The FjordPhyto collaboration between scientists, tour operators, polar guides, and travelers all started with an email and a serendipitous rendez-vous in the Antarctic.
- 2015, May – First email contact between polar guides (Bob Gilmore) at Polar Latitudes and FjordEco researchers.
- 2015, Dec – Serendipitous rendez-vous in the Antarctic.
- 2016, Feb/March – First trial sampling season of FjordPhyto (Polar Latitudes – microscopy).
- 2016, Fall – Graduate student Allison Cusick (Lee) joins forces with Dr. Maria Vernet to contribute to Master’s Capstone and PhD Thesis.
- 2016 – 2017 – Second sampling season of FjordPhyto (Polar Latitudes, G Adventures – microscopy – results published 2019 here).
- 2017, March – FjordPhyto citizen science concept presented at GRC: Polar Marine Science conference, California.
- 2017, May – FjordPhyto introduced at the Citizen Science Association Conference, Minnesota.
- 2017, June – Full FjordPhyto sampling plan developed. Allison Cusick (Lee) receives her Master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
- 2017, Sept – FjordPhyto receives launch support from National Science Foundation Public Participation in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Research (PPSR). Allison Cusick begins the PhD program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
- 2017, Oct – FjordPhyto trained personnel at AECO/IAATO Polar Field Guide Staff conference, Iceland.
- 2017 – 2018 – Sampling season of FjordPhyto (Polar Latitudes, G Adventures, Antarctica21, Hanse Explorer, Lindblad Expeditions, Quixote Expeditions).
- 2017, Dec – Allison joins Antarctica21 as Guest Scientist to meet staff and travelers, improve FjordPhyto logistics, and learn more about the region. Allison collects additional samples for her and Martina Mascioni’s PhD theses.
- 2018, Spring – FjordPhyto samples begin to be processed and analyzed.
- 2018, May – FjordPhyto presented at Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) International Online Conference.
- 2018, June – FjordPhyto presents at POLAR 2018 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) conference, Switzerland.
- 2018 – 2019 – Sampling season of FjordPhyto with Polar Latitudes, G Adventures, Antarctica21, Hurtigruten, Ocean Expeditions, Quixote Expeditions, Cheesemans’ Ecological Safaris. Allison Cusick joins Antarctica21 M/V Ocean Nova and Cheesemans’ Ecological Safaris M/V Ioffe as Lecturer (Dec – Mar).
- 2019, Mar – FjordPhyto presented by Allison Cusick at CitSci2019 conference in Raleigh, North Carolina
- 2019, Apr – FjordPhyto presented by Martina Mascioni at SCAR (SC- HASS) conference in Ushuaia, Argentina
- 2019, June – FjordPhyto represented by Allison Cusick attends the Building the NASA Citizen Science Community Workshop in Tuscon, Arizona
- 2019, Aug – PUBLICATION – Mascioni et al., 2019 – Mascioni, M., Almandoz, G.O., Cefarelli, A.O., Cusick, A.M., Ferrario, M.E., Vernet, M. (2019). Phytoplankton composition and bloom formation in unexplored nearshore waters of the western Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biology 1-14.
- 2019, Sept – FjordPhyto presented by Allison Cusick at AECO/IAATO Field Staff Conference, Sturbridge, MA.
- 2019, Oct/Nov – FjordPhyto joins with Hurtigruten for Molecular Learning Lab on board new M/S Roald Amundsen
- 2019 – 2020 – Sampling season of FjordPhyto with Polar Latitudes, G Adventures, Antarctica21, Hurtigruten, Quixote Expeditions. Allison Cusick joins Antarctica21 M/V Magellan and M/V Ocean Nova as Lecturer (Nov – Feb).
- 2019, Dec – PUBLICATION – Taylor et al., 2019 in Journal of Tourism Futures
- 2020, Jan – PUBLICATION – Cusick et al., 2020 in Oceanography journal
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This project is supported in part by the National Science Foundation Public Participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) STEM Research (PPSR) extension to NSF award # PLR-1443705.