Alison Macdonald Bio

Hello,

I am the chief scientist for S04P. As a physical oceanographer, I enjoy going to sea and working with observations. I am also the mother of 3 children (one out and living on her own and two still in college) and caretaker for two dogs, three cats, a guinea pig and a turtle. My research focuses on large-scale currents, the transport of heat and carbon throughout the global ocean, and the climate scale changes in characteristics that are occurring in the deep and abyssal waters. I am particularly interested in how deep currents move water properties that are changing with time around the globe. S04P will be my second cruise in the Southern Ocean, but whereas my previous experience gave me just a few hours south of the Antarctic Circle and barest glimpse of the Aurora Australis, this one will have us at 67°S and well to the south of that for more than two months. Ice bergs, penguins and southern lights – I hope you find the time to join us on this expedition to the changing Antarctic.