More than 35 research scientists will be aboard the Palmer, studying the Antarctic ecosystem. Here are a few who will be heading the investigative efforts.

Eileen A. Hofmann		Jose Torres		Peter H. Wiebe
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia Hofmann, the chairperson of the Southern Ocean GLOBEC steering committee, and her colleagues are studying the link between water columns, sea ice, and krill. They are surveying the temperature, salinity, nutrients, and oxygen level of water masses, and reading the currents with moored current-meters and acoustic surveys.		University of South Florida Torres and his associates are focusing on krill physiology, distribution and predation. They are conducting feeding experiments, under-ice surveys, and sample collection. Torres is also studying fish and squid, which are krill predators.		Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts Wiebe and his colleagues are using the BIOMAPER II instrument package to study young and adult krill distribution and abundance in Antarctica. Wiebe is on the steering committee of the Southern Ocean GLOBEC program.

Eileen Hofmann photograph courtesy Mark Christmas
Jose Torres photograph courtesy Jose Torres
Peter Wiebe photograph courtesy WHOI