Sea butterfly life cycle threatened by climate change
Shelled pteropods, commonly known as sea butterflies, are increasingly exposed to ocean changes, but some species are more vulnerable to this threat. In a new study, published this month (11 […]
Jessie Gardner
PhD Student
NERC ENVEast PhD student: ‘Winners and losers in a more acidified ocean: impact on physiology and life history of two pteropod species’
Supervisory team: Clara Manno (BAS), Dorothee Bakker (UEA), Geraint Tarling (BAS) and Victoria Peck (BAS)
Affiliations: British Antarctic Survey & University of East Anglia
@Jessiegardner01
Qualifications and awards
Masters in Natural Sciences at UEA (First Class with honours)
– Project: Small scale habitat selection by U.K. insectivorous bats within a multi-scheme agricultural region
– Faculty of Science prize for the highest grades in Natural Sciences
– Four UEA Open Scholarships for maintaining high grades
– Gold volunteering award for exceptional contributions
– Attained the highest coursework grades in Science communication, Host parasite interactions, Marine ecology, Geodynamics, Sedimentology and Dynamic earth
East Norfolk Sixth form College
– A-levels (advanced): Geology A*, Geography A*, Biology A, Environmental Sciences A*, Photography A*
– Governors’ scholar award for exceptional results
– Norfolk county scholar award and Foundation scholar for outstanding results
Research interests
Despite its isolation from the human world, Antarctica is experiencing rapid environmental change as a result of fossil fuel emissions. The impact of these changes remains relatively unknown, especially for pteropods. Pteropods are planktonic gastropods that swim through the surface ocean using wing-like structures. Their thin shells, made of aragonite, make them extremely sensitive to ocean acidification and they could perhaps be thought of as ‘canaries of the coal mine’ for detecting oceanic change. They are also vital to the Antarctic food web and are significant contributors to carbon export. I aim to carry out a comparative analysis of Antarctic pteropod distribution, life cycle and perhaps even existence within a high CO2 world. I will take part on several expeditions to the Southern Ocean to capture these fragile sea snails and examine their sensitivity to oceanic conditions predicted in 100 years. In addition, I will compare modern day pteropods to historic plankton net samples, including those collected in the 1930s by the RSS Discovery.
This PhD is a collaboration between the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) as part of the EnvEast Doctoral Training Partnership, which is funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC).
Collaborations
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Conferences
– Jun. 2015 ‘The survival of pteropod larvae in a changing world’ (poster) International pteropod workshop, British Antarctic survey
– Mar. 2015 ‘Discover Pteropods’ (poster) EnvExpo, University of East Anglia
– Jul. 2015 ‘CEFAS MKEN Marine evidence conference’ (Attended)
– Jun. 2015 ‘Ocean Acidification: What’s it all about’ (Attended)
-Mar. 2015 ‘MSL AGM and Planktic Gastropod Meeting’ (Attended)
– Jul. 2015 Climate research: Big Data Day (Attended)
– Mar. 2014 ‘Microhabitat use of Soprano pipstrelles’ Annual Norfolk Barbastelle study group meeting (Oral)
Courses
– Introduction to Metabolomics for Environmental Scientists
– Freshwater bio-assessment and its application in catchment management
– Advanced environmental data analysis using GIS
– Infographics and Science communication
– Introduction to Multivariate Statistics
– Public engagement training
– Spatial analysis of ecological data using R
– Seagliders and Ocean Acoustics