熊猫在线视频

(All photos by James Evans, Chief of Photography and Videography, University of 熊猫在线视频 Anchorage)

In mid-June, students in UAA Biological Sciences Professor Brandon Briggs' lab, including UAA undergraduate researchers and students in the UAF-UAA Cooperative Biological Sciences Ph.D. program, took a road trip across southern 熊猫在线视频 to sample microorganisms in the meltwater and soils of glaciers and mine tailings in Thompson Pass, near Valdez, and in Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark.

The trip was the latest in Briggs Lab鈥檚 yearly expeditions around 熊猫在线视频 as the lab studies the microbes and microbial processes associated with extreme environments in polar regions. By looking at how these 鈥渆xtreme microbes鈥� respond to and manipulate their environments, the researchers hope to better understand how glaciers change over time. They also hope to identify ways humans can potentially make use of the unique abilities that the microorganisms have evolved.

For Kodi Haughn, a Ph.D. student who earned her undergraduate degree at UAA, the trip was a continuation of years of passionate research focusing on glaciers and the microbial communities they support. It was also a kind of warm up for an upcoming expedition in which she and Briggs will study the microbes living in an even more extreme environment: under the ice of Antarctica.