Moritz Schmid

What do you study?

“I study zooplankton which is the animal part of the plankton. They are between 1/2 to 2 millimeters long, about the size of a bread crumb.”

What do you hope to find?

“I want to learn how the distribution of different zooplankton in the water changes through the season and in response to the food that is available which can be phytoplankton but also smaller zooplankton. The season would be from early spring where we are now, with much ice, and then going over into more summer-like conditions. The availability of food for the zooplankton seems to be affected by climate change, letting the phytoplankton grow earlier. How does this affect the zooplankton?”

How does the LOKI help you with your research?

“The LOKI camera system takes pictures of where zooplankton are in the water column. It records the environment they are living in at the very moment that the photo is taken. It shows us the temperature, of that environment. The LOKI is not just a camera but a computer as well. We can use it to identify which species of zooplankton are there and how deep they are.”