How do organisms cope with permanently cold temperatures?
How fast do microbes cycle carbon in permanently cold sediments and seawater?
What will happen to microbial communities as temperatures gradually rise in Arctic environments?

         

Most of the ocean is permanently cold, at temperatures of 4°C or less. Most research on marine organisms and processes, however, takes place in temperate environments. How do organisms in permanently cold environment cope with temperatures that slow their temperate counterparts? What are the rate-limiting steps in carbon cycling in permanently cold environments? For more than 15 years, these and other questions have been a central research focus for our work on Svalbard, an archipelago in the high Arctic, where we work closely with scientists from the Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Bremen, Germany) and the University of Southern Denmark, as well as with members of the Teske lab at UNC.