Update

Now Archived! PolarConnect event with Amy Osborne and researcher Amy Moran. You can access this and other events on the PolarConnect Archives site.

What Are They Doing?

Scientific scuba divers use bright lights and cover lots of terrain in search for pycnogonids to collect. Turtle Rock, Antarctica. Photo by Timothy R. Dwyer.
Scientific scuba divers use bright lights and cover lots of terrain in search for pycnogonids to collect. Turtle Rock, Antarctica. Photo by Timothy R. Dwyer.
Cold-blooded animals in the Antarctic ocean have survived in near-constant, extreme cold conditions for millions of years and are very sensitive to even small changes in water temperature. However, the consequences of this extreme thermal sensitivity for the energetics, development, and survival of developing embryos is not well understood. This award will investigate the effect of temperature on the metabolism, growth rate, developmental rate, and developmental energetics of embryos and larvae of Antarctic marine ectotherms. The project will also measure annual variation in temperature and oxygen at different sites in McMurdo Sound, and compare embryonic and larval metabolism in winter and summer to determine the extent to which these life stages can acclimate to seasonal shifts. This research will provide insight into the ability of polar marine animals and ecosystems to withstand warming polar ocean conditions.

Where Are They?

The only way below the ice is through one of these 4ft (1.3m) diameter boreholes. McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
The only way below the ice is through one of these 4ft (1.3m) diameter boreholes. McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
The team will be based out of McMurdo Field Station, Antarctica and will be taking day trips to a variety of dive sites. They will drive to most of their sites via PistenBully, though a few will be accessed by helicopter.

Latest Journals

"Said take me home" -Marc Broussard What is home? Where is it? What defines it? What happens when it changes? These questions ran through my mind during my final days in Antarctica and are still bouncing around in my brain. As I left the cold continent and we began to speed across the ice I…
"Who are the people in your neighborhood? The people that you meet each day" -written by Jeff Moss performed by Muppets on Sesame Street Yesterday morning my heart was fluttering! I was excited and nervous at the same time. I woke up at 5:00am on Saturday morning, pulled my clothes on and went to…
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's only a day away!" -from the musical Annie, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin Today was another brilliant day of time spent on the ice in the dive hut and time preparing for tomorrow!!! As we chugged along in the Pisten Bully this morning I thought…
"With a thousand million questions..." -Moody Blues I looked at my watch...November 20th...WHAT?! November 20th! I leave Antarctica on November 26th! Ack! Only six days left on this cold, windy, icy, continent that I've grown to love in such a short time. Only six days left to hang out with and…
Dates
-
Location
McMurdo Field Station, Antarctica
Project Funded Title
Thermal Sensitivity of Antarctic Embryos and Larvae: Effects of Temperature on Metabolism, Developmental Rate, and the Metabolic Cost of Development
Amy Osborne - Educator
Educator
NatureBridge

Amy Osborne is an educator who strives to foster curiosity, a love of learning, and a connection to and stewardship of the natural world with students and adults. In her current role as Education Manager at NatureBridge, a K-12 residential environmental education non-profit that partners with the National Park Service, she leads and trains a group of 27 outdoor environmental science educators.

Amy grew up in southeastern Ohio where she spent her days playing outside and getting dirty in the forests, creeks, and rivers of her hometown of Marietta. After eleven years on the water as a rower and rowing coach at Washington College and the University of Southern California, Amy left rivers and boathouses behind to pursue an M.A. in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. She spent five years teaching 3rd and 4th grade at Carlin Springs Elementary School in Virginia where she discovered how much she loves teaching science! A year after leaving Carlin Springs to wander the world she found her passion for cold places, field research, and place-based outdoor environmental science education at Teton Science Schools graduate program in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Returning to California in 2009, Amy has continued her love of being near water and teaching outdoor environmental science at NatureBridge in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area near Sausalito, California. In her spare time Amy likes being on or in the water, climbing up things, and wandering through new places. She is excited to dive into the world of marine ectotherms in Antarctica.

Amy Moran - Researcher
Researcher
University of Hawaii

Dr. Moran studies the physiological ecology and evolutionary ecology of marine invertebrates, with a particular focus on early life history stages – embryos and larvae. One major area of emphasis is the effects of temperature on the energy dynamics of growth and development, and in recent years she has studied polar gigantism in both sea slugs and sea spiders. A second area of emphasis is the effects of temperature on growth, development, and success in many invertebrates including barnacles, sea urchins, worms, and snails; current work in Hawaii also looks at the effects of warm-water events and bleaching on the reproductive success of corals. She is an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʽi at Mānoa. (http://www.moranlab.org)

Thermal Sensitivity of Embryos and Larvae of Antarctic Marine Ectotherms Resources

Overview

In this lesson, students will conduct an investigation to discover how the behavior of hermit crabs change as water temperature changes.

Goals

Students will understand and practice the steps of a science investigation through an investigation about hermit crabs’ reaction to changing ocean temperature. Students will understand that as ocean temperatures increase some animals will adapt and some will

Lesson
Antarctic
Less than a week
Elementary and Up
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Overview

This lesson introduces students to the impacts of increasing ocean temperatures on marine life. Through this kinesthetic activity, students will learn more about marine ectotherms and what researchers in Antarctica have learned so far about how increasing temperature in Antarctic waters will affect their growth. Through the elaborate section of the activity students will connect what they learned about

Lesson
Antarctic
Less than a week
Middle School and Up
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Getting Connected: The PolarTREC Field Experience

I looked closer at the nudibranch. This is a Tritonia challengeriana...I can tell by the pompon looking tufts along the side of its body. I think it's producing an egg case. Yes, it is! I need to tell Aaron, Graham, and Amy! I am so excited that, finally, after mornings and afternoons spent observing

Report
Antarctic
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This archive is from a live event broadcast from McMurdo Station, Antarctica with "Team Amy" (Educator Amy Osborne and Researcher Amy Moran) on 22 November 2019. The research team discussed different aspects of their fieldwork investigating the effects of temperature on the metabolism, growth rate, developmental rate, and energetics of embryos and larvae of Antarctic marine ectotherms.

Event
Antarctic
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An article about Amy Osborne's upcoming expedition to Antarctica that appeared in the Marietta Times newspaper in Marietta, Ohio on 11 October 2019.

Article
Antarctic

Article in the Marietta Times in Marietta, Ohio about Amy Osborne's upcoming journey to Antarctica to study nudibranchs and sea spiders.

Amy Osborne on Rodeo Beach with a pipe cleaner sea spider announces her Antarctica depature date
Amy Osborne on Rodeo Beach with a pipe cleaner sea spider announces her Antarctica depature date

Article
Antarctic
n/a
All Aged
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