SOFeX Cruise
January 5 - February 26, 2002
Southern Ocean
Crew
Click on any name to read an interview:
USCGC Polar Star Crew
| Dr. Ken Buesseler | Leah Houghton |
| Steven Pike | Russell Frew |
| Peter Croot | Edward Abraham |
| Craig Herbold | Laura Goldson |
| Chrissy Van Hilst |
Dick Barber
Harvey W. Smith Professor of Biological Oceanography and Professor of Botany and Zoology
http://www.env.duke.edu/marinelab/
What is your role on this cruise?
To participate in the measurement of primary production and photosynthetic performance
What are your primary goals?
To determine whether primary productivity and photosynthetic performance are increased by the addition of iron to the HNLC Southern Ocean waters. In particular, we are investigating the relatively slow rate of response of productivity, photosynthetic performance and other cellular processes.
What do you expect to find?
We expect that iron will increase the rate of primary productivity and photosynthetic performance and that the rate increases will take place disproportionately in the large phytoplankton.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
My favorite part is the opportunity to concentrate day in and day out on a research problem without the distractions of modern life. My least favorite part is doing laundry.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I can't say why I decided to become a scientist; I made the decision early in high school and never seriously considered any other profession. I grew up messing around salt water; I guess it got in my veins.In the summer following my freshman year in college, I took a marine ecology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole that was taught by John Ryther and Gene Odum. After that, the die was cast.
Robert Richard Bidigare
Professor, Dept. of Oceanography
http://hawaii.edu/himb/faculty/bidigare.html
What is your role on this cruise?
Measure concentrations of lipid (sterols and fatty acids) and pigment (chlorophylls and carotenoids) biomarkers before and after iron enrichment.
What are your primary goals?
Determine how phytoplankton community structure changes in response to iron enrichment.
What do you expect to find?
I expect to find an increase in diatom abundance following iron enrichment.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Least favorite: Packing for the cruise Favorite: Finishing a cruise following a successful experiment.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I love to solve problems. I went to graduate school and studied oceanography.
Jodi Brewster
Graduate Student - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
What is your role on this cruise?
I am in charge of running the SCUFA fluorometer. It is being run by MATLAB's new Instrument Control Toolbox through an interactive GUI. I also help Sara Tanner do the grunt work :)
What are your primary goals?
To make sure the SCUFA program works as much of the 49 days as it possibly can. It has to run 24 hours a day, even when I sleep! To developing a physical oceanography thesis tied into the experiment.
What do you expect to find?
I hope to find penguins and other birds. I expect to find frozen fingers and toes. I also hope to actually get to see the neat currents circling the Antarctic continent.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Favorite: Getting closer and closer to being a "salty dog". Traveling to a new place and seeing a different oceanographic environment and meeting tons of new people.
Least Favorite: being seasick, missing my kitty, weird sleeping schedules.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I admit, I started out a "flipper lover", but I changed my mind as soon as I got to college. With Sea World so close by to my childhood home and getting a chance to snorkel on vacations, I was exposed to the intriguing ocean. I turned to ecology in undergraduate work and eventually made my way to Moss Landing Marine Labs. I really like math and programming, so Dr. Broenkow's Physical Oceanography program was great for my interests.
Zanna Chase
MBARI PostDoctoral Fellow
What is your role on this cruise?
I'm helping out with the iron measurements. We'll be making continuous measurements of surface-water iron concentrations using a chemiluminescence, flow injection analysis (FIA) system. These measurements will be really helpful for tracking the location of the fertilized patch. Also, when our iron numbers start getting low inside the patch we'll know it's time to make another addition of iron. The iron will gradually disappear as it's used by phytoplankton, and as it sticks to particles that sink out of the surface.
We'll also be deploying a special CTD-rosette that can get us clean samples from 12 depths. We will analyze these samples on board, using the same type of FIA system that we use for the mapping. This will tell us about changes in the vertical distribution of iron in the patch.
Finally, if there's instrument time available, I'd like to do some additional experiments that might help characterize the amount of iron that is bound to organic ligands, as well as make measurements to support the work of some of the biologists doing incubation experiments.
What are your primary goals?
I want to produce as much high-quality iron data as possible on this cruise. I'd also like to work on displaying these data in a convenient format in a timely manner. I'd also like and to learn something about what everyone else is up to.
What do you expect to find?
Like most of the scientists onboard, I'm expecting not much of a response from the phytoplankton when we add iron to the northern patch, because there's not enough silica there for the big diatoms. But I think we'll see a big bloom when we add iron the the silica-rich waters south of the Polar Front.
In terms of the iron measurements, I think we'll find very low concentrations outside the patch. Obviously we'll see high concentrations after we add the iron, and it'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the levels to drop. We might find that the biologyplays tricks to keep that iron around in the surface longer than we expect.
One other interesting aspect to the iron story is the fact that we add the iron as iron sulfate, which is the Fe(II) form. Normally, Fe(II) oxidizes very quickly to Fe(III) in seawater. But, since we're in the chilly Southern Ocean, and water temperatures are 0-5 degrees C, the oxidation rate is much slower, and the Fe(II) can hang around for a lot longer. Our FIA system only measures Fe(III) but we can keep track of the Fe(II) by taking discrete samples in bottles and letting them warm up for a couple of hours before running them. This will give enough time to oxidize the Fe(II) to Fe(III), so when we run the sample we'll get the total Fe (Fe(II) + Fe(III)), and we can compare that number with the Fe(III) value from the underway system. I expect that just after fertilizing, the Fe(II) + Fe(III) values will be a lot higher than the Fe(III) values.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
It's always fun to be out here actually studying the ocean on the ocean, rather than back home in the lab or at the computer. I also like the variety of things there are to do, from operating winches, to doing the chemistry, to working up the fresh data. A cruise is also a great time to talk to discuss science with other oceanographers, and to forge new collaborations. My least favorite part is getting seasick, but so far so good on this cruise.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I've always been interested in science, probably because my father is a scientist. I had a lot of other interests though, and struggled a lot deciding what to study. I didn't like being told I should study science because it's 'safe' compared to fields like music or writing. In the end I chose science because it was interesting and I saw there were fields of science, like oceanography, with a very appealing practical side, where you could also travel and get outside and do field work. After my bachelor's degree I just stayed with it through a master's and doctorat, and that's how I became an oceanographer
Sally (Penny) Chisolm
McAfee Professor of Engineering, MIT
http://web.mit.edu/chisholm/www/
What is your role on this cruise?
We are studying phytoplankton community structure.
What are your primary goals?
Using flow cytometry to examine changes in size structure, and DNA signatures to study changes in species diversity, we plan to measure how much the size structure, abundance, and diversity of phytoplankton changes in response to iron enrichment.
What do you expect to find?
We expect that the average cell size and the overall abundance of the phytoplankton will increase, and species diversity will decrease.
Kenneth Coale
Director, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
http://www.mlml.calstate.edu
What is your role on this cruise?
I am the program's Principal Investigator and Chief Scientist for the R/V Melville. I will be coordinating research activities on the station sampling ship.
What are your primary goals?
Our group is responsible for cruise logistics, coordination and implementation of the iron enrichments. Our interest is to develop a mechanistic understanding of the ecosystem ecosystem response to added iron and measure the resultant flux of carbon. We will be doing a variety of experiments that involve the incubation of water samples on board ship with different levels of iron and other trace metals. We will also be deploying and recovering sediment traps to catch sinking material and doing sinking rate experiments on board ship. In addition, we will be measuring a suite of trace metals including iron to see what effect blooms of phytoplankton have on metal removal. The determination of chlorophyll in the ships continuous flow through system, coupled with discrete analysis of extracted chlorophyll will enable the calibration of remote sensing methods (satellite) and will provide for an assessment of the biomass of both enriched and unenriched waters. We will also supply trace metal clean water to other investigators from a special rosette sampler built at MLML.
What do you expect to find?
The Southern Ocean is characterized by high nitrate concentrations but variable silicate concentration. Both are important plant nutrients. We expect to see differences in the response to iron enrichment between waters rich in silicate and waters depleted in silicate. Be hypothesize that the community will respond differently in each of these biogeochemical provinces to added iron. If I had to guess, I would say we may see more Phaeocystis (non-silicate requiring alga) bloom in low silicate waters and lots of diatoms (silicate requiring) phytoplankton bloom in waters to the south.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
I love to get new ideas, or reformulate old ones and then design experiments to test them. I think it is very important to develop both a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the oceans so that we may more critically understand what processes have forced environmental change in the past and what kinds of events may force climate change in the future. I hate being away from my family.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I kept doing what interested me until I found myself doing this.
William Cochlan
Senior Research Scientist/ Cruise PI
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies (SFSU)
http://www.rtc.sfsu.edu
What is your role on this cruise?
I am one of the NSF Principal Investigators on the R/V Melville and my research group at sea (consisting of myself, Ms Atma Roberts and Mr. Julian Herndon). Our role in this project will be to answer the main question 'does iron stimulate the uptake and assimilation of nitrate, and if so, what group is stimulated?' all within the context of an in situ ecosystem response to ironenrichment. In short, our research will put the 'N' into the SOFeX HNLC study.
What are your primary goals?
Our primary goal is to investigate the nitrogen dynamics of the natural planktonic community in response to the alleviation of iron deficiency. The 15N stable isotope technique will be used to quantify nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and urea uptake within and outside of the iron-enriched sites, thus providing a direct and unambiguous measure of nitrogen uptake independent of any observable changes in the ambient nitrogen concentrations within these waters. Since cell size is thought to be a major factor controlling the flux of material from the surface to deep waters (i.e. export production), the size-spectrum of nitrogen utilization will be determined. To evaluate the factors controlling nitrogen preference (or inhibition) in this HNLC region, the activities of nitrate reductase (NR) and nitrite reductase (NiR) will be assessed, in concert with N uptake rate measurements, to determine if iron limitation directly regulates the ability of phytoplankton (both large and small) to assimilate ammonium versus nitrate and test whether iron-limited phytoplankton are co-limited by Fe and nitrogen.
What do you expect to find?
We expect to find a much slower community response to iron enrichment at both sites than found previously in the equatorial Pacific during Iron Ex II. Also because of the dramatic differences in ambient silicate concentrations on either side of the Antarctic Front we expect to see significant differences in the nitrogenous nutrition of any enhanced phytoplankton growth due to alleviation of iron deficiency.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Least Favorite: Getting all of your equipment and supplies to the ship, and everything secured before sailing. Also being at sea more than four-five weeks can start to get a little draining at times.
Most Favorite:Working alongside scientists of all ages and disciplines who are fully committed to the success of a collaborative project. Developing friendships and professional collaborations that may never materialize ashore due to distance, time and other responsibilities. Getting away from the real world, and concentrating on a scientific mission beats day-to-day campus politics any day of the week!
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I was brought up in a small coastal town in British Columbia, Canada and livedseveral meters from the ocean, so I've always been interested in the sea and its processes. Originally I had planned for a career as a naval aviator, but with the scrapping of the Canadian Navy's last aircraft carrier, my plans took a slight turn. My freshman biology research project on the effects of pulp mill effluent on marine organisms sparked my interest in marine biology, and later the encouragement and enthusiasm of a few great professors at the University of British Columbia inspired me to study for advanced degrees in biological oceanography. On becoming one - going to school forever!
David Cooper
Independent Consultant
What is your role on this cruise?
My role in this cruise will be measurement of the sulfur hexafluoride tracer from hydrocasts and other seawater samples. I am an independant consultant to MLML, working in collaboration with Dr. Rik Wanninkhof at NOAA/AOML. I will be operating an analytical instrument that I designed while employed at the University of Wisconsin.
What are your primary goals?
My goal is to provide support measurements for process studies by quantifying the SF6 tracer in all samples.
What do you expect to find?
I personally have no defined scientific objectives for this cruise. The SF6 support measurements will be used by other PIs to interpret their data. I was involoved in interpreting carbon cycle parameters in IronExII and maintain a general interest in the overall results.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
My favorite part of a cruise is when a routine is established, the instruments are working optimally and the results are starting to make sense. My least favorite parts are loading and unloading the ship.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I had a natural curiosity about how biogeochemical cycles function, and hoped to be able to apply studies to satisfy my personal environmentalist philosophies. My career evolved through developing analytical instrumentation and interpreting results from a succession of environmentally oriented field programs.
Ginger Elrod
Research Technician - MBARI
/staff/elrod
What is your role on this cruise?
I will be responsible for underway and discrete iron measurements. I will also be helping with CTD casts and sample collections
What are your primary goals?
My main goal is to keep the FIA systems up and running to produce good Fe data.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
My favorite part of a research cruise is being a part of cutting edge science and traveling to new places. My least favorite part is the lack of sleep and missing loved ones.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I wanted to be an oceanographer since I could play on the beach!
Steve Fitzwater
Research Fellow
What is your role on this cruise?
Hi, I'm Steve Fitzwater and thats the way everyone looks in the southern hemisphere.I'm part of the MBARI "Iron gang".As you have probably already read, we (myself, Ginger, Zanna, and Josh) will be measuring iron continuously during the cruise.Along with these duties I am also involved with helping Ken Johnson with the cruise logistics.This can sometimes be a daunting task.We try to make sure all the science parties onboard have the opportunity to collect all the measurements they would like.With 12 different parties (some 33 scientists) onboard and only 24 hours in a day, it sometimes becomes quite a juggling act to accommodate all!!
I have been interested in the relationship of iron with phytoplankton since the late 1980's.John Martin and I published the results of iron enrichment studies in the Gulf of Alaska in 1989.This was the first paper to document the positive growth response of phytoplankton when iron was added to incubation bottles.In the following years these studies took John Martin's Trace Metal Group (myself, Craig Hunter, Sara Tanner, and Mike Gordon) on a quest to sample most of the regions of the world's oceans where high nutrients persist.We traveled to the Gulf of Alaska, North Atlantic, Equatorial Pacific, and Southern Ocean (Drakes passage, Ross Sea and the area where we are today), in many cases more than once! Martin's "Iron Hypothesis" was well funded but needed a large experiment to absolutely prove the idea.We organized the first Ironex which we performed south of the Galapagos islands in 1993.Sadly, John passed away just months before seeing the fruition of his ideas.Ironex II was also done in the Equatorial Pacific and was a very successful experiment.Having proved that we could fertilize a large patch of the ocean and follow the effects over weeks we are now down here after the "Big Banana".Nitrate in the Southern Ocean can be 3 to 4 times higher than in equatorial waters.This may mean we will see 3 to 4 times the amount of plant life produced!
That's why I am here....to find out.
Dale Hubbard
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Oregon State University
What is your role on this cruise?
I'm performing surface underway nutrient and pCO2 analyses (to elucidate frontal structure) and assisting with Seasoar operations.
Craig Hunter
MS student at Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
What is your role on this cruise?
Iron deployment, PIT development, PIT location, and oxygen calibration
What are your primary goals?
To successfully deploy iron enrichment material along with the tracer
What do you expect to find?
slow growth, but an increase in biomass over time
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
making sure that all necessary equipment, parts, spares, and contingencies are covered for on a long cruise. Shipping with HazMat declarations and visiting new places.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
1967 - introduced to biological oceanography, knowing John Martin and being in the right place at the right time.
Ken Johnson
Chemist - MBARI
/staff/johnson/
What is your role on this cruise?
I'm Chief Scientist on the R/V REVELLE. I'll be organizing the science activities on the ship, communicating results to the other ships and assisting the MBARI group with underway iron mapping. I also am your daily correspondent.
What are your primary goals?
We're adding iron to seawater to see if that will cause plankton to grow faster. This is a test to see if an increase in the flow of iron to the ocean is responsible for creating an ice age. We won't add enough iron to change the climate, but just enough to see if the plankton grow. If they don't grow then we might have to reject the "Iron Hypothesis" that changes in the iron concentration of the Southern Ocean controls glacial/interglacial cycles.
What do you expect to find?
We hope to show that the iron we add will cause phytoplankton to grow rapidly and consume carbon dioxide. The really interesting question to me will be to see whether plankton grow and remove carbon dioxide at the same rates north and south of the Polar Front.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Well, not many people want to be gone for long trips like this one. We'll be at sea 42 days and away from home for 50 days. I'll miss most of the winter and the snow and skiing in California have been great so far. But what I really hate on long cruises like this are satellite phone calls in the middle of the night by people who don't realize that you're half way around the world. That is really annoying.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I've always wanted to be an oceanographer. When I was in my early teens, I went to work on a salmon fishing boat that was run by my brother-in-law. That's a great way to find out if you're interested - spend a lot of time on the water (which can be really boring most of the time) and see if you enjoy it. I went to school at the University of Washington and got a BS in Oceanography and then did a Ph.D. in Oceanography at Oregon State (go Beavers - look for the secret OSU handshake in a cruise photo - first person to find it will get a special reward).
Zackary Johnson
PostDoctoral Fellow, MIT
What is your role on this cruise?
We are studying phytoplankton community structure.
What are your primary goals?
Using flow cytometry to examine changes in size structure, and DNA signatures to study changes in species diversity, we plan to measure how much the size structure, abundance, and diversity of phytoplankton changes in response to iron enrichment.
What do you expect to find?
We expect that the average cell size and the overall abundance of the phytoplankton will increase, and species diversity will decrease.
Matt McIlvan
Center for Marine and Science Technology (CMAST, UMASSD)
What is your role on this cruise?
Looking at the natural abundance of nitrogen and carbon isotopes in particulate matter, nitrate, ammonia, and dissolved inorganic carbon in the water column and surface waters.
Frank Millero
Professor of Marine and Physical Chemistry, Associate Dean
What is your role on this cruise?
My group is measuring the nutrient and carbonate parameters in and out of the patch. This includes NO3, NO2, NH4, PO4, SiO2, pH, TA, TCO2 and pCO2. Most of measurements will be made on surface waters from the flowing seawater system. Measurements of TA and TCO2 and nutrients will be made on station inside and outside of the patch. All of these results will be made available to others on the cruise. We will used our surface and station data to made comparisons with the towing nutrient and CO2 measurements
What are your primary goals?
We are interested in determining the pull down of CO2 and nutrients during the growth of phytoplankton in the patch. We should be able to also examine the ratios of nutrients and TCO2 in the algal material produced and recycled.
What do you expect to find?
We expect the changes in pCO2 and nutrients to be similar to the recent studies in this region.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Favorite - getting home
Least favorite - getting all the gear ready to be shipped out
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
Ha, its been so long ago that I forgot. But, I was interested in chemistry as a youth and decided to study the physical chemistry of solutions after working one summer at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) with Roger Bates. I got into oceanography by applying for a job at University of Mexico to study the physical chemistry of seawater. I left New Jersey in the middle of winter from my job at ESSO; got off the plane, bought some sunglasses and called my wife to pack before I left.
Jacques Oliver
Graduate student at Virginia Institute of Marine Science
What is your role on this cruise?
I am working with three other people from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), College of William and Mary, on SOFeX. The four of us (Jill Peloquin - Revelle; myself, Liza Delizo, and Eva Bailey - Melville) are representing the three PIs from VIMS, Dr. Hugh Ducklow, Dr. Walker Smith, and Dr. Jim Bauer. The four of us will be looking at phytoplankton and bacterial responses to the iron enrichment as well as phytoplankton-bacteria interactions. I will be performing the bacterial measurements (abundance and production, i.e. the amount of carbon produced as a result of growth) along with a few other small experiments.
What are your primary goals?
My objectives are to measure the rates of growth of bacteria and to determine whether that growth is due to: 1. Direct utilization of the added iron, OR 2. Indirect stimulation of growth by iron through the utilization of phytoplankton-produced dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DOC is produced by phytoplankton during growth and bacteria are able to utilize it as a substrate for growth.
What do you expect to find?
I suspect that bacteria will respond positively to the addition of iron, but will only be indirect beneficiaries of the iron. That is, bacteria will take advantage of the increased DOC that phytoplankton will produce. While I expect to see bacteria growth rates within the fertilized patch to increase, I do not expect to see accumulation of bacterial biomass. This is because bacterial predators (heterotrophic protists and viruses) will also likely respond positively during the iron enrichment and operate to crop off the bacteria. This will give the appearance thatbacterial abundance will not change during the iron enrichment even though their growth rates are high.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
There are two things I like most about research cruises. First, I enjoy meeting the other scientists and the crew and learning what it is they're doing and why they're doing it. Second, it feels great when you arrive in port...it's a huge sense of relief, especially after a long cruise.
My least favorite part of a research cruise is getting seasick in front of people who do not get seasick...it makes for an endless supply of jokes...plus it feels awful to be seasick.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I became a scientist because I have an interest in the way the natural world operates. I think it is exciting to unravel and understand an oceanographic process that may have been occurring for hundreds of millions of years...it's a good way to get perspective on life.
I became an oceanographer by semi-accident. First I started as an electrical engineering major...didn't like that so I moved to biology. I started out taking an interest in coastal oceanography (salt marshes) in college. I got a job teaching after college at a small marine science field station, then went to grad school for my master's degree in marine science in comparative immunology and biochemistry. After my master's degree a few years ago I moved into biological oceanography.
Peter Strutton
MBARI Research Associate
What is your role on this cruise?
Eric Drake and I will be responsible for deploying instrumented drifters. Once we decide where we want to start fertilizing with iron, we'll release a drifter to mark the center of the patch, and use that drifter as a frame of reference to help us lay out a uniform grid of iron. We'll be using a navigational software package developed at MBARI and refined by Brian Schlining specifically for this cruise. The software helps us determine the track the ship should take, and that track moves as the drifter moves with the currents. After the iron has been laid out, the drifter will continue to act as a frame of reference to help us map the distribution of iron, SF6 and the ecosystem response. The 'outside-of-the-patch' drifter will serve as a marker for both the Revelle and the Melville when we do our daily 'control' stations.
The drifters also carry instruments to measure the chemical and biological response of the iron addition. The main parameters we'll measure are temperature, salinity, oxygen, nitrate, CO2 and chlorophyll. We communicate with the instruments via radio, which allows us to get the data in real time. These drifters were designed and built at MBARI by a team including Kent Headley, Zorba, Francisco Chavez, Peter Walz, Gernot Friederich, Luke Coletti, George Badger and the guys in the machine shop.
As well as the drifters, Eric & I will be running a fast repetition rate fluorometer (FRR) to measure phytoplankton photosynthetic parameters, and an underway system to measure atmospheric and surface ocean concentrations of CO2. This system was built by Gernot & Peter and will hopefully allow us to detect any impact of the iron fertilization on CO2 drawdown. Once the Melville joins us, we'll initiate a wireless radio system that connects the computer networks on the two ships. This system was put together by Eric Nelson at MBARI and will allow us to share data easily. This will be a huge advantage - as the Revelle maps the size and shape of the patch, the Melville can use these maps to decide where to make detailed station/process measurements.
Sara Jane Tanner
Research Technician at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
What is your role on this cruise?
I get to do the grunt work! Such as set up shipboard enrichment experiments, collect samples from the TM rosette, process trap material from our particle interceptor traps, measure settling rates of diatoms, collect phytoplankton samples for cell counts and carbon calculations, collect fractionated size classes of Chl-a, particulate organic phosphate, particulate organic silicate. We will also be doing small hand net tows, collecting POC and DOC and nutrient samples.
What are your primary goals?
Determine who responds to the iron addition in the phytoplankton. And how they effect the water chemistry. How much of it got recycled and how much started to sink out of the surface waters.
What do you expect to find?
I expect to see an impressive but very slow response to the Iron addition south of the polar front zone. This will probably be a very healthy pennate diatom bloom (but I'm hoping to be surprised). I expect all the phytoplankton to be positively effected by the iron addition. I expect our traps to collect a definite signal of settling carbon under the patch. I worry about the northern patch being devastated by storms, but if it can hang together and we can track it that will be a major accomplishment.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
The good stuff; Being able to just do the science without the distractions of an office and home. Working with some great people of all ages that generally are workaholics but fun. The bad stuff; Probably the anxiety attacks dealing with packing and sending everything off and worrying about it making it. This occurs during the pre cruise packing and the post cruise shipping and sending frozen fragile samples back home.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I was fascinated with flowers, bugs, and sand grains when I was a child. I spent more time watching butterflies out the window than listening to teachers. I was raised in southern California and spent my summers developing skin cancer at Hermosa and Rio Del Mar beaches. The ocean was always a love of mine. Then I spent 3 weeks at the beach trying to save sea birds after an oil spill and became very concerned about our world and it's future. Maybe this is my way of trying to pay back nature for all we do to it. I started in General Biology and accidentally took a Phycology class at Moss Landing Marine Lab. I became very addicted to the environment. Went to grad school there and worked under John Martin. Think I was in the right place at the right time and didn't know when to say no.
David Timothy
PostDoctoral Scholar at the University of Massachussetts
What is your role on this cruise?
Collecting water and filter samples for analyses back on land. Will be measuring the ratios of stable isotopes of nitrogen (15N/14N) and carbon (13C/12C) on the dissolved nutrients in the seawater, and on the particulate matter (almost entirely plankton and their remains) throughout the phytoplankton bloom we anticipate will result from the iron fertilization.
What do you expect to find?
No idea, but can't wait to see!
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Favorite = being on deck watching the ocean, the marine life, and experiencing high seas (after stomach readjustment!). least favorite = ... that always depends, doesn't it? You never know what might go wrong or otherwise be unpleasant. One thing that is sometimes disappointing is traveling through beautiful places (to board/debark the ship) but not being able to take the time to visit as you would if you were there longer or you weren't working. This time, however, I'm taking time to visit New Zealand.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I began as a technician in a biological oceanography lab growing dinoflagellates (phytoplankton that swim using their flagella) that cause red tide. I really enjoyed this work which led to my graduate studies and my current research!
Sasha Tozzi
Graduate Student, Rutgers University
What is your role on this cruise?
My task as part of the Falkowski group is to measure variable fluorescence using a Fast Repetition Rate (FRR) fluorometer to establish physiological limitation of phytoplankton by iron in this High Nitrate Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. The FRR provides a comprehensive suite of fluorescence measurements and photosynthetic parameters of the phytoplankton community. I'm also collecting samples for Oxygen-17 measurements as part of a collaboration with the Bender group of Princeton University.
Benjamin S. Twining
PhD student at State University New York, Stonybrook
What is your role on this cruise?
I will be assisting with the collection of samples for characterization of the biological community over the course of the two fertilizations. Additionally, I will be collecting plankton samples for cell-specific element analysis with a synchrotron hard x-ray microprobe. This instrument allows me to measure a suite of elements (Si, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn) simultaneously in individual cells collected from the ocean. I plan to use it to examine the uptake of potentially limiting elements by different types of plankton. I will also be incubating surface water on-deck with Fe-55 and C-14 to measure Fe:C ratios in size-fractionated plankton with radioisotopes.
What are your primary goals?
I hope to compare the uptake of trace metals (Fe in particular) by phytoplankton and protozoa that vary not only in size, but also in behavior and trophic function. In this manner, I hope to develop a better understanding of how Fe cycles though pelagic plankton communities.
What do you expect to find?
I certainly expect Fe:C ratios to increase in all types of plankton following the Fe-enrichment; similarly, diatom Si:C ratios will probably decrease when the Fe-limitation is relieved. Stoichiometric differences between autotrophic and heterotrophic plankton may weaken after the Fe-additions.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Definitely packing and prepping gear before the trip!
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I became a marine scientist because I've always felt drawn to the ocean, and I enjoy learning something new every day. As a PhD student in my fourth year, I think I'm still becoming one.
Dr. Wendy Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow; Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
What is your role on this cruise?
I'm In charge of TM Rosette sampling, determining sample depth and processing CTD data. Ill also be involved in the iron enrichment experiment and net tows.
What are your primary goals?
Collect biogeochemical information to study the upper ocean dynamics. Generate biogeochemical parameters to model the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean.
What do you expect to find?
Rapid increase of biomass due to Fe addition, but slow increase in export production. Ecosystem structure change: small phytoplankton to large diatoms.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Favorite: working with great people, gaining at-sea experience, learning new things. Least favorite: getting sea-sick.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
It was an old Chinese tradition: only the best can have the best and the highest education. I tried my best and I have become a scientist. In fact, I love science for its nature
Oliver Wingenter
Asst. Professor, Atmospheric Chemistry, New Mexico Tech
What is your role on this cruise?
Oliver Wingenter is an Asst. Prof. atmospheric chemistry at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech).He is collecting whole air samples in 2-liter stainless steel canisters from a stainless steel inlet above the bow mast.He is also obtaining air samples from an equilibrator which receives fresh surface ocean water from the bow.These samples will be shipped air cargo immediately after the cruise to Prof. Donald R. Blake at the University of California, Irvine for halocarbon, hydrocarbon, DMS, and alkyl nitrate analysis.
What is your role on this cruise?
Running the Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRF). This instrument gives an index of the health of the phytoplankton and is plumbed into the ships underway system. It will be crucial for mapping the extent of the phytoplankton response to the iron fertilization.
What are your primary goals?
The data should allow a better understanding of the details of the physiological response of phytoplankton to iron addition. I am also interested in dispersal in the ocean and the mapping of the patch will give interesting data on how dispersal affects phytoplankton.
What do you expect to find?
In broad terms that when the dissolved iron gets above a critical concentration, the iron stress on the phytoplankton will be alleviated. The interest will be in the details.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
My favorite part is the adventure of it all, being at sea, seeing the world, and being surprised but what we find while we are out there. My least favorite part is being away from my family.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I have always been interested in the world around me, and have wanted to find out more. I was initially fascinated by the cosmic questions, and did a PhD in theoretical physics. I was then drawn towards mathematical biology, and found an ideal combination in oceanography which closely combines both physics and biology.
Ken Buesseler
Chief Scientist
What is your role on this cruise?
I'm Chief Scientist on the USCG Ice breaker Polar Star. As a Principal Investigator, I've got members of my research team — the Café Thorium (http://cafethorium.whoi.edu/website/about/index.html) on both the Melville & on the Polar Star. For the Polar Star, I've organized a team of 13 scientists to meet up with the Melville on the high seas and conduct the final days of sampling at the Southern experimental site.
What are your primary goals?
We are looking at the end of iron induced blooms, and what happens to all the carbon that is fixed into planktonic biomass. Does it sink? How much carbon gets out of the surface ocean is one of the key questions you need to ask, if you are interested in iron effects on atmospheric CO2, since if the C doesnt sink in particulate form to depth, there is no net effect on C transfer into the ocean beyond the weeks-months duration of these iron induced blooms. The tool I use to look at export is thorium-234, a natural radionuclide that attaches to sinking particles. The lower the 234Th levels, the higher the flux to depth.
What do you expect to find?
There have been only 3 prior attempts to measure the export of particulate carbon on sinking particles as a result of iron addition.In one of these experiments conducted in the Equatorial Pacific, carbon export increased dramatically after about one week.In the other two conducted in the Southern Ocean, there was no evidence at all for particulate carbon export, even by the end of 3 weeks.By spending more time here with SOFeX (SOFeXport is our cruise logo), we hope to catch the late bloom progression that might lead to enhanced export.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
The least favorite part of this cruise is waiting around, reading this web site and wondering what we will find after 4 weeks have gone by in the Southern experiment!I cant wait to get going.Its a high risk, but potentially high pay-off cruise.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
Oceanography seemed like a cool way to apply my background in chemistry and biology to real world problems.Its like solving a puzzle and each time you learn something, you want to learn more.I had a choice after undergraduate school for going into Limnology, the study of lakes, or Oceanography, and Im glad I picked ocean sciences.Both can be fun (and I still study lakes, groundwater and oceans), but the travel and range of settings in ocean sciences takes me between both poles and by now in my career, most every ocean in between.
Peter Croot
New Zealand
What is your role on this cruise?
My role on this cruise is to provide dissolved and particulate iron data from underway measurements and vertical casts onboard the Polar Star as it samples the Southern Patch. I am also there to provide some experience in Southern Ocean iron enrichments having previously taken part in SOIREE and EISENEX.
What are your primary goals?
My primary goals in this cruise is to obtain accurate iron values that can be used to interprete other data with respect to the iron status of the algae.
What do you expect to find?
I expect/hope to find a patch that has bloomed and is now in decline with significant export of particulate material. Low pCO2 and nutrient concentrations in the patch and high biomass and Fv/Fm.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Like most people I don't enjoy rough weather at the start of a cruise, though oddly I sometimes do enjoy it later on when my sea legs have grown in! I enjoy the friendships you make onboard a lot, but also miss those on land. One advantage of Southern Ocean work is the sheer beauty of sea, ice and sky.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I have always been fascinated by science in all forms and have been extremely lucky to be able to do this for a living.
Russell Frew
University of Otago, NZ
What is your role on this cruise?
I am working with Peter Croot and we are responsible for trace metal measurements particularly underway Fe using chemiluminescence. I will also be collecting trace-metal sampels for subsequent analysis back at Otago.
What are your primary goals?
To provide high quality Fe measurements for the experiment. To investigate the distribution of Fe between the two redox states Fe(II) and Fe(III).
What do you expect to find?
During the first Southern Ocean Fe enrichment experiment (SOIREE, 1999) we found an unexpected persistence of dissolved Fe and that most of it was as Fe(II). I am very interested to see if the same occurs toward the end of the SOFEX bloom.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Favorite part - being able to concentrate on research along side other scientists from various discipline. Least favorite - being away from family
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I have been interested in most areas of science since primary school. Chemistry interested me the most and oceanography enables me to use my analytical chemistry skills along-side scientists from many other disciplines.
What is your role on this cruise?
To assist with the SF6 tracer measurements.
What are your primary goals?
To estimate the vertical mixing rate, at the base of the mixed layer, from the temporal spread of SF6.
What do you expect to find?
Relatively low mixing rates, and, more importantly, a sufficient quantity of SF6 to enable the calculations to be made.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
I really enjoy the opportunity to collaborate with other cruise participants, often from a wide range of scientific and cultural backgrounds. I least like being away from my family.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I have always been fascinated with the ocean and this led me to study marine biology as an undergraduate. I subsequently completed an MSc. and worked in marine chemistry and am now half way through my PhD which is largely based in physical oceanography.
Craig Herbold
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
What is your role on this cruise?
I will primarily be assisting others with their science. Specific duties of mine are to run our nitrite/nitrate autoanalyzer (collecting every 30 minutes for the duration of our cruise and every 15 minutes while transiting around the iron patch) and to collect coastal radium data while underway while leaving McMurdo and arriving in Valparaiso.
What are your primary goals?
I will check if there is a noticeable nitrite/nitrate drawdown at the site and to check for radium anomalies in the patch. Also, coastal radium data will assist in inferring groundwater or hydrothermal inputs and/or upwelling zones.
What do you expect to find?
Regarding both radium and nitrite/nitrate, whatever we find will be exciting.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
I would have to say that my least favorite part of cruises would have to be either seasickness (which I have not had) or the medicine to prevent seasickness (which I have had). I would not wish either one on my enemies. My favorite part of the cruise is when I walk down hallways running into the walls before getting my "sea-legs". It feels like I am in a pinball machine.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
When compared to other careers, it seemed a noble cause...most of us aren't in it for money, power or prestige. This is a great planet we've got and I would like to contribute to the understanding of it. Granted, my views aren't as rosy as they once were, but I have no regrets.
Leah Houghton
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
What is your role on this cruise?
My role on this cruise is to set up instrumentation for the analysis of sulfur hexaflouride (SF6), an inert tracer introduced to the water at the same time as the iron fertilization. I will be analyzing sea surface water for SF6 concentrations under the assumption that the SF6 tracer follows the same path as the iron. The analysis of the surface water for SF6 should help us define the limits of the iron fertilization patch.
What are your primary goals?
My primary goal is to analyze sea surface water for the concentration of sulfur hexaflouride (SF6) and help define the limits of the iron fertilization patch.
What do you expect to find?
I hope to find sulfur hexaflouride (SF6)in concentrations high enough to adequately define the iron fertilization patch.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
My favorite part of a research cruise is in getting to know and befriend other participants. Research cruises, despite sounding exotic or glamorous, are replete with difficulties which depend on hard work and exhaustion to overcome. It's a great feeling, while on board, to work together to make the cruise a success. My least favorite part of a research cruise is seasickness.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I decided to work in science while finishing my undergraduate degree. I worked as a technician for financial support and found that I truly enjoyed the laboratory environment. With no clear plan after graduation, I started working as a technician in a research lab and have worked in research since then.
Steven Pike
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
What is your role on this cruise?
My role for the Polar Star leg of SOFeX 2002 began in early summer 2001 as a logistics coordinator for the 13 researchers that are deployed on the Polar Star and acted as liason between them and the Coast Guard making their needs know to ship operations. My efforts also included coordinating our work with the other two ships involved in the experiment. As a member of the research team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, my work focuses on quantifying the export of carbon from the surface waters using Th234.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
Every research cruise is different a unique experience. This one has been particularly exciting because it included travel to New Zealand and then McMurdo Station, Antartica to deploy to the ship. The new friendships made, challenges of weather and accomplishing good science are all positive aspects of a cruise. On the other hand long periods away from family and friends are not so nice.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
I grew up watching the Jacques Cousteau series on TV and always dreamed of being an oceanographer. But life is funny and it turned out that I did indeed work on the ocean but as a commercial fisherman. I was owner/operator of two 42 foot fishing vessels out of Chatham, Massachusetts for more than 15 years. As a result of happenings in my life, I returned to school in 1990 as part of my own personal retraining program. I received an AA from Cape Cod Community College, my BS in chemistry/chemical oceanography from Univ. of Rhode Island, and my MS in chemical oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography, URI. I was very fortunate to be offered a position at Woods Hole shortly after defending my thesis where my work focuses in elemental chemistry of natural and artificial radionuclides..
Chrissy Van Hilst
Duke University
What is your role on this cruise?
I am using radioisotopes to measure primary production using simulated in situ methods and to also look at the physiological response of the phytoplankton to different irradiance levels in a short term incubation.
What are your primary goals?
To do as many experiments as possible and to hopefully determine the status of the phytoplankton in the bloom.
What do you expect to find?
As we are the last crew to sample the patch and considering the time that the bloom has been going strong, we may start to see signs of slowing down, but it is difficult to predict, I am hoping to see some changes in the physiological response compared to some of the experiments/incubations on the Revelle and Melville.
What is your favorite/least favorite part of a research cruise?
The camaraderie and team work that goes into a successful cruise and the fact that you are all stuck together so you get to know each other pretty well. It is also fun to see what other people do and discuss methods etc. I really enjoy learning and experiencing new things at sea. I know it sounds cheesy but it is true. least favorite? bad weather that prevents work or fun, I really don't enjoy sitting around and being able to do nothing.
Why did you decide to become a scientist/engineer/etc? How did you become one?
There is no easy explanation of why I became a research technician. I really enjoy the intellectual exchange and the challenges that come from working at sea. Long cruises are quite different but also can be very fun, while at the same time exhausting. The other benefits of this line of work are the travel and the great people you get to meet. [Plus you rarely have to wear panty hose [:)] ] I got my masters degree at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and from there went to the Bermuda Biological Station for Research where I work as technician in the BATS lab.