A little bit about me....
Thallasophile - (n.) "a lover of the sea, somebody who loves the sea, ocean"
I am a PhD candidate in the Cordes Lab at Temple University in Philadelphia. My primary interests surround how chemosynthetic ecosystems function and how organisms have adapted to thrive in these seemingly hostile environments. My research in the Cordes Lab aims to better understand the “sphere of influence” surrounding methane seeps, from highly active areas of hydrocarbon flux to the background environment. I am currently working on the collaborative ROCHITS project, focusing on seeps along the Pacific coast of the Costa Rican margin and how they influence trophic dynamics. Before joining the Cordes Lab I lived in the UK, where I completed an MRes in Marine Biology at the Marine Biological Association, and a BSc (hons) in Marine Biology at Plymouth University. My research there focused on investigating the physiological responses of jellyfish ephyra to hypoxic conditions throughout their development.
When I am not thinking about the ocean and all of its amazing critters I am usually spending time with my two dogs, walking or hiking in the forest or exploring new places in the USA!
Current Projects & Research
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly an ocean"
If life were to disappear from the deep sea, would we notice? We only have a cursory understanding of this vast region and the connectivity among its communities and the rest of the oceans, and yet the ecosystems of the deep sea have been implicated in the larger function of the global marine ecosystems. We now rely on the deep ocean for food, energy, novel drugs and materials, and for its role in the global cycling of carbon, as well as for supporting services such as habitat creation, nutrient replenishment for shallow waters, and the maintenance of biodiversity.
Two exciting key features of the deep sea are hydrothermal vents and methane seeps. Hydrothermal vents are underwater volcanoes at spreading ridges and convergent plate boundaries and methane seeps are active areas of the seafloor where methane and other chemicals are released along the continental margins worldwide. My research aims to better understand these amazing ecosystems by studying the communities that live there, many of which that use chemical energy to survive.
Research of cold seeps & how they influence the sea: aka the ROCHITS project
Costa Rica - 2017
During the ROCHITS project we explored geochemically active sites on the Costa Rica Margin, where high concentrations of methane bubbles from beneath the seafloor into oxygen-poor, pitch-black waters. Our main goal in this project is to understand how the release of these hydrocarbons impacts life in the deep sea and the greater, global, marine ecosystem.
To do this we used R/V Atlantis from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to take a group of scientists offshore, to areas known to be actively releasing methane where we then launched a submarine known as DSV Alvin. This small but mighty sub is made of a titanium sphere that can withstand pressure at depths down to 4500m. Capable of carrying just three people, one pilot and two scientists, it is one of very few vehicles that allows scientists to view these incredible habitats first hand.
Once deployed, our mission was to explore these environments, collecting biological samples and recording video footage from different habitats, such as mussel beds, bacterial mats and tubeworm bushes. The results from this project will help us to evaluate the sphere of influence from methane seeps to the wider ocean environment, and help to demonstrate the role they play within the deep sea and the greater, global, marine ecosystem.
Follow our work @ https://www.facebook.com/roc.hits.expedition/ for more information.
ROCHITS - THE SECOND VOYAGE!
Costa Rica - 2018
In 2018 we returned to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica where we visited the same sites as the year before and more, including seamounts further from the continental margin. We had an extremely successful cruise with good weather and almost no technical issues with DSV Alvin. We managed to collect many different organisms, authigenic rocks and many pushcores for analysis back in the lab. The BBC even joined us mid cruise to do some filming for the Blue Planet Live show.
The active seeps had tubeworm bushes that could be hundreds of years old as well as large bathymodiolid mussels and vesicomyid clams that all support dense communities of specialised organisms that are able to tolerate the toxic conditions there. We also saw many species of beautiful corals, thriving on seamounts as well as some species that were taking advantage of the rocks at now inactive sites.
Follow our work on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/roc.hits.expedition/ for more information
A new species of coral from the Costa Rica margin!
Deep-sea corals typically rely on food particles raining down through the water column from shallower depths. They are not very tolerant to hydrocarbons (methane) and therefore, we usually find them on the outskirts of methane seep areas, where fluid flux is lower.
Contrary to the above, meet our newly described coral, Swiftia sahlingi. The vibrant little octocoral that likes to live much closer to active seeps than we would imagine! When diving on one of the known seep sites named Mound 12, we discovered this coral happily inhabiting the rocky areas very close to the active seep, therefore, we decided to collect some samples to analyse back in the lab. This coral clearly belonged in the genus Swiftia but it was the first time corals of this type had been observed in this region before. After some in depth morphological analysis and genetic work we found that it was indeed a new species.
The species is named in memory of Heiko Sahling, a distinguished marine geologist who discovered and named Mound 12, the type locality of the new species. We are excited to announce our paper has now been published in Zootaxa. If you're interested you can check out the link or email me for the full manuscript.
"New records of Swiftia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Octocorallia) from off the Pacific Costa Rican margin, including a new species from methane seeps"
