Dissolved Organic Matter in Antarctica

Sarah Diers has worn many professional hats in her life…commercial crab and salmon fisher in Alaska, fisheries biologist, coffee barista, whale watching naturalist, caterer and most recently, middle school science teacher. She is very excited to add the “hat” of PolarTREC participant to her collection. Sarah has dreamt of visiting our Earth’s great Southern continent since she was a child. She cannot wait to share her expedition with Polar students of all ages. Sarah invites you to become an active participant in the Dissolved Organic Matter expedition- ask her team questions, join the webinars, read the journals, wonder and explore Antarctica with her.

Dr. Yu-Ping (Yo) Chin, is a Professor of Geology at Ohio State University. Dr. Chin is an aquatic geochemist and hydrogeologist whose research interests range from photolytic degradation of environmental contaminants and contaminant reduction to the role of natural organic matter in environmental oxidation/reduction processes.

Dr. Christine Foreman is an Associate Research Professor at Montana State University at the Center for Biofilm Engineering and the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Foreman has spent seven seasons in Antarctica studying life in extreme conditions, connecting the very smallest organisms to the workings of the entire planet. Her research revolves around the organization of microbial communities in relation to their physical environment, and the processing of nutrients and dissolved organic matter (DOM). In her spare time, Dr. Foreman enjoys being outdoors, hiking, and fly-fishing with her friends, husband, Toby, two sons, Alex and Matthew, and two dogs, Táo and Tye. Dr. Diane McKnight is a Professor at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Dr. McKnight is a Principal Investigator with the McMurdo Dry Valleys and Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research Groups. Her research focuses on interactions between hydrologic, chemical and biological processes in controlling the dynamics in aquatic ecosystems. This research is carried out through field-scale experiments, modeling, and laboratory characterization of natural substrates.