Journal Entry

I would like to introduce you to the other member of the Oden's "Sea Ice Team." So here they are, in their own words:

Blake Weissling Project Team Leader

My name is Blake Weissling and I am a research assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I am also employed as a geophysicist for SWCA Environmental Consultants, a natural and cultural resources consulting company in San Antonio. My research work involves the application of geophysical and remote sensing methods for sea ice research. My first polar expedition was in 2007, when I participated on the SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in Antarctica) cruise to the Bellingshausen Sea. I have also done some sea ice work in the Arctic, near Point Barrow Alaska. My consulting work typically has nothing at all to do with sea ice, but rather involves geophysical surveys for archeology and geology investigations. I am 55 years old and married with 4 children. When I am not working I enjoy running, photography, and tending to my 25 year old collection of bonsai.

Dr.  Blake WeisslingSea Ice Team Project Leader Blake Weissling on board the Swedish icebreaker Oden in the Antarctic. Dr. Blake WeisslingSea Ice team Leader Blake Weissling on board the Swedish icebreaker Oden in the Antarctic.

Brent S. Stewart, Ph.D., J.D.

Senior Research Scientist Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute

Education

  • J.D., Law, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley

  • Ph.D.,Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

  • M.S., Ecology, San Diego State University

  • B.A., Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

Major Research Areas

  • Population Biology, Ecology and Physiology of Marine Vertebrates

Affiliations

  • Adjunct Professor: University of San Diego

  • Adjunct Professor: University of South Florida

  • Adjunct Professor: Univ. of Hawaii, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology

  • National Fellow: The Explorers Club

  • Fellow: The Royal Geographical Society

  • Certified Senior Ecologist: The Ecological Society of America

Background

Dr. Stewart has studied the population biology, foraging and physiological ecology, and behavior of marine vertebrates for over 30 years. His research expeditions have ranged from Greenland and Iceland in the North Atlantic south to Marion Island in the South Atlantic, throughout the Indian Ocean, in Russia's Lake Baikal, from the Beaufort and Bering Seas south through temperate, tropical and equatorial waters in the North Pacific Ocean, in the Weddell, Amundsen, and Ross Seas of Antarctica's Southern Ocean, and in China's Yangtze River. His long-term research on whale sharks includes studies in Baja California, Kenya, the Maldives, the Philippines, and Western Australia.

Dr. Stewart's principal interests in these comparative studies is in discovering and understanding what habitats are important to these various large marine vertebrates, how they navigate and migrate over vast areas to find and use those habitats, how they hunt and capture prey necessary to sustain fasting periods and successfully reproduce, how they interact with each others (populations and species) while sharing habitats and resources, and how they respond to and adjust to short and long term natural and anthropogenic changes in those key habitats. The application of remote sensing and telemetry is a key tool in many of these studies.

Dr. Stewart holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California at Los Angeles, a Master of Science degree in Ecology from California State University at San Diego, a Doctoral degree in Biology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctorate from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. He served as a Science and Diplomacy Fellow in the Bureau of Oceans and International and Environmental Affairs at the United States Department of State from 1999 through 2000.

Dr. Brent StewartBrent Stewart on an ice floe in the Southern Ocean. Dr. Brent StewartSea Ice team member Brent Stewart works on the sea ice in the Antarctic.

David Prado

David Prado Graduate Student University of Texas San Antonio

I hold a Master's degree in Applied Geology for University of Texas San Antonio with emphasis in Rem Sensing and Geographic Information Systems. My current research interest is in Antarctic research through the use of various satellite products.

David PradoSea Ice team member David Prado working on the sea ice in the Antarctic. David PradoSea Ice Team member David Prado on board the Swedish Icebreaker Oden in the Antarctic.

Anne Marie Wotkyns

I am Anne Marie Wotkyns, an elementary school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. I teach 4th grade language arts and science, and 3rd grade science at J.B. Monlux Math, Science, Technology Magnet School in North Hollywood, California. I have a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a California Teaching Credential and Master's in Elementary Education from the University of California, Los Angeles. I have been teaching for 18 years and I have participated in a variety of professional development and teacher research opportunities, including Earthwatch ( "Maui's Threatened Reefs" and "Bermuda's Shipwrecks," ) Sea Education Experience in Wood's Hole, MA, NOAA Teacher at Sea, Exxon-Mickelson Teacher Workshop, COSEE West, UCLA's Leadership in Marine Science and Science Standards Integrated With Marine Science. I try to incorporate ocean science into my teaching whenever I can. I have taken students on field trips to Sea World, overnight trips to Catalina Island, and have an upcoming over-night field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach, CA. I am thrilled to be participating in the Oden Antarctic Expedition and I hope everyone who reads my journals learns a lot of new information and comes to appreciate the beauty and wonder of this amazing place.

Anne Marie WotkynsAnne Marie Wotkyns on the sea ice in the Southern Ocean. Anne Marie WotkynsAnne Marie Wotkyns and Pascy the Penguin relax after a hard day on the ice.

Blake, Brent, David, and I make up the Sea Ice team on the Oden. As of today, we have been out on the sea ice at 3 sites, or "science stations" in the past 3 days. We expect to have a total of 8 "6 hour" stations and 4 "24 hour" stations, with some cruising (transit) days to get to the different locations, as well as to make a scheduled rendezvous with the U.S. Icebreaker Nathanial B. Palmer to transfer some supplies, equipment, and personnel. We expect this to occur in a few days.

In addition to the sea ice work, I have also been talking to some classrooms back home as a part of my PolarTREC outreach activities. The Oden is equipped with an Iridium satellite phone system that allows for a (generally) high quality phone call. I had a great time talking to Mrs. Garay and the 5th graders from Redd School in Texas, the 6th and 8th graders in Mr. Sperber's class at Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in California, and especially the 5th graders from Escuela Simon Bolivar Campus Sureste, from Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico and their teachers Senora Jimenez Martinez and Senor Garcia Rosas. These students from Escuela Simon Bolivar are a special partner class with my 4th grade class at Monlux Magnet Elementary and they will be exchanging letters and engaged in other collaborative activities throughout the year. They also sent along some special "friends" to join our expedition: 37 paper dolls each representing a student from the class. Today the "students" ventured out onto the sea ice for the first time!

The Dolls from  Escuela Simon BolivarThe students from the 5th grade class at Escuela Simon Bolivar in Veracruz, Mexico sent these dolls along for the expedition.

Keep checking my journals each day. I have so much more to share with you, including the amazing animals we have been seeing, the sea ice team setting up our first ice mass buoy, icebergs as big as a small town, and my first helicopter ride over the ice!

Lesson Learned: Four very different individuals can make up a great team.