Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2019
  4. arrow_forward_ios 06
  5. arrow_forward_ios Mapping the ocean’s unseen heroes

Mapping the ocean’s unseen heroes

12 June 2019

Adrift, an online citizen science project, connects the public to the conditions of microscopic marine microbes as they are propelled around the globe by ocean currents.

High school students look at interface on computer screen

High school students at the UTS Girls in STEM workshop in May were some of the first to explore Adrift. Photo: David Lawrey.

The picture of how climate change is impacting our ocean is often told via its larger inhabitants: scrawny polar bears, bleached coral, dwindling catch in fishing nets. But, just as importantly, microscopic marine organisms play an essential role in our biosphere.

Not only do marine microbes form the foundational building blocks of the underwater food-web, but it’s estimated that marine microbes consume almost 50% of the Earth’s carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis.

Invisible to the naked eye, the health and movement of marine microbes that drift as part of the plankton is difficult to picture even for scientists – let alone everyday citizens.

This challenge, to visualise the range of conditions that drifting marine microbes encounter, brought a group of expert scientists and visual designers from UTS together on a path to create the online citizen science project Adrift.

Adrift is a portal that connects the public with the lives of microscopic marine microbes as they are propelled around the globe by ocean currents, with temperature and nutrient availability changing along the way.

Lead researcher and biological oceanographer Professor Martina Doblin from the University of Technology Sydney, says Adrift is designed to engage a diversity of participants, including those who may not have technical or scientific expertise.

“We want to give people a view of what conditions microbes experience in different parts of the ocean, to provide clues about their capacity to adapt to the relatively fast pace of human-induced changes in ocean conditions.

“So, as they’re drifting in different surface currents, microbes experience diverse conditions along their paths.

“Scientists can’t be in the ocean to look at the plankton in all these places, so we have created a method to visualise their experience based on ocean simulations,” says Doblin.

screenshot showing a map and virtual microbe path

A screen grab from Adrift, showing a virtual marine microbe journey. The change in colour indicates temperature variation.

Doblin says that the collaborative aspect of the project – which includes data visualisation experts Professor Kate Sweetapple and Dr Jacquie Lorber Kasunic from the UTS Design School, and Nancy Longnecker, Professor of Science Communication at Otago University in New Zealand – was essential to the success of Adrift.

UTS Adrift researchers (left to right), Dr Jacquie Lorber Kasunic, Prof. Martina Doblin and Prof. Kate Sweetapple.

UTS Adrift researchers (left to right), Dr Jacquie Lorber Kasunic, Prof. Martina Doblin and Prof. Kate Sweetapple. Photo: David Lawrey.

Prof. Kate Sweetapple says that Adrift is unique in the way that it visually maps and summarises the specific conditions for plankton in any given location in the ocean.

“Adrift allows citizen scientists to virtually 'drop’ microbes into the global ocean.

“The data produced by participants includes the geographic path travelled, and variations in temperature and nutrients experienced by the microbes.”

Using visual tools participants can learn about, map and record these variations, enabling researchers to identify areas of the ocean where real-life microbes are experiencing the most extreme changes along their drift paths.

“It’s a great entry point for students and citizens to get involved and begin to understand the challenges of living in the ocean today,” says Sweetapple.

Adrift is funded by the Inspiring Australia, Science Engagement Scheme, (Department of Innovation Industry and Science). Project partners are the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Byline

Jacqueline Middleton
Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to News in Design, Architecture and Building

Related News

  • Close-up of digital artwork
    UTS team wins highest honour at Milan design triennale

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility