Dr. Doran's Research - McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)
Dr. Peter Doran has three primary research interests with this project in the Dry Valleys.
1) To look for signals of climate change that are occuring here in the Dry Valleys. This area is extremely sensitive, so if there are effects of climate change, they will most likely show up in the Dry Valleys early. So, if we can get accurate records of how the climate is behaving in general, then we will be able to recognize climate changes as they occur.
2) Dr. Doran is also investigating how nutrients and energy flow through this limited ecosystem. There are comparably few species of "critters" living here, so chemicals and energy are a bit easier to trace. If Dr. Doran can accurately map out energy and nutrient flow through this system, then it can be coorelated to more complex ecosystems and be used to assist with sustaining, or improving the health of all kinds of ecosystems.
3) The Dry Valley surface features are strikingly similiar to those seen on Mars. So, Dr. Doran, and NASA, are using the Dry Valleys to compare likely place where they may be, or have once been, microbrial life forms. For instance, if Dr. Doran finds evidence of current or past signs of life in a particular area in the Dry Valleys, he can match it up with similar looking features on Mars and direct NASA to search for life forms there.
Antarctica 2006 
