Students see how ‘Leo’ float works
Princeton University research oceanographer Dr. Robert Key, a 1965 graduate of Albany High and son of former local physician Luther Key, spoke to current students at the secondary school while he was in town to attend his 50th high school class reunion last month.
Key earned his bachelor of science in chemistry from Southwestern University and his Ph.D. in oceanography from Texas A&M University.
He has worked at Princeton since 1988, and currently serves as the data manager for the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) project.
SOCCOM is a multi-institutional study designed to try and unlock the mysteries of the Antarctic Ocean and its influence on climate. One of the ways the group is collecting data is through the use of oceanic floats that are launched into the Southern Ocean to collect and send back data.
Researchers working for SOCCOM reach out to students and teachers across the nation, involving them in the project through an Adopt-a-Float program.
Key and AHS science instructor André Raymond teamed up to get Albany High School included in Adopt-a-Float.
Float WMO #5905374 and UWID #12782 was decorated with a drawing of a lion and inscribed as Albany Jr/Sr High School “Leo the Lion,” before it was loaded onto a research vessel and transported to a location off of Antarctica for its six-year deployment.
“Leo” sent back data from Jan. 29 until June, and local students can go online and look at the readings recorded by Leo the Lion, and all of the 200 floats included in the project.
“Our float, Leo, has not transmitted data since June 9 because it is under the ice,” said Raymond. “It is still working, it just hasn’t found open water lately. With the coming of spring and summer in the south, it will eventually pop up again.”
Key brought a float simulator with him to Albany so he could demonstrate how the various monitors work and how the float ascends and descends in the ocean.
“The whole school was in attendance for the presentation,” said Raymond. “Dr. Key did a good job of helping the students to understand that the data collected will always be associated with AJSH. Several (students) stayed after the presentation to talk with him.”
Key told Raymond that he was pleased with the response, and felt really good about his alma mater having its name on a float.
Everyone can access the data by going to soccom.princeton.edu.
Leo’s last known location was just off of the Antarctica coast, on the Australian side of the continent at latitude -63.989, longitude 136.275.
