After 64 days at sea, the RV Polarstern and icy surroundings have officially started to feel like home. I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed, but here we are at the end of MOSAiC Leg 4! A truly special cruise, we witnessed the re-building and complete break-down of an ice camp, the peak and end of the spring under-ice bloom, and were the last to sample from the original MOSAiC floe before that singular, well characterized piece of ice (chosen all the way back in last October!) finally reached the marginal ice zone, and the end of its life as a contiguous floe. It’s really quite incredible to have had the opportunity to contribute to this astounding time series. As part of this expedition, over 200 individual scientists have worked on this one piece of ice, following its drift across the Arctic. Even if we cannot determine the full scope of this project or see all the results just now – it is clear that these data will have an impact for generations to come and, especially as a student, I feel so lucky to have contributed to this legacy.

When we first arrived at the MOSAiC floe, we were very excited to find enough of it intact to re-establish the Central Observatory ice camp. Very soon, versions 2.0 of all the ice “cities” began popping up across the floe and the science began in earnest. However, every day we had new reminders of the fact that we were decidedly in the Arctic melt season. Melt-ponds became a dominant feature and often, new roads and pathways had to be forged on the fly to get to sampling locations. For example, starting at around 1.5 m the first week, our last first year ice cores were only 90 cm long.

These melt-dynamics not only provided physical challenges to working on the ice, but also scientific ones as well. How to capture this fresh-water lens and study the impacts of such surface stratification on the biomass blooming beneath the ice? This stratification was seen most clearly in the lead systems surrounding the ship. After several surveys, we were able to characterize 3 clear layers – surface freshwater, a green algal layer (brackish salinities), and the underlying seawater. Over time, the living layer shoaled and went from a happy photosynthetic green, to a clearly dying, particulate organic matter greenish/brown. Capturing this bloom transition was quite exciting for us and I look forward to analyzing how the microbial community in these layers evolved.

In addition to these opportunistic events, Alessandra D’Angelo (PhD, URI) and I were happy to continue progress on the core MethOx project work, started by Jessie Creamean (PhD, CSU) on Leg 1, and Jeff on Leg 3. When conditions allowed, we were lucky enough to have nearly daily CTD casts from the Polarstern rosette (thank you Team Ocean!) and were therefore never in want of water. With both of us on board we were able to maximize sampling and analysis, collecting almost 278 unique samples for the core project work alone! We measured weekly seawater profiles for microbial community structure in conjunction with ambient methane concentrations/isotopes and ran experimental samples to study potential oxidation/production rates of methane using elevated methane in select incubations.

BUT – it’s not over yet. Even as I now take this time to reflect on Leg 4, we are quite busy with preparations for Leg 5 where we will head north and witness the re-freeze of the Arctic fall! And although it will be bittersweet to part from our Leg 4 colleagues… the Akademik Tryoshnikov has arrived and the handover must begin. I look forward to continuing on as the Bowman Lab/MethOx Project representative on MOSAiC Leg 5 and can’t wait to see where the RV Polarstern takes us next!

Operating an international expedition in the remote central Arctic would always be a logistically taxing endeavor. Operating an international expedition in the remote central Arctic during a global pandemic is that much more challenging. But through the incredible perseverance of a delayed Leg 3 team and hard work from the dedicated logistical teams at the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany, MOSAiC Leg 4 is underway!

Our NSF funded project work on MOSAiC will be carried out on this leg by URI Post-doc Alessandra D’Angelo and myself. In a reshuffling of plan operations, I found myself headed North almost a month earlier than expected (and for her almost a month later). On May 1, 2020, approx. one hundred scientists and crew began two weeks of quarantine in a local hotel in Bremerhaven. For the first week we were in total isolation within individual hotel rooms. Meals were brought to our door by the incredible hotel staff. Upon beginning our individualized quarantine, we took two tests, the first test on our arrival and the second one seven days later. We were all to remain in individualized quarantine until the results of our second coronavirus test came back.  Thankfully, everyone tested negative and after seven long days we entered Phase 2 – group quarantine. Even weeks and 3,000 km away from meeting with the Polarstern, MOSAiC Leg 4 had finally begun. Tentatively at first, we emerged from our rooms to gather for meals, planning, and perhaps most importantly, safety briefings. While we were able to be around each other, we still practiced strict social distancing precautions.

After another 10 days, and negative test results for all, we began our journey Northward on the R/V Maria S. Merian and R/V Sonne to meet with the MOSAiC workhorse, R/V Polarstern. While overall lovely research vessels, the MS Merian and Sonne are not icebreakers, meaning the Polarstern would need to travel south of the ice edge to refuel and make the personnel exchange. Therefore, all ships coordinated to meet in Adventfjorden, Svalbard. It required a lot of time, but it was a beautiful journey. Due to some unexpected ice-pressure preventing southerly travel we ended up reaching the designated meeting point (near Longyearbyen, Norway) almost 2 weeks earlier than Polarstern! I spent most of the time planning, catching up on some coding, and working out in the many group sporting activities being held on board, all in prep for the labor-intensive ice activities. (Zumba and yoga are of course perfect analogs for pulling sledges of equipment across slushy sea ice…)

Once the Polarstern finally arrived in Adventfjorden, a flurry of handover activities commenced. We met with the Leg 3 team, explored the labs, reviewed protocols, and heard all about their experience on the ice. Prior to departing the MOSAiC ice floe, there was a dynamic shift in the ice leading to some sampling sites splitting from the rest. This, however, is not surprising given its fast trajectory south and the onset of the summer melt-season. The ice drift (which can be tracked here in real time) has brought the MOSAiC floe to approximately 82º latitude, air temperatures mostly remain above freezing, and surface water is currently measured at -1.7ºC (warm for under-ice). With polar summer in full swing and such exciting ice dynamics, I look forward to getting back to the floe and tracking the ecological changes through this transition! But first, we must get there. I’m hoping to utilize this next phase of transit to explore the R/V Polarstern. Since it will be my new home for the next ~4.5 months, I suppose I should learn how to find my way from the lab to the mess hall without getting lost…

Module 5 Lectures 3-4: Learn from Jeff about the microbial communities living in sea ice.

Module 5 Lecture 7: Learn from Dr. Jesse Creamean, (Leg 1 MOSAiC participant), about atmospheric aerosols in the Arctic.

Module 5 Lecture 8: Learn from Dr. Brice Loose, (Co-PI of our NSF project), about why it is important to study the Arctic in the first place.

Check it out!! –> Coursera & Youtube

Hello! It’s Emelia again – to learn more about me and my research in the Bowman Lab check out this post. I have recently returned from 2 weeks in the Canadian Arctic where I attended an absolutely incredible summer field course entitled “Arctic Microbiomes: From molecules and microbes to ecosystems and health” through the Sentinel North International PhD School at Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada. This course emphasized an interdisciplinary approach to asking (and answering) questions about the role of microbiomes in the Arctic. A microbiome represents the complex interactions of microscopic life (bacteria, archaea, phytoplankton, fungi, viruses, etc.) within a specific habitat. And just as the community that makes up a human gut microbiome can give insights into the health of a person, the diversity of Arctic – soil, pond, sea-ice etc. – microbiomes can give insights into the health of Arctic ecosystems. The Arctic is one of the most rapidly changing places on Earth with warmer temperatures and less ice each year. Key to understanding the broader ecosystem (including human) impacts of this rapid change we must first understand the dynamics of these microbial worlds and how they might buffer, accelerate, or shift in response to, the changing Arctic climatic state.

The course was based out of the Center for Northern Studies in Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik. Not entirely remote, there are about 1,400 inhabitants between the Cree First Nation and Inuit communities living in the adjacent villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujuarapik. The research complex is located at 55º N along the coast of Hudson Bay and is one of 10 stations in the Canadian Network of Northern Research Operators. This field school was fun and informative for many reasons, but here I will briefly recite the top of the list.

1. It really was an International PhD school

18 students from all around the globe came together to study the microbiota of the Arctic. Every continent was accounted for (and we’ll include Antarctica, considering that many of these polar researchers have spent quite a bit of time there) and there was the possibility that ~5 languages were being spoken simultaneously at any given time. The diversity of this group also extended to scientific expertise – between students and mentors there was a spectrum of research experience, from medical studies of the human gut microbiome to soil microbial ecology and astrobiology. However, while scientific interest may have brought us together, after 10 days of dorm life, sharing meals, and surviving long days in the field, the personal connections and budding cross-continental friendships are what made this school truly unique.  

2. Collaborations with the Cree First Nation

Speaking of a cross-cultural experience – as the research complex is on Cree land, it is run in collaboration with the Cree First Nation of Whapmagoostui. Upon our arrival at the station, we were addressed by the Chief – who also happened to be the first female Chief elected in Cree history! She emphasized the importance of learning from the land and provided a human perspective to how we think about research in the North and the challenges facing their community. This type of knowledge exchange continued throughout the school from a science & microscopes workshop held at the local grocery store to traditional tipi building at the research complex. Led by locals, we chopped and prepared the trees ourselves; finally constructing the tipi on our last day at the base. The school also coincided with a yearly heritage festival and we were honored to be included in the local gathering. I learned a lot from the Cree elders, particularly the many changes that they’ve seen in the environment during their lifetimes; an important reminder that climate change is just as much (in fact more of) a human issue as an environmental one.

3. Fieldwork

I am a sucker for field work, to me it is the best (and most fun) way to explore the natural world. Even with a rigorous and scientific sampling scheme, there is always the chance to see something new. And this school provided a TON of it in an absolutely GORGEOUS environment – mosquitos and all. One of my favorite days was when we sailed out onto the Great Whale River to take water samples and measure the river’s chemical properties using a hand-held CTD. The water and mist warded off the worst of the mosquitos and I had the opportunity to try out new, state of the art sampling equipment! (Plus I always enjoy a good day on the water.) Some of the other highlights were sampling the local ponds and lakes for cyanobacteria – a type of photosynthetic bacteria that, in these regions, grow in thick filamentous mats. (Formerly known as blue-green algae). It was especially neat because nearby there were some stromatolites – ancient fossilized cyanobacteria from early Earth. These ancient cyanobacteria are responsible for filling the atmosphere with oxygen and making Earth habitable for life like us. In one day we touched the past and collected samples from the present to ask scientific questions about the future.

While the weather didn’t cooperate enough for us to actually sample there, we were also able to get a helicopter tour of some of the local permafrost sites! Permafrost encompasses any ground (soil, rock, etc.) that is completely frozen (<0ºC) for at least two consecutive years. However, most permafrost has been frozen for much, much longer than that. The soils are held together by ice and, historically, have been so solidly frozen in some areas that builders considered it more stable to construct on than concrete. In the northern hemisphere, about 1/4 of the land area is made up of permafrost and it is currently melting at unprecedented rates. This not only poses a threat to shorelines and infrastructure but is rapidly and unpredictably changing the microbial communities that live in this unique environment.

4. Scientific Expertise & Laboratory Work

As this was a microbiology field school, a good portion of our time was spent analyzing samples in the lab. Many of the techniques we used were similar to the ones we employ here in the Bowman Lab but there was still a lot for me to learn. The first step in most microbiome studies is to simply see who is there. To do this, we extracted genetic material from our samples for DNA sequencing. The first step in this process requires breaking apart the cells from your environmental samples, releasing their genetic material. Then, through a series of chemical reactions and washing steps, this material is extracted from the sample and ready to be amplified and sequenced. Using field-kits and portable sequencing devices, this process can be long and arduous, but thankfully we had many hands in the lab and an excellent cell-phone DJ. By the end of the week we were able to sequence the metagenomes from several of our sampled sites. Then, even without internet (the horror), through the incredible expertise of our mentors, we were able to analyze the diversity of the microbial communities. By pairing who is there with environmental parameters and rate measurements like gas fluxes, we are able to paint a picture of the current functionality and ecosystem services that microscopic life provides.

Based on the rotational schedule of this field school I spent most of my days in the lab following those cyanobacteria mats through their subsequent analyses. First we measured the amount of oxygen in each layer of the mats using a micro sensor. This probe allows us to measure O2 gas on the micro-meter scale, giving us an in depth profile for each mat. The top of the mats are photosynthetic, with the highest concentration of chlorophyll just below the surface layer. Towards the bottom of the mats however, respiration becomes the dominant process, and some of the mats even had anoxic bottom layers. This distinct layering would indicate a change in community composition with depth (both cyanobacteria species and other bacteria & viruses that call this mat structure home). To test this, we dissected the mats vertically, separating out layers based on the depth where we saw a distinct change in the oxygen profile. These layers could somewhat be characterized by color which created an easily visible distinction for dissection. These layers were then placed in tubes and analyzed separately in all further analyses.

At the end of the course, we worked on synthesizing all of our results to draw some conclusions about the microbial ecosystems we had been studying for the past week and a half. Each presentation turned into an exciting scientific discussion relying heavily on the diverse expertise and research experience of the mentors and students. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to learn from these experts and practice the full scientific process in such a unique place.

5. Exploring the North

The North is a fascinating place to do research. We know so little about its environmental processes and there are many scientific questions still begging to be asked. More than that however, the stunning and surprisingly diverse environment, rapidly shifting weather conditions, and richly unique flora and fauna make it a true adventure to explore. Here are some of the pictures I took which I think best capture the north’s wild beauty and ecological diversity.

That’s all for now, folks! To learn more about what I and the rest of this year’s students were up to during the Sentinelle Nord IPS you can check out the group’s field blog here, or follow me on twitter @Antarctic_Emma (see #SNAM19).

Hello! My name is Emelia Chamberlain and I am a first year PhD student here in the Bowman Lab working on the MOSAiC project. I just got back from a very exciting week in Utqiagvik Alaska for MOSAiC snow and ice training. But first, an overview… As mentioned in an earlier post, the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) project is an international effort to study the Arctic ocean-ice-atmosphere system with the goal of clarifying key climatic and ecological processes as they function in a changing Arctic. Within the larger scope of this project, our lab and collaborators from the University of Rhode Island (URI) will be studying how microbial community structure and ecophysiology control fluxes of oxygen and methane in the central Arctic Ocean.

MOSAiC begins in Sept of 2019, when the German icebreaker RV Polarstern will sail into the Laptev Sea and be tethered to an ice flow. Once trapped in the ice, both ship & scientists will spend the next year drifting through the Arctic. The goal is to set up a central observatory and collect time-series observations across the complete seasonal cycle. This year-long time series will be both exciting and critical for the future of Arctic research, but it is logistically difficult to carry out. The cruise is split up into 6 “legs”, with scientists taking two month shifts collecting observations and living the Arctic life. Resupply will be carried out by other icebreakers and aircraft. I myself will be taking part in the last two legs of this project from June – October 2020, with Jeff, Co-PI Brice Loose (URI), and his post-doc Alessandra D’Angelo (URI) representing our project on the rest of the voyage.

Laboratory training in Bremerhaven, Germany

As one would imagine, with over 600 scientists involved and continuous measurements broken up between multiple teams, this project requires a LOT of advanced planning. However, this is the fun part, as it means we get to travel a lot in preparation! In March, Jeff and I traveled to Potsdam, Germany to participate in a MOSAiC implementation workshop. Shortly after, we took a train up to the Alfred Wegener Institute facilities in Bremerhaven with Brice, Alessandra, and other MOSAiC participants to train on some of the instrumentation we will be operating on the Polarstern. We spent a full week training on instruments like a gas chromatograph, gas-flux measurement chambers, and a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). While many of us had operated these types of instruments before, each machine is different and several were engineered or re-designed by participating scientists specifically for MOSAiC.

The bulk of the training was focused on the MIMS, which will be used to take continuous underway ∆O₂/Ar measurements from surface waters during MOSAiC. Water is piped from below the Polarstern and run through the mass spectrometer where dissolved gas concentrations are measured. Argon (Ar), a biologically inert gas, is incorporated into the ocean’s mixed layer at the same rate as oxygen (O2). However, while argon concentrations are evenly distributed, oxygen concentrations are affected by biogeochemical processes (photosynthesis and respiration by biota). We can therefore compare oxygen and argon measurements in the water column to determine how much oxygen has deviated from what we would expect through physical air-sea exchange processes (i.e. deviations from biologic activity). From these oxygen fluxes, we can estimate Net Community Production (NCP), which is defined as the total amount of chemical energy produced by photosynthesis minus that which is used in respiration. This is an important balance to quantify, as it is representative of the amount of carbon removed biologically from the atmosphere (CO2) and sequestered into the ocean pool. The goal is to use these continuous MOSAiC measurements to quantify these biogeochemical budgets through time and get a better understanding of whether the Arctic is net phototrophic or heterotrophic – whether photosynthesis or respiration is the dominant process.  

Field training in Utqiagvik, Alaska

After a productive week in Bremerhaven, this past week we stepped outside the laboratory with a snow and ice field training session in Utqiagvik, Alaska. One of the challenges of Arctic fieldwork is, of course, that it takes place in the frigid Arctic environment. To help scientists prepare for life on the ice and to help standardize/optimize sampling methods for MOSAiC, there were 3 snow and ice field training sessions organized (the two others took place earlier this year in Finland.) This trip was particularly exciting for me, as it was my first time in the Arctic! Not only did I learn a lot about sampling sea ice but I was struck by the dynamic beauty of the polar landscape. No wonder researchers continue to be fascinated with the unanswered questions of this wild ecosystem.

The three trainings that everyone had to complete consisted of snow sampling, ice sampling and snow mobile training. Aside from that, people were able to learn or compare more advanced methods for their sampling specialities and test out gear, both scientific and personal weather protection. I was lucky in that the average -18ºC weather we experienced in Utqiagvik will most likely be representative of the type of weather I will be facing in the summer months of MOSAiC. The winter teams will have to contend with quite a bit cooler conditions.

While in Utqiagvik, we here at the Bowman Lab decided to make the most of this trip by also collecting some of our own sea-ice cores to sample and experiment with. The goal of our experiment is to determine the best method for melting these cores (necessary for sampling them) while providing the least amount of stress to the resident microbial communities that we are interested in sampling for. I will write up a post covering the methods and ideas behind this experiment soon – but in the meantime, please enjoy this excellent go-pro footage from beneath the ice captured by Jeff during our fieldwork. The brown gunk coating the bottom of the ice is sea-ice algae, mostly made up of diatoms. The ice here is only 68 cm thick allowing for a lot of light penetration and an abundant photosynthetic community. At the end, you can also note the elusive Scientists in their natural sampling habitat.

What’s next?

As Sept 2019 gets closer, preparations are likely to ramp up even more. Even though I won’t be in the field for another year, it is exciting to think that the start of MOSAiC is rapidly approaching and after these two weeks of training I am feeling much more prepared for the scientific logistics and field challenges that will accompany this research. However, there is still much more to come. In a few weeks I will be jetting off again, but this time to URI to meet up with our collaborators for more instrument training. And thus the preparations continue…