A scientist from the University of Nottingham is part of an expedition travelling to the Antarctic to measure the effects of climate change in the Weddell Sea.
Lisa Chakrabarti, Professor of Mitochondrial Biology in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences at the University, will join 50 scientists from across Europe, tasked with measuring specific aspects of the environment, including seawater, sea-ice, ocean currents, weather and biological processes.
The expedition with the icebreaking research vessel Polarstern PS129, is being led by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research based in the port city of Bremerhaven. The vessel is leaving Cape Town in South Africa today - on 3 March 2022. The team will be on board for 8 weeks.
The aim of the expedition is to enable scientists to produce a comprehensive snapshot in time of the ecosystem in this part of Antarctica. Data will be analysed together with pre-existing datasets from the area to highlight changes and trends in the development of the marine environment and ecosystems. Some types of measurements will be done for the first time.
During the expedition, Professor Chakrabarti, whose expertise is mitochondrial biology, will work closely with a sub-group of specialists in ecology, evolution, metabolism and water quality (pollution and micro plastics).
She will be taking high resolution respirometry equipment on board to capture the first baseline datasets for this pilot. She will measure the specific metabolic activity of fresh samples of organisms, particularly icefish muscle. Some studies on icefish tissues have previously been published with other members of the Nottingham group, Gunjan Katyal and Brad Ebanks in collaboration with Italian and German scientists who will also be on this expedition.
The data will be collected on board on fresh specimens which are required to measure metabolism accurately. Frozen tissues will also be collected and sent back to labs at the University for the supporting studies which will be completed upon return to Nottingham.
I feel very fortunate to be able to join this Antarctic expedition aboard RV Polarstern, where I will work with scientists from all over the world. I will use this incredible opportunity to gather unique datasets that will allow us to understand the effects of a changing climate on the physiology of Antarctic icefish and other species."
You can follow the expedition online here.
