Spring Plankton and Changing Ice Cover
Meet the Team
Teacher - Simone Welch
Oyster Bilingual ES
Washington
, District Of Columbia
United States
Simone Welch can't imagine living life without science. Growing up with a father who was a coral reef ecologist, she has traveled to many islands and coasts while he conducted his research. After graduating from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, Ms. Welch worked in journalism for National Public Radio and National Geographic. After returning to school for a master’s degree in education, Ms. Welch taught for the Peace Corps in West Africa before becoming an elementary school science teacher at Oyster Bilingual Elementary in Washington, D.C. She hopes that her students leave her classroom each day with science not only in their heads but on their clothes and hands too! Ms. Welch is an amateur photographer, and her other personal interests include snowboarding, rock climbing, yoga, and most of all, traveling. She hopes to someday become a limnologist, but to never stop teaching.
Journals
June 10, 2009 Washington, D.C.
"Glad to be back?" One of the first questions that people ask (before "Did you see a polar bear?" and "Did you ever grow your sea legs?") is the hardest to answer. Yes, I am happy to be back in a place with greenery, excited for sun-dresses, ready for bike riding and...
May 12, 2009 Dutch Harbor, Land Ho!
Suiting up in an MSD-900 survival suit felt a little bit strange considering that there was no ice for as far as the eye could see. We were miles from the ice-edge as we pulled into Dutch Harbor but there I was pulling and squirming back through the many zippers and pull-ties. This time I would...
May 10, 2009 Bering Sea, Heading towards Dutch Harbor
Latitude: 57 10.174NLongitude: 163 45.851W
Alexei Pinchuk peers into a clear plastic bottle that he has taken out of the fridge outside the lab. If you didn't know better, you would think that he was looking at a bottle of chilly water. What he is actually doing is checking on his babies...his...
May 8, 2009 Bering Sea, Surrounded by water flat as glass…
Latitude: 57 30.196NLongitude: 168 04.025W
So where in the world does a producer eat other animals, a consumer make its own food and sometimes either will decide to do both? Welcome to the wacky world of the Bering Sea ecosystem!
In theory, there are two main categories of eaters- heterotrophs and...
May 7, 2009 5/7/09 Bering Sea, On the 70 meter line
Latitude: 59 50.217NLongitude: 172 04.540W
I stumbled into the main lab at 10.30 pm last night, already a little sleepy from a day of webcasting, multicoring and VanVeen grabbing. I was tired but determined to stay up with the mysterious Krill Gang for the night before I ran out of days to do it...
Project Information
Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST)-Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP)
USCGC Healy, Bering Sea
31 March 2009
12 May 2009
Where are They?
The team will be travelling on the USCGC Healy in the Bering Sea. The Bering Sea lies to the west of Alaska and to the east of Russia. The team will depart from and return to the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the most productive fishing port in the United States.
What are they Doing?
A diverse research team aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Healy will conduct sampling along a series of transects over the eastern Bering Sea. Research on the ship is multidisciplinary, with scientists using a variety of techniques to document ocean conditions and the productivity of the Bering Sea ecosystem. Research teams measure the temperature, salinity, and nutrient content of the sea water, changes in sea ice cover, and the concentration of nutrients used and released by phytoplankton. They also conduct surveys of zooplankton, fish, seabirds, and marine mammals such as walrus and seal to assess the health of these populations. A major focus of this cruise is characterizing the phytoplankton bloom associated with the edge of the melting sea ice.
These measurements will give scientists an indication of the current status of the Bering Sea ecosystem and any changes that might affect the use of its resources, and the economic, social, and cultural sustainability of the people who depend on it. This is the second 2009 cruise in support of the Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST) and the Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (BSIERP).
Resources
| Title | Date | About | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swan Savvy |
OverviewAs part of a migratory bird study conducted with my bilingual second graders... |
Lesson | |
| Plankton Parade |
OverviewThis lesson came out of a desire to connect the plankton research that I did... |
Lesson | |
| Plankton Parents |
OverviewThis series of three labs challenges students to think about the role of... |
Lesson | |
| Puffin Patrol |
OverviewStudents will become familiar with the anatomy/physiology, habitat and... |
Lesson | |
| The Bering Sea with Simone Welch | 6 May 2009 |
This Live from IPY event was held with PolarTREC Teacher Simone Welch and numerous researchers... |
Event |
| Fortunately, She Thinks Ice Is Nice | 8 April 2009 |
This Washington Post article features PolarTREC teacher Simone Welch and her science expedition... |
Article |
Journal Map
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