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Antarctic Undersea ROV

Meet the Team

Teacher - Mindy Bell

Mindy Bell's picture
Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy
Flagstaff , Arizona
United States

Mindy Bell grew up on an island in southeast Minnesota. Swimming in algae-laden waters, ice-skating around beaver lodges, and watching the wetlands come to life in the spring were instrumental in her decision to study science. Her liberal arts education at Carleton College included a term studying marine science on Catalina Island and at Hopkins Marine Station, where her fascination with marine life was fueled, yet her passion was for teaching rather than scientific research. After graduation, she took the ferry to Alaska and started teaching. After five years of teaching grade 7 to 12 science in Skagway, Alaska, and running a school fish hatchery, she attended the University of Washington in Seattle and earned a Masters degree in Biology Education. Ms. Bell now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she teaches secondary science at the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy.

Researcher - Stacy Kim

Stacy Kim's picture
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Moss Landing , California
United States

Dr. Stacy Kim is a research professor in Benthic Ecology, or how organisms that live on the seafloor interact to form communities. She has worked with Dr. Adam Marsh in both Antarctic and hydrothermal vent ecosystems, and will be diving on this project to help collect worms, as well as to continue assembling data to examine long term changes in Antarctic ecosystems. When she is not studying human impacts in marine communities and developing technology for underwater research, Stacy enjoys backpacking, climbing, and beach volleyball.

Journals

January 13, 2008 Antarctic Reflection

"You wait. Everyone has an Antarctic." Thomas Pynchon
As 2007 ends, I am reflecting back on this entire year as well as my experience in Antarctica.  And I realize that Antarctica has permeated much of this year.  It was this time, one year ago, that I completed and submitted my PolarTREC application to ARCUS.  Then in early March I interviewed with...

January 12, 2008 It Takes a School

...and a community!
Before I left for Antarctica, Stacy sent me a diagram of a photo frame that Bob had designed for an underwater student experiment. My students looked for ways to improve the frame design, and then I picked up donated supplies from our local Home Depot. I e-mailed one of my past students who is a...

November 17, 2007 The Longest Day

“Ice people say that when you leave the Antarctic, part of you stays behind forever.”
"Ice people say that when you leave the Antarctic, part of you stays behind forever.” From Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica, by Sara Wheeler I do feel as if I have left a bit of myself on this amazing continent, but mostly I feel I have taken much from Antarctica. I have memories and...

November 16, 2007 My Last Day in Antarctica

"Under its worst conditions this earth is a good place to live in."
"Under its worst conditions this earth is a good place to live in." This quote, by Henry Robertson "Birdie" Bowers, exemplifies the positive attitude of many polar explorers. Bowers was one of the five men on Scott's ill-fated return from the South Pole and perished with the...

November 15, 2007 Passing on knowledge

"Ross Island is not a place for a settlement; it is a place for an elaborately equipped scientific station..."
"Ross Island is not a place for a settlement; it is a place for an elaborately equipped scientific station..." A prescient statement by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, when you consider all the science that is being done at McMurdo Station almost 100 years later! McMurdo may not be "...

Project Information

Undersea Research with a Remotely Operated Vehicle in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
30 September 2007
18 November 2007

Where are They?

The team was working in the waters around McMurdo Station, Antarctica. McMurdo is the largest station in Antarctica with more than 100 buildings, a harbor, landing strip and helicopter pad. More than 1000 people live and work at McMurdo Station during the austral summer!

What are they Doing?

The research team was exploring remote regions of the seafloor around McMurdo Station, Antarctica with a newly developed remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for underwater research. The new ROV can be deployed through a small (15 cm) hole in the sea ice, enabling access to regions beyond scuba diving depths (at 40-170 m). The researchers located historical experimental structures on the sea floor around McMurdo Station and investigated the colonization of these structures by species of sessile invertebrates. This provided an unprecedented opportunity to explore and document the rates and patterns of ecological succession from one of the most extreme habitats in the world. The team also tested protocols for conducting sonar mapping with the new ROV as a first step towards creating high-resolution, bathymetric maps of the entire seafloor around McMurdo Station.

Resources

Title Date About Type
Antarctic Undersea Foodweb

Overview

Using photos from a variety of websites, including the PolarTREC and SCINI...

Lesson
Antarctic Undersea ROV with Cameo Slaybaugh 3 December 2008

This Live from IPY! Event was held with PolarTREC Teacher Cameo Slaybaugh and her project PI,...

Event
Polar Explorer Activity

Overview

Few people are familiar with the fascinating stories that Arctic and...

Activity
Science in Antarctica

Overview

Learners from 6th – 12th grade will investigate different science projects in...

Lesson
FALA science teacher assisting researchers in Antarctica 7 October 2007

Arizona Daily Sun reporter Betsy Bruner writes about PolarTREC teacher Mindy Bell's adventures...

Article
Undersea ROV, McMurdo Station, Antarctica 13 November 2007

Live from IPY event held with Mindy Bell, Stacy Kim and the Undersea ROV team from McMurdo...

Event
Super Science Saturday, Mindy Bell at McMurdo Station, Antarctica 27 October 2007

Live from IPY Event with Mindy Bell, Stacy Kim, and Louise Huffman and the ANDRILL team in...

Event
Girls+Science+Math=Success, Mindy Bell at McMurdo Station, Antarctica 27 October 2007

Girls+Science+Math=Success, Mindy Bell at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Event
Undersea ROV, McMurdo Station, Antarctica 23 October 2007

Undersea ROV, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Event

Journal Map

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