You may know that I am a PhD student at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The main aim of my PhD project is to evaluate the significance of several biological characteristics that may modulate calcification sensitivity of organisms in the context of ocean acidification.

To do so, I based my project on a comparative approach in adults and juveniles echinoderms – principally sea stars and sea urchins – with different diet, contrasted metabolic capacities and that originate from diverse habitats.

 

It is thought that the environment where the organisms spend their entire life could have an impact on their abilities to face changes. That is partly why I am going to Antarctica and especially to Deception Island. 

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Deception Island is part of the South Shetlands Islands and it is a Volcanic Island! So the conditions there are really interesting because there are sites that almost not fluctuate in terms of physico-chemical parameters of the sea water and other sites with high concentration of carbon dioxide and higher temperature (as it will be at the end of this century all over the seas due to global change). 

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By studying those particular sites, it may help understand what will be the next ecosystems peopling our oceans  and at least, understand how those organisms adapt. 

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Fantastic, huh?