Dr. Cohen is working in Antarctica in collaboration with the Palmer Station Long Term Ecological Research Program. This 17-year long project is funded by the National Science Foundation and aims to document and understand the phenology (timing) and variability in sea ice dynamics, primary production, zooplankton ecology, Adélie penguin demography, microbial and biogeochemical processes in the Antarctic marine ecosystem, including identifying the mechanisms of ecosystem response to rapid climate change.
Amphipods are very common in the waters around Palmer Station and are important in Antarctic marine ecosystem function. Dr. Cohen’s research will investigate the eyes and vision in Antarctic amphipods that are scavengers, herbivores, and predators. His experiments will identify physiological adaptations that allow amphipod eyes to function at very low temperatures. This is not something humans need to worry about because we maintain a constant and warm body temperature (98.6°F). In amphipods, however, body temperature changes with water temperature. As temperature drops, chemical reactions (like those in the amphipods eyes that lead to its vision) happen more slowly — how then can amphipod eyes function quickly enough to allow it to see moving prey? How do amphipod eyes function under seasonal changes in the light:dark photoperiod which demand vision in both dim and bright conditions? Dr. Cohen’s experiments at Palmer Station in January 2010 will address these questions. Amphipods will be collected using a variety of traps and nets, and their vision studied using neurobiological techniques in the laboratory at Palmer Station.
