Antarctic Discoveries: Recent Trip By Miami Professor Incorporates Student Outreach Program and Extensive Zoological Research

By Marie Mirro

While it is snowing in Oxford, it is summer in Antarctica with a high of 40 degrees. This makes it a perfect time to study a fly that thrives on extreme temperatures, moisture diversity and high salt levels. The study of this tiny insect named Belgica antarctica provides an outreach program to students from elementary to high school but it also has important cryobiological and medical implications.
This is exactly why Richard Lee, zoology distinguished professor, and associates traveled to Antarctica for some cold-hard research.

On Dec. 26, the five scientists began the trip to their temporary home at Palmer Station in Antarctica. Located on Anverse Island off the western peninsula, the station serves as a research center, with laboratories and dorm-like sleeping quarters, and even a hot tub and pool table.

For years researchers have been studying the Belgica antarctica, which is the largest free-living entirely terrestrial animal in Antarctica. It is a midge the size of a common gnat. The midge is in the fly family but is wingless. It shares this characteristic with many Arctic, Antarctic and alpine insects. Winds are strong in these areas, and if an insect were to be blown out to sea it wouldn’t be able to reproduce. Therefore, the insect adapted.

Although Belgica antarctica has been studied before, Lee and his associated researchers are the first to try to understand how this tiny insect can survive the extreme conditions. Lee started his research trips to Antarctica in 1979 and continued in 1980. His first trips were different from his most recent because studies concentrated more on the defining limits in contrast to physiological elements. By traveling during Antarctica’s summer, the team can study the midges when they are most active.

In the future, they would like to understand more about the midge’s winter conditions. However, Antarctica’s winters make research difficult.

One of Lee’s associates on the recent trip, Springboro High School biology teacher Luke Sandro kept a journal and updated it regularly on the Web throughout his stay. Sandro wrote in his journal on Jan. 16 about a particularly interesting day of research:
“Today is a good day for field work, so we head out to Norsel Point first, in search of Belgica adults. We found a ton of them on our last trip to Norsel, but now there are hardly any! The Belgica adult’s 10-day lifespan can be inconvenient that way — on this island, the adults have come and gone. However, we go next to Humble Island, and find more adults than we’ve ever seen, and we actually get to see adults emerging from their pupae (like caterpillars pupate and emerge as butterflies) and mating. And finally, as if this weren’t enough, we finally get to see Belgica’s egg clusters!”

The group studies the insect’s physiological responses to environmental stresses, such as dehydration and ice in its body fluids. The midges have a two-year life cycle in which they live as larvae near zero degrees Celsius, a centimeter deep in soil, and sometimes covered in fresh water or sea water. In addition, they survive large swings in the pH and salinity of the water due to the excretions from penguins and seals, with which the insect shares a close habitation. After two years, in their third summer, the larvae emerge as adults. The midge’s entire adulthood spans less than 10 days in which it doesn’t feed but mates, lays eggs and then dies. The researchers believe that the larvae feed on a particular algae, which contains a lot of cryobiological protections. Lee said, “These larvae are amazingly tolerant of freezing and desiccation. They lose 65 percent of their body water making them look like little raisins. When you add water they plump up and wiggle away.”

Lee has been working with Dave Denlinger of The Ohio State University for 20, years supported by a series of grants from the National Science Foundation. The current grant provides funds for three years and is given to an estimated mere 5 percent of applicants. Along with the Antarctic research, the grant also supports an outreach program to get elementary and high school students interested in polar science and winter biology. The program has invited educators across North America to receive regular e-mail updates on the research progress. Since January 2005, 148 schools and home schools have signed up to participate. A school teacher is included in every trip as an additional part of the outreach program. Throughout the research period, the team kept in contact with students via a Web site, which included journal entries, photographs, lesson plans, weather conditions and background information.
The Hamilton City School System has involved students in its gifted education pullout program. The gifted education classes, from 13 elementary schools, include 180 students from grades four, five and six. Lee e-mails each class regularly with pictures and complete updates. In return, the students worked on research that pertains to research and science in the Antarctic.

Choosing from 17 project topics, sixth-graders did extensive research, made posters on their findings and wrote outlines and speeches to share on a science day with approximately 70 other sixth-graders from the different schools. Mrs. Mary Ann Richter, gifted education teacher, said, “The project not only taught what most students didn’t know about Antarctica but it also taught them life skills, such as browsing the Internet and using the book indexes.” In April, the sixth-graders spent the day with Lee to share information.
The gifted program meets each week for two hours. When the topic is Antarctica, Richter gives each student a new packet of information from Lee’s Web site. The students sit as she points out the important information to highlight and asks the students questions before launching into their own research projects.

At Monroe Elementary, sixth-grade student Elizabeth Herzog chose to study ozone holes and their effect on the climate of Antarctica. “I thought it would be interesting,” she said. “I’ve never heard about the ozone holes. I’m excited to learn from other students and share the information I learn with others.”

Herzog’s classmate Andrew Burns studied the similarities between Antarctica and Mars. He said that at first it was hard to find useful information. “It sounded sort of challenging but still cool. [The best part] was finally finding good information.” Among his findings: “One major difference is that they both have such extreme temperatures. Antarctica is freezing, while Mars is really hot.”
Although understanding the midge’s adaptations to environmental extremes is the primary goal of the project, another possible benefit, said Lee’s graduate assistant Mike Elnitsky, “is the medical implications of the project, such as tissue and organ cryopreservation.”

Lee will return to Antarctica each of the next two austral summers. Each year a different school teacher will go along, and the outreach program will continue. Next year, Elnitsky gets his chance.
While Lee was in Antarctica this past trip, Elnitsky was starting his Ph.D. in Lee’s lab back at Miami. Different research was going on in the lab, including the study of freeze-tolerance and cold-hardiness in frogs and turtles.

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