UMaine oceanographer trains future scientists on North Atlantic voyage
Aboard the Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkhul traversing the North Atlantic Ocean, Emmanuel Boss is teaching 50 graduate students from around the world during the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Advanced Ocean Training Course.
Boss, professor of oceanography at University of Maine, is among researchers providing lectures during the voyage from Tromø, Norway, to Nice, France. His instruction focuses on sampling ocean optical properties, how particles and microorganisms affect light and what information can be gleaned from it about surrounding marine life and ecosystems. During his instruction, Boss reconnected with two former students — one from France and another from South Africa — who previously took a summer course at UMaine.
Boss also equipped the research vessel with a system that continuously collects measurements of the optical properties of ocean particles — from which he and his colleagues can deduce their size and composition — through sensors, samples and satellite data collection. During the voyage, he has been researching the makeup of plankton communities residing along the route of travel and their link to ocean color observations from space.
NASA funded Boss’ research and sponsored his and seven students’ participation in the course. ESA and NASA have also recently funded two companion projects — one through UMaine and another via the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in England — to equip sailing vessels traveling the high seas with sampling kits for studying ocean biodiversity. These enhancements, which also include specialized microscopes, will allow researchers to extract the genetic material from samples filtered on the boats and develop an ocean biodiversity algorithm from space-based observations.
Boss is testing the sampling kit and protocol measures for its usage along the Statsraad Lehmkhul’s trip to France. Researchers will continue to collect biodiversity samples using the kit during the year-long OneOcean voyage, which includes the current expedition and additional travels across the Northern Hemisphere.
Visit the ESA blog to learn more about the expedition.