Heather Hobbs Research & events news
Polar Studies Underlie Indicators for Climate Change Models world’s leading research groups.
Delegates at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held recently in San Diego were presented with some of the latest findings of an international investigation into the distribution and abundance of Antarctica’s vast marine biodiversity — the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) - which began in 2005.
Antarctic marine life: Basket Star (pic credit BAS)
With more than 6,000 different sea floor dwelling species having so far been identified, it is the combination of long-term monitoring studies, newly gathered information on the marine life distribution and global ocean warming models, that have enabled the scientists to identify Antarctica’s marine ‘biodiversity hotspots’, explained presenter Marine Biologist Huw Griffiths, a researcher from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), one of the
In current studies to assess the impact of climate change on lake and ocean sediments, The British Antarctic Survey, is using a CE440 elemental analyser to help in analysis of sediment cores. A spokesman for BAS said: "We have used CHN/O/S elemental analysers from Exeter Analytical for some years and initially chose the system due to its unique horizontal furnace design which made it ideal for the analysis of our sample types.
One of our recent applications for the instrument is sediment cores, laid down over periods of thousands of years, collected from lake and ocean environments because
“The Polar Regions are amongst the fastest warming places on Earth and predictions suggest that in the future we’ll see warming sea surface temperatures, rising ocean acidification and decreasing winter sea ice - all of which have a direct effect on marine life. Marine animals spent millions of years adapting to the freezing, stable conditions of the Antarctic waters and they are highly sensitive to change. This means that from the scientist’s perspective they are excellent indicators of environmental change. The polar oceans are rich in biodiversity. If species are unable to move or adapt to new conditions they could ultimately die out. The loss of any unique species is therefore a loss of global diversity,” Griffiths said.
they contain a wealth of organic and inorganic remains from which it is possible to reconstruct past environmental and climate changes. Measurements of total organic carbon accumulation rates provide an index of past biological production which is often a function of temperature, and measurements of carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N) combined with independent measurements of the carbon stable isotopes provide a diagnostic tool for identifying the sources of the organic matter. These standard measurements underlie many of the subsequent analyses conducted on the cores".
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 4
French Scientist Receives Otto Schott Research Award
This year, the Otto Schott Research Award valued at 25,000 euros was presented to the French scientist Professor Tanguy Rouxel (Director of the Applied Mechanics Laboratory (LARMAUR), University of Rennes, France). He received the award for his research achievements in the area of mechanical properties of glasses and glassy materials. It was officially presented on May 18, 2010, in Corning, New York, during the 2010 Glass and Optical Materials Division Annual Meeting organised by The American Ceramic Society.
Highly respected internationally as a scientist his fundamental research on organic polymers and metallic glasses, chalcogenides and oxide glasses explores structure of glass in the atomic and nano value range.
“The work of Tanguy Rouxel is essential to gaining a better understanding of the elastic properties and deformation of glasses and how to reduce damages,” Professor Carlo Pantano, a member of the Board of Trustees, noted in his
laudation on the selection of this year’s award winner. “His ability to apply insights from what appear to be completely different fields to glass science and technology certainly ranks as one of his most remarkable skills,” Professor Pantano added. In addition, he called Rouxel an excellent networker who actively participates in numerous scientific projects.
In his ceremonial address, Dr. Hans-Joachim Konz, a member of the Board of Management at Schott and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ernst Abbe Fund, underscored the immense importance of close cooperation between science and industry by saying: “The exchange of knowledge and experience is what makes innovations possible.” He then added that Tanguy Rouxel is hardly a stranger to Schott. After all, he and the company have been working together for years on exploring the strength of glass and the life expectancy of glass products.
TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 5
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