Cruise: Deep-Sea Expedition Leadership Master Class

The closest human beings to the Research Vessel Falkor (too) during this expedition might be orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station. The South Sandwich Islands is one of the most remote island chains in the world. It is a volcanic archipelago created by the South American Plate subducting beneath the South Sandwich Plate. Situated between the Southern and Atlantic Oceans, these islands are part of a rich mosaic of tectonic forces that create geologic features such as hadal zone trenches, underwater volcanoes, and spreading centers. These features facilitate high levels of endemism, supporting species found nowhere else.

This Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census Flagship Expedition will be led by Dr. Michelle Taylor, president of the Deep-Sea Biology Society and Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex; her team will locate and describe new species. Dr. Jenny Gales will lead GoSouth, a collaboration between the University of Plymouth, GEOMAR, and the British Antarctic Survey; her team will survey volcanic flanks with ROV SuBastian to determine the impacts of volcanism and earthquake activity on marine ecosystems. The science teams will also seek out deep-sea volcanoes and venture into the 8000-meter-deep South Sandwich Trench, the most geographically isolated and coldest trench on Earth.

Person: Rosalynn Sylvan

Rosalynn Sylvan is the Managing Director of COBRA (Crustal Ocean Biosphere Research Accelerator) based at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in the USA. She manages the operations of the NSF AccelNet to accelerate research of the deep sea to inform decision making. Since receiving her Ph.D. in Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, … Continued

Person: Amanda Kahn

Amanda Kahn is an assistant professor of invertebrate zoology at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San Jose State University, California, USA. Her research aims to explore how benthic invertebrates contribute to their ecosystems and the timescales they operate on, with a special focus on the deep sea. Deep-sea communities are often food-starved, relying heavily on … Continued

Person: Eleanor Arrington

Eleanor (Ellie) Arrington is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, supported by a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ocean Sciences. She studies hydrocarbon metabolism in marine microbes using metagenomics, exploring how these microbial communities evolve and function in both the surface ocean and the deep sea. Her research focuses on … Continued

Person: Emanuel Pereira

Emanuel is a postdoctoral researcher at the Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada (IBBEA, UBA-CONICET) and Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental (DBBE, Exactas-UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is interested in the taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of deep-sea crustaceans, with a focus on the order Isopoda from off Argentina. His research has greatly … Continued

Person: Georgina Ramírez-Ortiz

Georgina Ramírez-Ortiz is a marine biologist and scientific diver with a strong interest in the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems. She has a master’s degree in marine ecology and a doctorate in the use, management, and preservation of natural resources. In 2022, she participated as a postdoc in a project focused on the exploration … Continued

Person: Johanna Weston

Johanna Weston is a postdoctoral investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her research seeks to understand how biodiversity and connectivity shape ecosystem resilience in the deep ocean—an environment that provides critical ecosystem services but remains understudied—and is increasingly threatened by climate change and human activity. Her research investigates the ecological connections between fragmented, island-like … Continued

Person: Leland Wood

Leland is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware and a marine geochemist. Leland studies the organic matter in deep sea and hydrothermal ecosystems. The deep sea may seem empty, but is teeming with life on the microscopic level. Microbial communities in the deep sea may have a small effect on a local level, … Continued

Person: Russel Shomberg

Russ Shomberg is an Ocean Systems Engineer dedicated to advancing marine robotics through innovative, SWAP-C limited alternatives that enhance global accessibility to scientific research. Currently, he serves as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Maryland Robotics Center at University of Maryland. Russ earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and completed … Continued