Kelly Speare, a 2012 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) student and 2013 BIOS summer intern, was chosen from a pool of qualified candidates to represent BIOS at the 2014 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, HI. This bi-annual meeting is convened by the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), The Oceanography Society (TOS), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and brings together scientists from around the world to discuss current topics in marine science, technology, and education.
In addition to salt, seawater contains a variety of other dissolved and particulate materials, such as sediment, organic materials, and living cells. Because of their varying sizes and compositions, each of these particles absorbs and reflects light differently. Oceanographers use this to their advantage—by shining a beam of light through the water and measuring how much light is absorbed or scattered, they can get an idea of the types and abundances of particles that are present.
The traditional method for assessing reef health involves fieldwork; that is, going out to the reef in question and taking measurements (e.g., percentages of each coral species, etc.) of the coral, algae, and other bottom types that are present. However, these measurements only present one aspect of health: ecosystem structure. To develop a more complete picture of reef health, scientists also need to understand and be able to assess ecosystem function. In the case of coral reefs, this means quantifying the two main things that reefs do as an ecosystem: primary production (or photosynthesis) and calcification.
The Bermuda Government is currently holding a public consultation regarding the creation of a marine reserve to protect the waters surrounding Bermuda. The reserve being considered would encompass a portion of Bermuda’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends out 200 nautical miles from the island. If designated as such, these waters would be the equivalent of a national park and activities such as offshore fishing and seabed mining would be strictly prohibited. Bermuda has a long history of managing its marine resources and this measure would extend full protection to the area, including a significant portion of the Sargasso Sea’s unique ecosystem.
As residents of Bermuda comment on the proposed establishment of a “no take” marine reserve in the waters around Bermuda, BIOS is weighing in on the conversation with a position statement of its own:
From October 18-25, 2013, a group of scientists and technicians were at sea aboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer on a very special Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) research cruise marking the program’s 25th year. Like many anniversary celebrations, this one involved cake (more on that in a bit!) but—unlike most celebrations—it also involved a variety of oceanographic science.
BIOS researchers and their colleagues from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have refined a common survey method to better account for a marine bacterium known as SAR11. Since BIOS adjunct scientist Steven Giovannoni discovered SAR11 in 1990, scientists have found the Sargasso Sea bacterium is ubiquitous in the world’s oceans and accounts for roughly one in every three cells at the ocean’s surface. These bacteria have power in numbers: each cell contributes to the marine carbon cycle, and with approximately five million bacterial cells inhabiting every tablespoon of seawater, SAR11 is so abundant that its combined weight would outweigh all the fish in the ocean.
In the Molecular Discovery Lab at BIOS, a deli-style fridge with sliding glass doors houses vials and bottles of chemicals used to track proteins, stain cells, and analyze DNA – as well as a small bunch of lettuce in the corner. It’s been picked fresh from the garden to satiate the appetites of the lab’s current visitors.
In the late 1980s Rod Johnson was working in the UK civil service—a “fantastic job” by his own account—when he attended a meeting concerning the Global Ocean Flux Study (GOFS). During this meeting a topic of discussion was how Bermuda and Hawaii would be pivotal in achieving the GOFS objectives of understanding biogeochemical variability in the oceans and the impact of climate change on these processes. At the time, Johnson’s girlfriend (Sarah), now his wife, had just moved to Bermuda and, in a move that would impact the course of his career, he decided to contact Dr. Tony Knap, then-Director of BIOS (at the time BBS), to inquire about employment opportunities.
In the late 1980s scientists at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) were looking for a way to meaningfully contribute to the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). This international program involved the creation and maintenance of monitoring stations around the world, each collecting vast amounts of data on dissolved carbon in the ocean and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. BIOS was already home to Hydrostation S (an ocean data time-series station established in 1954), but the scientists envisioned a time-series station that could provide long-term measurements from the open ocean off Bermuda.
Tim Noyes, a coral reef research specialist at BIOS, knew he wanted to take action fighting the scourge of lionfish invading Bermuda’s coral reefs. He was helping out with a short documentary to raise awareness about these voracious predators when he came up against a vital question that captured his interest as a scientist: what, exactly, were the lionfish eating in Bermuda?