Cassandra Brooks | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

Cassandra Brooks is a graduate student in Marine Science at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) in California who has studied Antarctic marine resources for the last four years both at MLML and with the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program (AMLR). Cassandra’s work focuses on life history and population structure of Antarctic toothfish. Her goal is to provide information on their age, growth, and spatial distribution in order to facilitate sustainable management of this important Antarctic species.

Project Page: Antifreeze Fish

All Posts By Cassandra Brooks

Gentoo Penguins on King George Island

By Cassandra Brooks · September 1, 2009 ·

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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS-- In anticipation of the next upcoming AMLR field season in January 2010, I put together a slide show of a Gentoo penguin colony. The colony resides at the Copacabana field camp on King George Island... {Read More »}

Fishing in Antarctic Waters?

By Cassandra Brooks · November 3, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- The morning of July 11th was the culmination of the conference: I finally presented my Antarctic toothfish work... {Read More »}

Indigenous Knowledge in Modern Polar Science

By Cassandra Brooks · October 29, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- In conjunction with the surge of social science projects in this year’s IPY, SCAR hosted a novel session on “The role of Indigenous Knowledge in Modern Polar Science.” The presenters stressed giving traditional knowledge and indigenous people a voice in managing their own land, resources and fate in the future of climate change... {Read More »}

Antarctic Fish and Climate Change

By Cassandra Brooks · October 13, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA– All Antarctic organisms have unique adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme freezing Antarctic environment. Antarctic fish, for example, have antifreeze proteins that keep their blood from freezing... {Read More »}

Is There Hope for Polar Bears?

By Cassandra Brooks · October 10, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- Polar bears have become the icon of climate change, stirring people’s emotions and bringing awareness to the issue in an unprecedented manner. And yet, both in the scientific research community and the media there is disagreement and discrepancies over what the real impacts of climate change on polar bears are... {Read More »}

People on the move

By Cassandra Brooks · October 8, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA– Among the variety of challenges facing polar societies is the melting permafrost and its effect on people who have been surviving in the Arctic for millennia... {Read More »}

Permafrost gone soft

By Cassandra Brooks · October 6, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- “Not only has climate change begun, but we are seeing a significant impact,” said Wayne Pollard from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in his plenary talk on “The effects of climate change on polar landscapes"... {Read More »}

Polar ecosystems in a changing world

By Cassandra Brooks · September 25, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- From the presentations on the first day of the SCAR conference it became clear that climate change from global warming is very real... {Read More »}

Welcome to the SCAR/IASC IPY Open Science Conference

By Cassandra Brooks · September 22, 2008 ·

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MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA-- In early July, 2008 I traveled to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to join thousands of other polar scientists for the SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) Open Science Conference. I was thrilled to attend this year’s SCAR meeting to present my graduate work on Antarctic toothfish... {Read More »}

The End of Our Cruise & International Waters

By Cassandra Brooks · April 5, 2008 ·

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One Gorgeous Day We finally finished our zooplankton survey and since we had two days to spare, we steamed down into the Gerlache Straight, off the Antarctic Peninsula for a fun day off. The Gerlache… {Read More »}