Meet the Scientist

Name: Janet R. Voight
Position/Title: Associate Curator
Department: Zoology

1. What do you study related to biodiversity (what are your research questions, what organisms do you work on)?

My work contributes to documenting the fauna in the deep sea. Because deep-sea animals are so poorly sampled, basic collections are vital to discovering the species-level diversity of this, the largest habitat on the planet. One aspect of my research focuses on reducing habitats such as hydrothermal vents. These habitats are small in area, but their fauna is distinct. The distribution of this fauna may reflect global patterns. My taxonomic expertise is in octopuses, a group that shows high diversity in the deep sea. Octopuses, however, are exceptionally large deep-sea animals; small animals of reducing habitats are likely more typical of overall distributional patterns—what species occur where and where do they not occur. To discover patterns of endemism, I’ve questioned whether animals known only from hydrothermal vents are restricted to these habitats and am investigating whether large regions dominated by conspicuous species contain smaller areas that are unique in supporting species found no where else in the world.

2. How do you study biodiversity (for example, what technological tools and methodologies do you use in your research)?

To study biodiversity, one needs to document the fauna living in an area. To achieve this in the deep sea requires ships and often complex technology. Most simply, a ship lowers a net and drags it across the bottom to collect deep ocean animals living in this light less and therefore plant free habitat and hauls them on board. On deck, a bizarre array of animal life spills from the net, worse for the time they spent in the trawl, and without any information about their habitat. To see the animals where they live requires use of manned submersibles or Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV’s). Both of these tools not only take pictures and video, but can sample very specific places and return specimens to the ship. Submersibles and ROV’s require large ships, acoustic navigation and many skilled people to operate them; they therefore are very expensive to operate. At-sea research is generally funded with support of National Science Foundation (NSF) grants.

Although I’ve used trawls to collect animals from the sea floor, most of my research projects have relied on submersibles and ROV’s. These resources have allowed me to collect animals from hydrothermal vents and normal deep-sea habitats, to allow me to compare their diversity, to document physical and chemical aspects of their habitats that may affect their distribution and to deploy and recover artificial substrates with new colonists from the ocean floor.

3. Where do you study biodiversity?

I’ve worked in the North Pacific Ocean, from 9° to 48°N, from as far west as Hawaii to as far east as the coast of Oregon, a relatively small area given that the deep sea covers over 65% of the planet. Hydrothermal vents where I have made collections include Juan de Fuca and Gorda Ridges and the East Pacific Rise. Depths at which I’ve worked range from 1500 m to 3250 m; my deepest dive in the manned submersible the ALVIN was to 2663 m below the sea surface.

4. How might your research have implications for biological conservation?

The deep sea is being increasingly exploited as near-shore commercial fisheries are exhausted, yet our knowledge of animals in the deep sea remains minimal. Even when we know of the existence of a species, we often know little of its biology or distribution and faunal associates. Discovery of patterns of endemism in the deep sea is key, as only when areas that harbor unique species are recognized can they be protected. Enhancing our knowledge of the basic biology of deep-sea animals, what they eat, how they live and when and how often they reproduce, can help us predict how fishing may impact deep-sea life.

Study of animal distribution at hydrothermal vents may not only contribute basic information on the species that live in these extremely rigorous habitats, but how habitat area and periodic disturbance affect species diversity. Ridges that differ in the number and size of vent habitat, and in how often they are disturbed also differ in how many species they support. Comparisons of species diversity among ridge systems on which vent fields differ in the number, individual area and the degree to which they are connected may illustrate how these geographic variables impact sustainable species diversity.

5. How did you become interested in science? What made you want to be a scientist, and how did you get to The Field Museum?

I have always been interested in science, especially in animal life. Becoming a scientist for me was due to an undergraduate opportunity to conduct research and learning that is was possible to spend one’s life doing science, basically asking questions about what patterns we see in the world and trying to discover why they exist. The possibility of conducting scientific research and earning a living doing it is not one that would work for everyone, but is one that offers moments of great personal satisfaction, after long periods of frustration. I came to the Field Museum directly after earning my Ph. D at the University of Arizona in 1990.

6. Describe important collaborations for your scientific endeavors (describe your work with other researchers, organizations, or scientific groups, local or indigenous peoples, etc.)

Because at-sea research requires complex tools, my work proceeds only with the assistance of many groups, notably those that operate the ships and the submersibles or ROV’s. A single researcher doesn’t go to sea alone, but with as many other scientists as the number of berths (and spaces in the life boats) that the ship offers. A science party may consist of other biologists, or scientists who are expert in geology or chemistry or physical oceanography. Working together we can more easily achieve a greater knowledge of the least known habitat on earth, the deep sea.

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