On February 23rd, DRACO (Dynamic Research of Arctic Cryospheric Organisms at the nanoscale) flew into Utqiagvik, Alaska, for field research in the northernmost point of the United States. VTSU’s Dr. Ross Lieblappen and Dr. Michelle Sama, Research Scientist Eliza Goodell, and undergraduates Ayden LaPoint and Geo Cuciti are spending two weeks collecting permafrost and sea ice cores.
These cores will allow them to image microbes in-situ in polar terrain, create DNA libraries, and examine genes of interest. This is part three of the team’s sampling as they collected cores in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland last year. By utilizing advancements in X-ray imaging, DRACO will achieve non-destructive images of permafrost, sea ice, and snow at the nanoscale, the first such images in the world.
You can keep up with DRACO(nano) on Instagram @dracolabvtsu to follow along with their adventures.
