February 3, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The world's leading Antarctic marine chemical ecologists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Biology return to the frozen continent Feb. 17 for three months of research that will document the potential effects of climate change and examine marine-life chemicals capable of preventing human disease.
Jim McClintock, Ph.D., and the husband and wife team of Chuck Amsler, Ph.D., and research associate Maggie Amsler have spent a combined 75 years researching the marine life of the Antarctica Peninsula, logging more than 40 combined trips.
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| Jim McClintock. Download image. |
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| Chuck Amsler. Download image. |
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| Maggie Amsler. Download image. |
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| UAB Antarctic Group. Download image. |
Everyone can travel to the frozen continent with the team and share in its research discoveries on its award-winning Web site, antarctica.uab.edu/.
"What brings our research group to Antarctica is a truly unique marine ecosystem - a set of plants and animals that give us marvelous tools to understand how ecosystems function in Antarctica and all over the world," Chuck Amsler says.
From it base of operation at Palmer Station, the UAB research team, including graduate students Kate Schoenrock and Ruth McDowell, will expand its pioneering research into the relationships between the chemically protected algae and many other organisms that call the polar waters home.
"You don't think about there being forests in Antarctica, but there are forests of algae under the water," Chuck Amsler says. "The Antarctic ecosystem differs from other places in the world because these forests of algae are chemically defended; they are making use of compounds and chemicals so that the organisms that would feed on the algae find the algae distasteful."
One particular chemical, discovered by the UAB team during a previous trip, is produced by tunicates, organisms that live along the sea bottom; it has shown potential in the laboratory to combat cancerous melanoma.
"We are doing cutting-edge research at the forefront of marine-chemical studies," McClintock said. "At anytime we could have a breakthrough with the kind of impact that could dramatically improve human life."
Other UAB research projects will focus on the effects of climate change and a warming planet on Antarctic ecosystems. For example, the team will study the effects of rising seawater temperature on the behavior of algal-consuming organisms. Previous UAB investigations have examined the impact of ocean acidification on Antarctic marine life. Post-mortem examinations of the calcified outer shells of marine organisms have revealed it could jeopardize many ocean species.
"The trends in ocean acidification are creating a marine environment in which the sea water literally can eat away the shells of existing clams, snails and other organisms, which could cause species to die outright or become vulnerable to new predators," McClintock says.
The team says its climate-change research is crucial to building awareness of the threats Antarctica faces and ensuring its biological treasures are not lost to future generations.
"Antarctica is a wonderful natural laboratory," Maggie Amsler says. "It is a magical place that never ceases to amaze in its beauty; it is a place like no other that I've ever visited."
About UAB in Antarctica
All three of UAB's leading Antarctic researchers have been honored with the naming of geographic features on the continent. McClintock Point, located at the entrance of a three-mile stretch of land known as Explorers Cove in Antarctica, was named in 1998. Amsler Island, which lies between Loudwater Cove and Arthur Harbor near Anvers Island, was named in 2007. For more details, visit antarctica.uab.edu.
About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.