Ph.D. student summering in the Antarctic

How does changing sea ice cover affect the structure and function of the Antarctic marine ecosystem? One Virginia Commonwealth University student aims to find out firsthand. Aaron Randolph is spending January on the R/V Laurence M. Gould, a research vessel working in Antarctic waters as part of the Palmer Long-Term Ecological Research project.

Each January, the project conducts a summer cruise that covers a large regional area just south of Palmer Station on Anvers Island. Randolph, a student in the Integrative Life Sciences Ph.D. program, is on board the 16th annual summer cruise as a member of the Microbial and Biogeochemistry Group.

From year to year, station personnel observe the glaciers melt, calve and disappear demonstrating some of the more obvious effects of global climate change in this region. The Palmer Station annual average winter temperature has increased 6 degrees Celsius over the past 50 years, which has significantly increased the rate at which these glaciers are melting.