Last year, Dan and a number of fellow students participated in a research cruise under the direction of Hamilton professors Patrick Reynolds and Eugene Domack for a month aboard the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, an Antarctic research vessel operated by the National Science Foundation. "We want to study the biology of Antarctica," explains Professor Reynolds, Dan's project advisor, "because that ecosystem is rather unique. Life there has evolved over the past 20 million years with only limited input from other ecosystems, and the area is rich in diversity. Furthermore, we want to track the impacts of global warming, which may be reflected in the communities of organisms living in the ocean floor."
"In Antarctica," says Dan, "I spent most of my time collecting what we call 'grab samples' - square-meter scoops of sediment from the sea floor near the Larsen Ice Shelf. Grab samples provide the organic matter that I'm studying, as well as inorganic sediment that our geologists analyze." Now, in the lab, Dan manually separates the organisms from the grab samples and, with the use of a microscope, counts the invertebrates present. "About 30-40 species show up pretty regularly in the samples," Dan says, "and I've come across about 50 in total." These findings, along with the work of other Hamilton students and faculty, will help scientists understand the biology of the Antarctic region and correlate it, perhaps, to trends in global warming.
"Going to Antarctica was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience," says Dan. "It's really exciting to be part of a significant project like this. One thing that I've learned from working with Professor Reynolds and from doing my own project is that research requires a lot of effort. If you're not willing to be patient and to make sacrifices, you're not going to get good results."
