From global warming warnings to medical breakthroughs, what a UNCW researcher is learning from crabeater seals

On this episode of The Newsroom, a conversation with UNCW Assistant Professor Dr. Michael Tift about his recent research trips to Antarctica to study the most populous seal species on Earth: crabeaters. On his most recent visit, Dr. Tift saw firsthand the devastating loss of ice — an area equal to the size of Greenland.

We'll discuss Dr. Tift’s other research on how medical doctors can use carbon monoxide in minimizing damage to organs during surgeries or after injuries.

Plus, we’ll talk about Tift’s work with UNCW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program. Just recently, Tift and his team responded to a pilot whale that washed up on shore in the Outer Banks.

Dr. Michael Tift

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UNCW

Links:

• UNCW researchers return from Antarctic winters spent studying climate change and crabeater seals
• UNCW scientists report marine mammal strandings were down last year
• UNCW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program
• ‘Something profoundly wrong’: Marine biologists puzzled by large beaching of pilot whales, August 1, 2023
• A detailed look inside UNCW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program, May 2022
• Odd marine mammals, possibly driven by climate change, are at risk on NC’s coast, May 2022
• The Calvin Project, North Atlantic Right Whale
• NC State University - Center for Marine Science and Technology (CMAST)
• Support UNCW’s Biology Mammal Strand Fund