Growing up as a science fiction fan on a steady diet of Star Trek and movies like James Cameron’s The Abyss, Moronke Harris longed to journey to the Earth’s unexplored frontiers.
The landlocked Ontarian didn’t know then that her future would be dedicated to studying the far-reaching depths of the ocean.
Now in her final year of graduate studies at the University of Victoria, Harris has spent more than 150 days at sea, using submersibles to take samples from hydrothermal vents around the world and in B.C. These are heated geysers on the sea bed, up to 4,000 metres below sea level, located in areas of heavy volcanic activity.
The geysers spew plumes of scalding, mineral-rich water — sometimes as high as 400 C, said Harris, who also founded The Imaginative Scientist, a science communication business.
Recently scientists have discovered that they can source biopharmaceuticals from hydrothermal vents, including antiviral and anti-cancer drugs.
Thousands of metres below the water, they discovered organisms that thrive without light, using chemosynthesis instead of photosynthesis.
“So the chemicals coming out of the vents are what’s sustaining all the life down there. And that starts with the bacteria, which is what I study,” she said.
Her research is the first step, and it’s work she hopes will lead to a potential cure for illness or drugs to combat superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics.
“The deep sea is allowing us to source new pharmaceuticals, and particularly new antibiotics, that help solve issues that we’re having in our medical field.”
Some of her research involved two hydrothermal vents in B.C. — one off the west coast of Vancouver Island and the other south of Haida Gwaii.
“What’s really exciting about these vents is that they’re one of humanity’s newest major ocean discoveries. So we only found out about them in 1977 and it completely changed our understanding of biological life,” she said.
On one of her expeditions with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, led by Dr. John Jamieson of Memorial University of Newfoundland, they discovered new hydrothermal vents not observed before on the Galapagos Rift. This is also where the world’s first discovered hydrothermal vent field is located.
They also discovered that this vent has been paved over by volcanic glass due to continuous volcanic eruptions on the seabed.
“This provides more proof of how dynamic and changing these environments are,” she said, adding that while they don’t know yet the effects of climate change on the vents, they are concerned they are being damaged by sediment from deepsea mineral mining.
She said mining could potentially destroy the whole ecosystem, including any microbes that may lead to medical breakthroughs.
There’s also a concern with the amount of plastic pollution they find near the vents.
Working with about 15 other scientists on a massive 69-metre ship, they drop remote-controlled submersibles, about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, that collect pieces of hydrothermal rock. Harris then extracts the microbial DNA and combs through it looking for certain gene clusters known for drug potential.
“Depending on how many of those gene clusters we find within certain samples, then we know where to look more closely. So my research is all about just the first step of searching. Somebody else has to take that and dig deeper into it.”
On Saturday, she’ll be speaking to more than 300 students at a Girls and STEAM event at Science World. Harris, who is also an artist and likes to wear brightly coloured clothing, wants the participants to know that they don’t need to fit into the outdated scientist stereotype, and that diversity in the sciences can lead to new discovery.
“I think when people think of a scientist, they think of somebody who maybe dresses in very muted colours or takes themselves very seriously. And I really want to show young individuals that you don’t need to fit into the general box of what a scientist looks like. Actually, there are many scientists out there that don’t, and the strongest thing you can do is show up and be yourself,” she said.
“I hope that the folks who attend the day are going to be challenged to look into the future and see if they can help solve the problems that the world is facing right now. And I just really want to focus on creating equitable opportunities for all.”
Next summer, she plans to be part of a team that goes in a submersible to the deepest point on Earth in the Marianas Trench, nearly 11,000 metres below sea level.
