Update

Now Archived!
The PolarConnect events with Michael League and the research team from McMurdo Station, Antarctica are now archived.
You can access these events by visiting the PolarConnect Archives.

What Are They Doing?

The research team SCUBA dived below the sea ice to collect polychaete worms. Polychaetes are segmented worms generally less than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) long, but can vary greatly. They are marine worms that live throughout the world’s oceans and can survive in very harsh conditions including the deepest depths of the ocean.

Once the worms were collected, the research team ran temperature and nutrition experiments on them in the laboratory. These experiments helped researchers understand how the worms are able to adapt to these very cold waters, and how they will survive as ocean temperatures increase.

Where Are They?

The team was based in McMurdo Station, Antarctica. McMurdo Station is on Ross Island, a volcanic island (with the southernmost active volcano, Mt. Erebus) south of New Zealand in the Ross Sea. Researchers took day trips from McMurdo Station to local under-ice SCUBA diving sites.

Latest Journals

If you want to connect to one of our web events from Antarctica, this link is a good place to start. I'll be posting more on this later. Remember to add an hour if you are in Michigan. Tames are given in CST. Quick Update: I'm en route right now. I made my first flight and I'm posting this from…
Wow! Talk about a busy day. Today began with a lot of interesting information about photography and taking good pictures for journaling. Teacher Bill Schmoker gave us some excellent tips about taking good photos to tell a story. Have you ever thought about being a photographer or using…
Just a reminder of where we are...carved into the ice. Today was focused mainly on creating journals for the PolarTREC web site. I am really impressed with the ability of this year's PolarTREC teachers. I strongly encourage you to check out all of this year's participants. In particular,…
Fairbanks, I'm back... Well, it's been a bit of a journey to get here. Two car rides, three flights, four time zones and about 60 degrees cooler. I left Delaware Friday evening at 6 PM and arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska on Sunday morning at 1 AM. This was all the help I got when packing! Here'…
Dates
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Location
McMurdo Station
Michael League - Teacher
Teacher
Millsboro Middle School

Michael League grew up in coastal Massachusetts, playing sports and sneaking away to the beach at every opportunity. At an early age, his parents took him to a fabulous aquarium where he tried to learn the name of every fish. Thanks to that fateful trip, Mr. League learned how to SCUBA dive, and has been using that as a means to explore the world beneath the waves ever since. In 2004, Mr. League went to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the submarine DSV Alvin to study hydrothermal vents. (Hydrothermal vents are underwater volcanoes that are home to some of the most unusual animals on Earth.) The best part about the expedition was sharing it with students all over the world through technological means. A year later, Mr. League traveled to McMurdo Station, Antarctica to dive under the ice and study the amazing animals that live in the coldest water on the planet. Mr. League is a science teacher at Millsboro Middle School in Millsboro, Delaware. Outside of the classroom, Mr. League can be found playing with a new piece of technology, cycling, or walking the beaches of Southern Delaware with his wife and their puppy, Mac.

Stacy Kim - Researcher
Researcher
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

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.

Adam Marsh - Researcher
Researcher
University of Delaware

Adam Marsh is an associate professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware, who has conducted field research in Antarctica for the last 15 years. His work focuses on marine life in extreme conditions, including cold adaptations in polar animals and bioengineering proteins to function in extreme conditions. Dr. Marsh also co-founded a biotech startup company. To learn more about Dr. Marsh, please visit his faculty homepage.

Stephanie Guida - Researcher
Researcher
University of Delaware

Stephanie Guida received her B.A. in environmental chemistry from Juniata College in 2007 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in marine biosciences at the University of Delaware. This is her second field season studying genomic and physiologic adaptations in marine worms to the extreme Antarctic environment. Her main research interest is looking at shifts in gene regulation during acclimation to environmental changes. When not working in the lab, Stephanie enjoys rock climbing, mountain biking, and hunting for sea glass along the Delaware beaches.

Annamarie Pasqualone - Researcher
Researcher
University of Delaware

Annamarie Pasqualone received her B.A. in biology and environmental studies from Vassar College. She is now on her second year of the PhD program at the University of Delaware, where she studies the physiological and biochemical changes associated with acclimation to extreme environments. She is very fascinated by the ways in which environmental cues trigger changes in gene expression that ultimately allow the animals to survive. This is Annamarie's second field season in McMurdo, and she is very excited to start collecting and culturing the lab's model organism, Capitella perarmata. While on the coldest continent on earth, Annamarie spends her free time hiking up Observation Hill, touring pressure ridges, and exploring ice caves. Off the ice, Annamarie enjoys line dancing and taking her cat, Purrsia, for walks on the boardwalk.

Adaptations of Marine Worms in Antarctica Resources

Article discussing STEM implications of Michael League's expedition studying Marine Worms in Antarctica.

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PolarTREC teacher Michael League and researchers at the University of Delaware are examining tiny worms that inhabit the frigid sea off Antarctica to learn not only how these organisms adapt to the severe cold, but how they will survive as ocean temperatures increase. This article from the University of Delaware website outlines the research being undertaken to determine whether the

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This event was a 1 hr overview of Marine Life Science in Antarctica by Annamarie Pasqualone for the CISE Fall 2011 course and other interested educators.

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Antarctic
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This PolarConnect live event is a one hour presentation by PolarTREC teacher Michael League and the research team studying Adaptations of Marine Worms in Antarctica. The team covers field logistics, what they have found, and what the next step is in the scientific process.

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Article on teacher Michael League's PolarTREC expedition to study marine worms in Antarctica.

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This PolarConnect Event was with teacher Michael League and a team of researchers in Antarctica. They are looking at adaptations of marine worms. The event focused on adaptations and biomes. Length: approximately one hour

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Antarctic
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This PolarConnect Event was with teacher Michael League and a team of researchers in Antarctica. They are looking at adaptations of marine worms. The presentation was given a part of a teacher training in energy curriculum. Length: approximately one hour.

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Antarctic
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This PolarConnect Event was with teacher Michael League and a team of researchers in Antarctica. They are looking at adaptations of marine worms. The presentation focused on where they are, what they are doing, and what they found.

Event
Antarctic
About 1 period