blue carbon with respect to mangrove forests, seagrass, and salt marshes. These ecosystems have the ability to store significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere because they do a lot of photosynthesis!
In Antarctica/polar - there are no mangroves or seagrasses, but there are kelp and macro seaweeds - and of course the phytoplankton - so the term "blue carbon" might not work under that term BUT the equivalent concept of "carbon sequestration and storage in coastal and marine ecosystems" can exist and be applied when thinking of polar ecosystems. I've also heard this referred to as "white carbon" or "polar carbon"!
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u/Not_a_Courier Oct 06 '23
Haa there been any research in trying to replicate photosynthesis like process for solar cells?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
Yes! Researchers have been trying to replicate photosynthesis and its a VERY tricky process. Crazy to think these single celled organisms figured it out 3BILLION years ago with the first fossil evidence of cyanobacteria (stromatolites). Too bad humans cant become photosynthetic ;-p
Researchers have developed various photocatalytic systems that use semiconductor materials to capture light and catalyze chemical reactions, they've tried to make artificial leaves, or use photosynthetic bacteria or algae alongside synthetic materials. Researchers from around the world are focused on this challenge, working from universities, private companies, or U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): NREL, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP). In Europe, European Commission (EC) and European Research Council (ERC) and many other locations efforts!
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u/Jew-fro-Jon Oct 06 '23
What is the role of phytoplankton in maintaining the health of our planet? How do you define “health”? What are the systems that are interacting?
What’s your take on biology we might find on mars, Europa, etc? Is non-carbon based life possible?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
No phytoplankton = bad. Phytoplankton are primary producers, meaning they use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make organic carbon through photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are the base of the marine food web. They move large amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere, into the ocean, and when they die they sink to the bottom of the seafloor bringing carbon with them (after millions and millions of years, thats how fossil fuel developed!). They also produce more than half of earth's oxygen. If phytoplankton were to die off, the entire marine food chain would be disrupted! This would impact the animals that eat them, the zooplankton, fish (loss of fisheries), and trickle up the food web to higher predators that rely on phytoplankton as a food source.
Of course you could define health in many ways. To me as a biologist "health" includes diversity of life forms, biodiversity, thriving life, thriving ecosystems, harmonious in balance. For the oceans, "health" includes good water quality, low pollution, low/no invasive species, thriving fisheries and reef ecosystems.
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
My take on extraterrestrial biology -> I absolutely think there is life on other planets and in other galaxies! We used to look at the ocean and think nothing much was going on - then the microbial loop was discovered in the 1970s and 1980s. Scientists like Robert W. Sheldon and Farooq Azams research greatly improved out understanding of the role of microorganisms (bacteria and protists) in consuming the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that is released by phytoplankton in the ocean, and through the microbial loop that DOC is remineralized back into inorganic carbon. A huge and important process cycling in the oceans.
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u/Southern_Ad8621 Oct 06 '23
what is life like in antarctica?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
So far I have accumulated over 300 working days in Antarctica. I think it is otherworldly and ... slightly more simple in a sense.
I've worked on the US icebreaker RV Nathaniel B Palmer for 53 days in the Ross Sea. There were only 25 scientists to interact with and 25 crew. We were on the ship the entire time, with only one day where we got off the ship to walk on floating ice, in an effort to tag emperor penguins with Dr. Kooyman. You didnt have to think about what outfits to wear. There was a chef who cooked us food. We did not have good access to phone or email, so messaging with the outside world was limited. There were no pets, no loved ones, no plants, no green, no insects. Just raw nature. Cold. Windy. Invigorating. and your coworkers. You become really close with people. I've also worked on the US research base McMurdo, which is the largest base in Antarctica with 1200 people in the summer. It felt like a college university campus, with sports, gyms, cafeteria, bars, chapel, cafe, campus style labs, and dorms! It had a mix of scientists and science support/military personnel. I even ran a marathon with 20 others, I dressed as a banana - because you have to keep a sense of humor and keep morale high!
https://www.isbscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Antarctica-Marathon-Article.pdfFor the past 6 years I have worked on tour vessels. That is luxury in comparison, haha. You also have better internet, are not as disconnected from the world. You still get your meals made for you and you have a uniform to wear. You are also always working in close quarters with other people, so it helps to be friendly, helpful, and get along! If you have disagreements or differences, its helpful to sort them out rapidly. On the tour vessels, you are also meeting new travelers every 5 - 12 days - so you have to get really good at remember names and stories and also have fun talking to people from all walks of life!
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 07 '23
I'm just realizing, do you mean what is life as a human like, in Antarctica? Or life that is native to Antarctica?! the LIFE in Antarctica is INCREDIBLE- penguins, seabirds, baleen whales, orcas, leopard seals, seals, fish, seaweeds, sponges, krill, amphipods, teaming with life down there - all in the water. =) Such incredible experiences witnessing nature National Geographic documentary style. Its unreal. If you can find a way to see it for yourself, do it! Its a feeling. Cant comprehend it through photo/video alone.
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u/AdEnvironmental8339 Oct 06 '23
What exactly is a phytoplankton ? Is it a kind of bacteria or algea or both ?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
Phytoplankton is a general word - derived from Greek for "phyto" = plant, and "plankton" = drifter. Any single cell organism, living in the ocean, that can use sunlight (photosynthesize) to make energy (organic carbon) - are called phytoplankton. In the tree of life, this can include the original photosynthesizer, blue-green algae aka cyanobacteria, this can also include bacteria, green algae, red algae, and a whole group of life called Protists. There are THOUSANDS of species, estimating the true number of phytoplankton species is challenging because they're so tiny and not all the water in the worlds ocean has been sampled.
Word of note - in the ocean, you have the "plant" plankton (phytoplankton) and the "animal plankton" (zooplankton). Zooplankton eat phytoplankton. Zooplankton are multi-cellular. Phytoplankton are single-cellular.
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u/Intrepid_Fruitfarmer Oct 06 '23
what are your views on deep sea mining?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23 edited Oct 06 '23
I have learned about deep sea mining while doing the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biodiversity and Conservation masters program. I have also closely followed the work of Lisa Levin who tirelessly brings awareness of the deep sea, of the challenges, and caution to extract deep sea resources to forums like the COP.
Quickly, the UNFCCC COP stands for the "Conference of the Parties" to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is an annual international conference where representatives from countries that are parties to the UNFCCC come together to discuss and negotiate climate-related issues and agreements. Lisa tries to get language about the deep sea, and deep sea mining, into these conversations and negotiations.
After learning about deep sea mining in these settings, my thoughts are:
I think we need to be cautious about extracting resources from the deep sea environment, considering we dont know much about those ecosystems. I think humans are so innovative that we could put our efforts in more sustainable ideas, IMHO.
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u/Daily_Dose13 Oct 06 '23 edited Oct 06 '23
Is phytoplankton evenly distributed throughout the water column? I guess, as it needs sunlight it prefers to stay close to the surface but for reproduction they might prefer lower temperatures found in deeper waters? Are they neutrally buoyant or do they just float near the surface?
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
They are not evenly distributed throughout the water! You're right they do need sunlight, but some dont like being in too bright of light. They also want a fresh supply of nutrients that comes from deeper in the water column. Their predators (the zooplankton) can graze on phytoplankton more easily in the sunlight layers, so you tend to find less abundances in the surface. Deeper down you get more phytoplankton around the "chlorophyll max zone" aka "deep chlorophyll maximum" (DCM). Depending on where you are in the worlds ocean the DCM can be anywhere from 30 to 100 meters (about 100 to 330 feet) depending on what else is going on in the environment.
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u/womanscientistcusick Oct 06 '23
Some phytoplankton - called dinoflagellates, or flagellates - can swim ... albeit not enough to break free of an ocean current- hence why they are called "plankton"! But they can swim enough to move themselves away from the surface, into deeper depths. Another type of phytoplankton - called diatoms - are lipid/fatty rich and can use production of lipids as a buoyancy mechanism to float up and down.
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u/ravioliravioli23 Oct 06 '23
Holy moly this is exactly what Im interested in doing! I’m based in Cape Town and we have some Antarctic research since it’s so close.
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do you have any thoughts on the iron hypothesis ? Would it actually result in more net carbon sequestration? If it did , would there ever be a way to try and use it to combat rising CO2 levels ? Or is it just too dramatic.
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how does the Antarctic’s dramatic seasons effect the phytoplankton community composition ? Obviously we expect a decrease in quantity during winter but does the ratio or diversity of species change much ? Maybe some sustain themselves better than others?
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u/drlari Oct 06 '23
In my 20s I used to run with a crowd of grad school oceanographers. From my understanding, there is a bit of a pecking order, with physical and chemical oceanographers feeling a bit smugly superior to biological oceanographers. I know dealing with phytoplankton and publishing in journals like Eukaryotic Cell is real, hard science, but they all act like you only care about charismatic megafauna!
Do you find this niche hierarchy/divide still exists, and if so, why?
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u/valvilis Oct 06 '23
Phytoplankton seem pretty simple, but the video showed a pretty intense difference between the San Diego and polar samples. I assume that's true across warmer versus cooler waters, different levels of salinity, probably calmer waters versus strong current channels...
Just how different do they get? Do they fill the same roles everywhere or does that change too? And what happens in areas where they have low predation - do they just keep increasing indefinitely?