Page 4 - Impact Summer 2021

An ocean scientist
in Minnesota
Rose Jones, PhD, is an ocean scientist in Minnesota, “which is a very logical place to be,” she says with a bit of a laugh.
Her interest in microbes that live in extreme environments and survive without sunlight led to her postdoctoral position in Professor Brandy Toner’s
lab in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. The lab studies the geochemistry of low temperature environments, including the seafloor.
While nearly every food chain on Earth starts with energy from the sun being captured by photosynthesis, on the seafloor there are ecosystems that live in total darkness. The first link in these food chains is the chemical energy provided by hot fluids escaping from the spreading
tectonic plates.
Specialized
microbes have
the ability to
harness energy
directly from the
rocks. The crabs,
worms, and other
unusual sea
creatures that live
near hydrothermal
vents all depend
on these microbes
and their ability
to convert the
rock energy into
biological energy. “There’s an awful lot of life down there, all relying on these very small creatures,” said Jones.
To learn exactly how microbes obtain energy from the rocks, Jones needs to collect rock samples from the seafloor that she can analyze back in the lab. That was
her objective during a month-long research expedition to the middle of the Pacific Ocean earlier this year.
Her ship spent seven days navigating the Pacific before arriving at its destination: a particular spot along the East Pacific Rise, the tectonic plate boundary
that runs along the seafloor. The diverging tectonic plates release hot, chemically-rich fluid creating the hydrothermal vents Jones came to study.
Once the ship was on station, or directly over the sampling site, the round-the-clock work began. The team used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) called
RESEARCHERS GUIDE ROV JASON'S ACTIVITIES FROM THE SHIP'S CONTROL ROOM.
Jason to explore their underwater surroundings. From a control room on the ship, Jason was able to navigate to specific locations, collect rock samples using its robotic arms, take photographs, and even live-stream on YouTube.
A typical day for Jones included a “Jason shift” from midnight to 4 a.m.
and noon to 4 p.m. As the science lead for the shift, she was responsible for informing the pilots of the science objectives the team wanted the ROV to complete: picking up samples, measuring hydrothermal fluid temperature, making observations, and recording data.