University of New England

University of New England marine biology major Ashley Below '05 completed her second trip to the Antarctic aboard the research vessel/icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer for a 39-day expedition. (Go directly to her blog.)

Day 4 (12/15/04): Dr. Gomes, Dr. Goes' research assistant, and I unpacking supplies for our research experiments. The land behind us is part of the Banks Peninsula, which is across from Lyttelton, NZ.

She departed on Dec. 10, 2004, flying to Christchurch, New Zealand, to catch the ship, which embarked from Lyttelton, New Zealand on Dec. 18.

She returned home Jan. 25, 2005, via a military cargo plane that departed from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, back to Christchurch, from which she made her plane trip home.

Below, a senior, was a research assistant to Joaquim Goes, Ph.D., of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, a UNE affiliate. Goes’ research team is studying how increased ultraviolet light affects the chemical composition of the principal species of Antarctic phytoplankton. This cruise is during the period of high phytoplankton density in the Ross Sea.

Below's work with Dr. Goes was an internship, which was performed through the UNE Department of Environmental Studies and coordinated through the DES Internship Office. She is receiving nine academic credits for the work.

During the trip, Below sent us photos, along with excerpts from her daily journal, notes on the research, wildlife she encounters and her reflections on the Antarctic. Click for:

		Ashley Below's Blog Entries
		A Profile of Ashley Below and her First Trip to the Antarctic

The Research
Antarctica is subjected to particularly high levels of UV light due to a patch of thinning ozone located directly above it. Phytoplankton are an important source of food in the ocean.

Dr. Goes, with the help of Below and another research assistant, is studying the changes in phytoplankton fatty acid, amino acid, and carbohydrate contents to better understand how this may impact the growth of animals high in the food chain.

Additionally, they employed sediment traps to observe the material that sinks to the bottom of the ocean. This will allow them to study how much carbon is sequestered by phytoplankton, as well as how compositional changes affect which species dominate the Ross Sea.

The National Science Foundation funds the research as part of a program to study how decreasing ozone levels will affect the food web at different levels as well as the carbon cycle in the ocean.