Deneb Karentz | |
---|---|
Nationality | Armenian-American |
Alma mater | BS University of Rhode Island MS Oregon State University PhD University of Rhode Island |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine biology Ozone depletion |
Institutions | Professor, University of San Francisco |
Thesis | Patterns and rates of DNA synthesis and cell division in marine dinoflagellates (1982) |
Website | Deneb Karentz at University of San Francisco |
Deneb Karentz is full-time faculty, professor, and former chair of the Biology Department at University of San Francisco. [1] Her research focuses on the ultraviolet photobiology of marine organisms and understanding their strategies for protection from UV exposure, particularly in relation to the ecological implications of Antarctic ozone depletion.
Karentz grew up in Millis, Massachusetts, the daughter of Rose and Varoujan Karentz, and turned to athletics in high school as a two-sport captain to complement a proud academic standing. Karentz earned her BS at the University of Rhode Island in 1973, MS at Oregon State University in 1976 [2] and PhD at the University of Rhode Island in 1982. [3] Her graduate research focused on the physiology and ecology of marine phytoplankton. She has lived in San Francisco, California since 1983. She held an NIH National Service Award Fellowship for post-doctoral research at the Laboratory of Radiobiology and Environmental Health, University of California San Francisco from 1983-1986. She worked in the lab of James E. Cleaver, conducting research on the molecular genetics of an inherited human disease, xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). Patients afflicted with XP are extremely sensitive to sunlight and are unable to repair UV-induced damage to DNA. Karentz remained at UCSF as a research biologist until hired as a professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of San Francisco in 1992.
Karentz became involved in Antarctic research in 1986 as a volunteer on a field team studying the photophysiology of springtime phytoplankton in McMurdo Sound. Karentz's research focuses on the ultraviolet photobiology of marine organisms: identifying strategies for protection from UV exposure and understanding mechanisms for repair of UV–induced damage. Her work has focused on investigating the ecological implications of Antarctic ozone depletion. [4] [5] [6] Over the past 30 years, she has made the trip to Antarctica over 20 times. [7]
From 1986 - 2016 her research has been conducted at Palmer and McMurdo Stations, and aboard several research cruises in the Bellingshausen Sea and the Ross Sea. Since 1994 she has also been an instructor for the NSF advanced international integrative biology course taught at McMurdo Station and Palmer Station for early career scientists from across the world. She served for two years as the associate program manager for the Biology and Medicine Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs. She has served as a U.S. representative to the Group on Life Sciences for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, and is currently the second US delegate to SCAR. She is also (since 2011) a private sector advisor for the US delegation to the Committee on Environmental Protection under the Antarctic Treaty System.
An Antarctic ice-covered lake, Lake Karentz, was named after her in 2005 by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names in recognition of her contribution to the study of Antarctica. [8] [9] [10] In 1992 she was awarded the Luigi Provasoli Award for Outstanding Paper in the Journal of Phycology (1991-1992) from the Phycological Society of America for Karentz, D., J.E. Cleaver and D.M. Mitchell. 1991. Cell survival characteristics and molecular responses of Antarctic phytoplankton to ultraviolet-B radiation exposure. Journal of Phycology 27:326-341.
The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the stratosphere. The ozone layer contains less than 10 parts per million of ozone, while the average ozone concentration in Earth's atmosphere as a whole is about 0.3 parts per million. The ozone layer is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, from approximately 15 to 35 kilometers (9 to 22 mi) above Earth, although its thickness varies seasonally and geographically.
Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.
Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Akwers Island, the only U.S. station on the continent located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarctic stations, is operated by the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) of the National Science Foundation. The base is about as distant from the equator as Fairbanks, Alaska.
Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a genetic disorder in which there is a decreased ability to repair DNA damage such as that caused by ultraviolet (UV) light. Symptoms may include a severe sunburn after only a few minutes in the sun, freckling in sun-exposed areas, dry skin and changes in skin pigmentation. Nervous system problems, such as hearing loss, poor coordination, loss of intellectual function and seizures, may also occur. Complications include a high risk of skin cancer, with about half having skin cancer by age 10 without preventative efforts, and cataracts. There may be a higher risk of other cancers such as brain cancers.
The ultraviolet index, or UV index, is an international standard measurement of the strength of the sunburn-producing ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a particular place and time. It is primarily used in daily and hourly forecasts aimed at the general public. The UV index is designed as an open-ended linear scale, directly proportional to the intensity of UV radiation, and adjusting for wavelength based on what causes human skin to sunburn. The purpose of the UV index is to help people effectively protect themselves from UV radiation, which has health benefits in moderation but in excess causes sunburn, skin aging, DNA damage, skin cancer, immunosuppression, and eye damage, such as cataracts.
Thomas Patrick Coohill is considered one of the world's experts on the effects of light on living systems (Photobiology).
Nanophytoplankton are particularly small phytoplankton with sizes between 2 and 20 μm. They are the autotrophic part of nanoplankton. Like other phytoplankton, nanophytoplankton are microscopic organisms that obtain energy through the process of photosynthesis and must therefore live in the upper sunlit layer of ocean or other bodies of water. These microscopic free-floating organisms, including algae, and cyanobacteria, fix large amounts of carbon which would otherwise be released as carbon dioxide. The term nanophytoplankton is derived from the far more widely used term nannoplankton/nanoplankton.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Arrival Heights are clifflike heights which extend in a north-east–south-west direction along the west side of Hut Point Peninsula, just north of Hut Point in Ross Island, Antarctica. They were discovered and named by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott. The name suggests the expedition's arrival at its winter headquarters at nearby Hut Point.
Limacina rangii is a species of swimming sea snail in the family Limacinidae, which belong to the group commonly known as sea butterflies (Thecosomata).
Clione antarctica is a species of "sea angel", a sea slug, a pelagic marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clionidae, the "sea angels".
Bettina Meyer is a German Antarctic researcher, best known for her work on the ecology and physiology of invertebrates in the pelagic zone. She is the head of the ecophysiology of pelagic key species working group at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).
Irene R. Schloss is an Antarctic researcher, best known for her work on plankton biology. She is a researcher at the Argentine Antarctic Institute and was a correspondent researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina until July 2017. She became an independent researcher since August 2017 and an associate professor at the University of Quebec.
Cristina Takacs-Vesbach is an American microbial ecologist conducting research on the productivity, diversity, and function of microbial communities living at the two extremes of temperature found on Earth-Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys and Yellowstone National Park's thermal springs.
Sharon Anita Robinson is an Antarctic researcher known for her work on climate change and bryophytes.
Kathleen Elizabeth Conlan is an Antarctic marine biologist who studies sea floor marine life. She was named one of Canada's greatest explorers by Canadian Geographic.
Anita Gerry Johanna Buma is a Dutch Antarctic researcher, best known for her work on ecophysiology of marine microalgae. She was the first Dutch female researcher in Antarctica.
Alison Murray is an American microbial ecologist and Antarctic researcher, best known for studying the diversity, ecology and biogeography of Antarctic marine plankton dynamics of the plankton over the annual cycle; and her work demonstrating the existence of microbial life within an ice-sealed Antarctic lake. She studies how microorganisms persist and function in extremely cold and harsh environments, including those that lack oxygen and biological sources of energy.
C. Susan Weiler is an aquatic scientist known for developing mentoring programs for scientists as they navigate the transition from student to independent researcher.
Greta Albrecht Fryxell was a marine scientist known for her work on the biology and taxonomy of diatoms. In 1996, she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.