Meet the scientists!

I go on research cruises with other scientists to find undiscovered hot springs (hydrothermal vents) in the deep sea and collect samples of the animals that we find living there. These animals come back to the lab with me where I figure out what species they are.  Sometimes we find new species and I get to describe and name them. I also study the biology of the vent animals, such as how they reproduce and disperse, and find out where related species have been found.  All of this helps us to understand their patterns of life in the oceans and the factors that shape those patterns.

You can read more about my work and what we do at sea here ttp://www.thesearethevoyages.net/ and watch a video about our last research cruise by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsPCGw6OHjQ.

Last year we discovered the world’s deepest hydrothermal vents at the Mid-Cayman Trough, Caribbean.  Here’s a picture of one of the vents we found. It is nearly 5 km beneath the sea surface.

You can read more about hydrothermal vents here: http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/chess/education/edu_htv.php.

It depends whether I’m at sea, which can mean working days or nights, or on land. On land I’m usually in the lab working on the animals we’ve collected at sea, reading papers and books, and writing up my work in the office that I share with five other PhD students. I also meet with my supervisor regularly and deal with emails at the beginning and end of each day. Sometimes I go and visit  researchers working at different institutions to use a piece of equipment, learn new techniques and to talk about my work.  Every day is different and I love that there is so much variety in what I do. Recently I had to dress up as a deep-sea starfish for an event at the Natural History Museum, London:

Here’s a picture of where I work: (Copyright: NOCS)  

Hydrothermal vents are ‘natural laboratories’ for studies on dispersal, isolation, adaptation and evolution. So learning about vents and the animals that are found in these environments can help people to understand these concepts. Teaching aids, such as plastic vent animals, would be a great way to illustrate how animals have adapted to these environments. I would use some of the money to produce these kits and the rest of the money to distribute the kits to as many schools as possible.

Here’s a picture of vent shrimp. This species doesn’t have a pair of eyes…it has an “eyespot” on top of its body.

Copyright: Ifremer