Dr. Joseph Grzymski Postdoctoral Associate, Rockefeller University Participant in the 2002-2003 Field Team Ph.D. Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences Email: grzymsj@rockefeller.edu

My background is in biophysics and oceanography. I received my Ph.D from Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences in 2001. Currently, I am working on the thermodynamics of bacterio-rhodopsin and the significance of chloroplasts in deep-sea foraminifera. I joined GenEx² because I am interested in Antarctic biological oceanography. Also, each time I have been to Antarctica I have had incredible experiences.

My role in the field team was to develop a new method for measuring dissolved oxygen, collect field samples, process samples for nucleic acid analysis and help in the design and implementation of the mesocosm experiments. I also served as Sunday night chef, amateur photographer and DJ. I collaborated with Maria Vernet's long term ecosystem research (LTER) group and examined the variability of photosynthesis using fast repetition rate fluorometry and other physiological measurements.

The most memorable parts of the field season were: lab meetings, sledding, sample collecting in Zodiacs, the huge icebergs, runs up the glacier and the interminable series of mesocosm experiments.