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Hot days Along the West Antarctic Peninsula: Studying Ecosystem Change in the Dawn of Robotic Oceanography
Dr. Oscar Schofield, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University
Dr. Oscar Schofield
Oscar Schofield is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. He works in Aquatic Biology at the Coastal Ocean Observation Lab, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers. His research is centered on Environmental Regulation of Primary Productivity in Aquatic Ecosystems, Physiological Ecology of Phytoplankton, Hydrological Optics, and the Development of Integrated Ocean Observatories.
About the Seminar
Antarctic marine ecosystems are structured by the amount of sea ice present. The West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing the world’s largest winter warming on Earth, over six times the global average. As a result the sea ice season has decreased by nearly 90 days annually. These changes are resulting in significant change throughout the Antarctic food web ranging from the phytoplankton through the penguins. As part of the Long Term Ecological Research Program, we have been studying how changes in physical system is driving change throughout the food web over last few decades. These efforts have recently been expanded with the advent of autonomous long duration robotic systems, which allow us to maintain a sustained presence at sea. These robotic systems not only allow provide scientists new sampling possibilities but the real-time open access data is providing a means to entrain the general public in science as it happens.