Abstract
Summer projects focus on reconstructing the history of changing climate in Antarctica. This summer our lab has two major projects. First, we are investigating past episodes of rapid glacial ice melt and minimal ice in Antarctica. Our goal is to provide a longer-term perspective on one of one of biggest threats facing the world today, sea level rise. Most of the world’s “sea level equivalent” is stored in Antarctic glacial ice, which today is melting and contributing to rising seas. This field season, we hope to recover 200 meters of sediment core from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf Antarctica. Microfossil work in our lab will be used to identify and date ancient periods that were ice-free and provide a window into understanding our warmer history. Check out our website:
https://www.swais2c.aq/.
Second, sea ice is rapidly declining around the margin of Antarctica. Sea ice, the frozen surface of the ocean, is a critical component of the climate system, and an integral part of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, since it harbors specially adapted algae that are an important winter food source for krill. We will reconstruct changes in sea ice over the past few thousand years, in two remote and rarely visited regions of the East Antarctic margin, based on sediment cores collected on the 2025 Denman Marine Voyage and the 2026 Cook Ice Shelf expedition (we don’t have a website (or samples) yet!).
(
https://www.antarctica.gov.au/science/climate-processes-and-change/antarctic-palaeoclimate/denman-terrestrial-campaign/denman-marine-campaign/)
Lab work includes preparation of marine sediment samples for analysis, and subsequent observation, under both light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Each student will complete their own project as well as contribute to group lab work. Previous experience with microscopy not required but a bonus!
You will develop basic wet-lab skills, expertise with taxonomy, photography, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
The Department of Earth and Environmental Geosciences encourages all students interested in summer research opportunities to meet with potential faculty supervisors before submitting their applications.