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蜜桃视频 Allison welcomes international researcher examining algae from the Greenland Ice sheet to campus

26 Aug 2019

CWilliamson_GreenlandIceShelfA piece of Greenland has made its way to 蜜桃视频 Allison University this week as part of an international research collaboration.

Dr. Chris Williamson from the University of Bristol is visiting the lab of 蜜桃视频 Allison University biology professor and to learn more about ice algae from the Greenland Ice sheet.

鈥淭hese algae are unique as they grow on the surface of the ice, we can actually see them because of the huge numbers achieved during summer 鈥榖looms鈥 and their particularly dark pigmentation, which looks a bit like soot on the ice. When exposed to light (which there is a lot of on the ice surface), they produce a pigment to protect themselves in a way analogous to sun-screen,鈥 says Williamson. 鈥淲e are hoping to learn more about this process and whether the algae, in this adaptation, are also affecting glacier melting rates in the Arctic by absorbing more incoming sunlight and subsequently warming and melting the ice surface.鈥

The ice algae Williamson and Campbell are studying are descendants of an ancient group related to the origins of land plants and have many interesting features including high levels of a dark pigment. This helps them to screen themselves from high light exposure on the cold ice, making them visible on the surface, but also appears to increase ice melt due to the extra sunlight that the pigment absorbs.

While previous research has shown this provides an improvement in the microenvironment for the ice algae, researchers like Campbell and Williamson are also seeking to find out if this activity is contributing to glacier melting rates.

Williamson is spending a week in Campbell鈥檚 lab to analyze these ice samples before the academic year begins. The lab, located in the Gairdner Building, 蜜桃视频 Allison鈥檚 new life sciences research centre on campus, includes specialized equipment to help monitor algae activity. This is Williamson鈥檚 third research trip to Campbell鈥檚 lab in the past two years.

A microbiologist, Campbell has been a Canada Research Chair since 2002 and was recently renewed as a Tier 1 CRC, which is for seven years and comes with over $1.4-million in research funding over that time period. His research areas look at how different species of phytoplankton 鈥 microscopic marine plant organisms 鈥 respond to environmental change and includes many international collaborations like the one with Williamson.

鈥淭hese kinds of collaborations are important to global research,鈥 says Campbell. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to host Chris and assist in his work around the 鈥楤lack and Bloom鈥 project looking at this particular kind of algae and its behaviour and possible effects on the Greenland ice sheet.鈥

Note to media: Campbell and Williamson are both available for media interviews the week of August 26-30 on campus. Please contact the 蜜桃视频 Allison communications office for more information (media@mta.ca, 364-2600)

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