Let's talk science

I am frequently asked what do I study by a variety of people, and I try to answer this in a variety of ways depending upon the circumstances.  Science communication is an important skill, and I consider it part of my roll as a scientist to explain difficult concepts to the general public, such as my sister who wants to know where her tax dollars go (mind you 0.2% of the federal budget is spent on science).  It is helpful to have everything from a 2 word description to a full presentation about your research ready at anytime.  Particularly here in McMurdo, where there are 900 people supporting 37 science projects, there is a lot of curiosity about our work.  Here is what I answer (choose your category carefully...):

Technical abstract (for the scientist):

Polar tropospheric ozone depletion events (ODE) are an early springtime phenomena strongly correlated with increased concentrations of reactive bromine gases (BrO and Br), whereby Br serves as a catalysis in the breakdown of ozone into oxygen through a series of photochemical and heterogeneous reactions. This process involves the autocatalytic production of reactive bromine from bromide ions originating in the ocean, in what is termed the "bromine explosion." During an ODE, atmospheric oxidation potentials can be altered, with unique halogen oxidation pathways dominating atmospheric chemistry, resulting in consequences such as the depletion of gaseous mercury and subsequent mercury deposition in polar regions.  However, the mechanism by which Br enters the troposphere is not well understood. Sea ice is known to play a critical role in mediating the exchange of heat, gases, and chemical species across the ocean-atmosphere interface. This research focuses on the transport of Br, which originates in sea water and is hypothesized to enter the atmosphere via blowing snow over first year sea ice. Using ion chromatography, x-ray micro-computed tomography, synchrotron x-ray micro-fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy, we aim to identify the microstructural and stratigraphic location of Br and other salts in the snow and ice. Knowing whether these salts exist at grain boundaries or deeper within the crystal lattice helps assess the potential that blowing snow can loft Br into the atmosphere.  With the ratio of first-year to multi-year sea ice increasing with climate change, understanding this mechanism is critical for assessing the impact of ODEs on future atmospheric chemistry.

What that last paragraph actually said (for the layperson):

Catching blowing snow

During springtime (March in the north, Sept/Oct in the south), you often hear about the ozone hole in the upper atmosphere.  A similar phenomenon occurs with the (much smaller amount of) ozone in the lower atmosphere, or troposphere.  Salts from the ocean, such as bromine, get up into the atmosphere and help breakdown ozone into oxygen.  Since only a small amount of bromine is needed to breakdown a lot of ozone, it is called the "bromine explosion." However, we don't really know the mechanism by which bromine enters the atmosphere.  We do know that it requires really cold temperatures (lots of new sea ice) and sunlight (to kick-start the reaction), and hence only occurs during the first couple weeks of spring.  To track the transport of bromine, I collect cores from the sea ice, snow lying on the ice, and samples of the blowing snow.  We then measure the concentrations of the different salts in our samples and even take CaT scans of our ice to get a full 3-D picture of the ice microstructure.  Since these ozone depletion events occur over first-year sea ice and climate change will result in more first-year sea ice, it is important to understand this process to predict the future implications for atmospheric chemistry. 

In two sentences (elevator speech):
I study how bromine (a salt in the ocean like chlorine or iodine) gets from the ocean up into the atmosphere, where it contributes to ozone depletion.  Since we don't really know how the bromine gets into the atmosphere, I analyze sea ice cores and blowing snow to measure the amounts of different salts in my samples.   

When I try to explain it in a different language/sign language:
Bromine from ocean into air.  Lots of sea ice and flying snow.  Bye-bye ozone.

In two words:
I study snow and ice


If you are down this far, you are probably just looking for seal photos: