News: 15 August 08
Winner 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Award

Winning research uncovers secrets of the deep

An underwater run-in with a slimy hagfish and curiosity about the food source for these scavenging fish that live up to 400 metres below sea level in the New Zealand fiords, have unravelled secrets of the underworld and won researcher Rebecca McLeod the title of 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year.

Rebecca encountered the ancient and primitive hagfish, which is jawless, toothless and blind and excretes a stinky slime when stressed, during her first dive in Fiordland. Her subsequent research into its diet has revealed a novel food web in which coastal deep water creatures rely on recycled energy from Fiordland’s coastal forests.

The 30-year-old marine ecologist from the University of Otago developed cutting-edge chemistry tools that reveal energy transfer between the forest and the sea and deliver findings that have implications for coastal management in New Zealand and worldwide.

Her work will also feed into climate change research in Antarctica where a team of scientists will soon be diving beneath the ice and using Rebecca’s techniques to learn more about marine food webs and the likely impact of warmer temperatures on ocean life.

The MacDiarmid Awards are presented annually by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, with Fisher & Paykel Appliances as principal sponsor. Rebecca, who completed her PhD at Otago University earlier this year, won the Understanding Planet Earth category of the Awards as well as the overall Young Scientist of the Year title.

Rebecca’s award-winning research was carried out in Fiordland, one of the few places left on Earth where there is intact rainforest bordering a pristine marine ecosystem. “That environment gives us an insight into how our coastal ecosystem functioned before humans started cutting down trees. The forest goes right down to the edge of the water, and landslides and rivers transport logs and leaves into the sea where they rot on the seafloor like a huge compost bin,” says New Zealand’s top young scientist.

Rebecca’s research concluded that the seafloor ‘compost’ produces hydrogen sulphide which is taken up by bacteria and, through a series of chemical reactions, forest material is turned into carbohydrate energy. These bacteria live inside some species of clams and worms, providing their hosts with all the food they need. It is thought that hagfish then feed on these creatures, gaining energy that originated in the forest.

She is part of a wider research programme, led by Dr Stephen Wing from the University of Otago, which has been studying the biodiversity and management of the Fiordland region, with the findings guiding development of the Fiordland Marine Management Act, passed in 2005.

Rebecca’s first meeting with a hagfish sparked her curiosity about what they eat but she couldn’t tell using the usual method of looking inside the stomach, as the food was too well digested. Rebecca went on to use a mixture of stable isotope analyses and measuring biomarkers in fat extracted from hagfish tissue to trace food sources.

The use of this cutting edge technology allowed researchers to conclude that hagfish in Doubtful Sound obtain up to half their nutritional energy from the rainforest, also proving the coastal marine ecosystem is heavily reliant on the forest. “That link between the condition of the forest and marine life has been largely ignored in the past,” says Rebecca. “The Otago research team has found that other common species, including blue cod and rock lobster, also obtain forest energy.”

As a child, Rebecca holidayed regularly in the Marlborough Sounds and says her interest in understanding and protecting marine environments was sparked by diminishing fish stocks. “When I was really young we could guarantee a catch of blue cod for dinner but by the time I left home it was common to return empty handed from a fishing expedition.”

She completed a BSc at the University of Canterbury in 1998 and then travelled overseas for a number of years, joining Dr Wing’s research team in 2003. She is now completing post-doctoral research supervised by
Dr Wing which includes travelling to Antarctica in October to learn more about the role bacteria play in recycling algal energy under the ice during the long, dark winters.

Rebecca says her research has contributed to a better understanding of the ecology of Fiordland and its value as part of New Zealand’s natural heritage. “It’s also important for future coastal management. For instance, a marine reserve could be established adjacent to where a coastal national park is developed.”

Her research team is also working with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to identify, count and photograph marine life in Fiordland and ensure marine pests are kept out of the region. Greg Funnell, Marine Technical Support Office for DOC’s Southland Conservancy says: “Rebecca’s research encourages a more holistic view of forests, streams and marine environments and enables DOC to make informed decisions on environmental policy and management issues.”

The MacDiarmid medal adds to a list of achievements for Rebecca, including undergraduate and doctoral scholarships, a Todd Foundation Award for Excellence and a William Georgetti Scholarship from the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee. Rebecca is originally from Nelson where she attended Nayland College.

She has a passion for adventure, having been a member of the first ever team to dive in the remote Balleny Islands, a couple of hundred kilometres off the coast of Antarctica, during a research trip to investigate ecology of the marine environment in 2006. The trip was organised by the Ministry of Fisheries to gather scientific information to support a proposal for a Marine Protected Area around the Balleny Islands.

Rebecca has also worked as a glacier guide on the West Coast of the South Island, cycled in the Swiss Alps and recently bought land on Stewart Island.

Her win in the MacDiarmid Awards gives Rebecca a cash prize of NZ$10,000 and a trip to an international science event. She also receives the MacDiarmid medal.

Photos of the event.

For further information please contact:

Maria Cobden
Foundation for Research, Science & Technology
Tel: (04) 917 7859 DDI

Katherine Edmond
Media Liaison, MacDiarmid Awards
Tel: (06) 877 2170 DDI
Mobile: (027) 274 0465

Find out more about the MacDiarmid Awards.