2007 Talks

All talks are held on Tuesdays at 2:30 at the WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center Auditorium, 15 School Street, Woods Hole.

July 10 - Suspended in Ice: Profiling the Arctic Ocean with New Technology

Mary-Louise Timmermans, Physical Oceanography Department

Explore the Arctic Ocean using autonomous Ice-Tethered Profilers. Learn how scientists are investigating the upper layers of the ocean beneath the ice to see how the climate is changing near the Pole.
» More about Mary-Louise Timmermans

July 17 - Research in Antarctica Through the Non-Scientist's Eyes

Ellen Bailey, Biology Department

Get a rare glimpse of life on an Antarctic research expedition. Learn about the tools and techniques scientists are using to better understand how Antarctic eddies can deliver plankton from one side of the Drake Passage to the other. Share the wonder and beauty—as well as the science—experienced on two cruises by a 'civilian at sea'.
» More about Ellen Bailey

July 24 - Antarctic Jell-O; Understanding Salps in the Southern Ocean

Erich Horgan, Biology Department

The waters around Antarctica support huge populations of krill, small shrimp-like creatures that provide food for fish, seabirds, penguins, seals, and whales. But there is another major player in the Southern Ocean food web—salps, a family of gelatinous, tube-shaped animals. Learn how scientists are trying to understand these often-overlooked creatures and the impact climate change might have on their populations.
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» Transparent Animal May Play Overlooked Role in the Ocean
An Oceanus magazine story on salps

July 31 - Climate Change at the Ends of the Earth

Karen Bice, Geology & Geophysics Department

Learn how scientists use fossils of tiny ocean plants and animals to reconstruct climates of the past. Scientists are particularly interested in ancient times when ocean temperatures in the Polar Regions were as warm as modern water temperatures off North Carolina. These warmer periods supported diverse populations of large warm- and cold-blooded animals and sizable forests near the Poles
» More about Karen Bice

August 7 - Microbial Life in Ice

Rebecca Gast, Biology Department

The extremely cold marine environment of the Ross Sea supports a surprisingly diverse collection of microbes—the foundation of the Antarctic food web. Learn what scientists are doing to better understand how and where these single celled plants and animals live and what adaptations they have made to survive the extreme cold of the Antarctic winter.
» More about Rebecca Gast

August 14 - Snap, Crackle, Pop! How the Greenland Ice Sheet Gobbles its Meltwater

Sarah Das, Geology and Geophysics Department

The Earth’s polar ice sheets hold over 75% of our planet’s freshwater. If these ice sheets melted entirely, sea level would rise more than 70 meters (230 feet). Projections of future sea level are directly tied to how ice sheets are responding to climate change. Hear about the findings from our July 2007 expedition to Greenland.
» More about Sarah Das

August 21 - Telling the Stories of Science on Ice: The Photography of International Polar Year

Chris Linder, Physical Oceanography Department

Experience an Arctic research expedition aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden, through the eyes of a photojournalist. These exciting, beautiful images showcase the efforts of a team of WHOI scientists to find hydrothermal vents under the frozen Arctic Ocean using specially developed autonomous underwater vehicles.
» More about Chris Linder

August 28 - The Crack at the Top of the World—A New Kind of Seafloor Spreading

Henry Dick, Geology and Geophysics Department

At the top of the world, the earth is literally being split apart and solid rock is pulled up from the mantle to the seafloor. No one expected the 2001 team of scientists would be able to map the seafloor while crashing through the ice, yet they used the ship’s sonar to collect remarkable images of the seabed that have changed the way scientists think about seafloor spreading.
» More about Henry Dick