Swapping the warm climes of Kochi for the harsh conditions of the Arctic appears as easy as pie for a bunch of scientists from the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) who are pursuing research in the polar region.
Four researchers from Kufos have already made it to the growing list of Arctic explorers from the country. Anu Gopinath, Associate Professor and the head of the Department of Aquatic Environment Management, joined Arctic expeditions in 2014, 2016 and 2017. All the researchers are from her lab and they are also focusing on the Southern Ocean (Antarctic Ocean, the southernmost waters of the world ocean encircling Antarctica). All the expeditions Dr. Gopinath was part of were organised under the umbrella of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
She said the major focus of the project was sedimentary organic compounds, emerging contaminants like micro and nano-plastics and persistent organic pollutants from the Arctic, Arctic warming and methane release controlled by methanogens/methanotrophs in the Arctic Fjords.
Aswathy S., faculty of Ocean Science and Technology participated in the Arctic expeditions in 2018 and 2019 as part of her research for her doctoral degree. Her work involved characterisation of sedimentary organic compounds using spectral techniques such as NMR, FT-IR and other spectroscopic techniques and further finding their role in binding toxic heavy metals from two major Fjords – Kongsfjord and Krossfjord – from the Arctic.
Resmi P., a post-doctoral fellow under the UJJWAL fellowship programme of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Kerala , is working with Dr. Gopinath and participated in the Indian Arctic expedition under NCPOR, Goa, from May 25 to June 22 this year.
Her work focusses on the ‘Arctic Warming and methane release controlled by methanogens/methanotrophs in Arctic Fjords’. The primary objective of the project is to conduct research on methane emission and its associated microbial community from the Arctic fjords since the northern latitude is considered a major source for methane emission.
Princy M. John, research scholar, School of Ocean Science and Technology, has participated in the 11th edition of the Southern Ocean Expedition under the NCPOR. The 58-day expedition began from Mauritius on January 10, 2020.
“The first report on the spatial distribution of vanadium and microplastics from the Prydz Bay (Indian sector of the Southern Ocean) has been published by the Kufos team in the international journal Soil and Sediment Contamination,” said Dr. Gopinath.
