A UNIVERSITY academic will be heading to one of the coldest and most remote locations in the world when she joins a expedition.

Dr Michelle Taylor, a deep sea coral expert, will travel to Antarctica for the 45 day expedition.

It will see her and world-leading scientists navigate through freezing temperatures and thick sea ice to solve unanswered questions about the Weddell Sea.

Dr Taylor, from Essex University’s school of biological sciences, will be teaming up with glaciologists and marine archaeologists.

Over the course of two months the team will use underwater robots, drones and other state-of-the-art technology to investigate ice shelves and document the marine life in the western Weddell Sea ecosystem.

It will also attempt to locate and survey the wreck of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which was trapped and crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915.

It will be the first expedition to use autonomous underwater vehicles, a type of robot, to track down the ship.

The robots have the ability to reach sites up to one hundred miles away from the ship from which they are launched, and to return with photos and survey data.

Dr Taylor said: “This is an unusual expedition for me, with many firsts.

“It’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to work with glaciologists and marine archaeologists.

“Such different fields of research means I will get to learn new techniques for studying Antarctica and its history. It’s also the first time I will have flown to Antarctica to get a ship.

“The primary aim of the expedition is to look at the environments under Larsen C ice shelf.

“It will be 18 months since it calved off the main ice shelf and conditions will have certainly changed in that time period so we shall be looking for clues as to what life under the ice was like.

“We will hopefully get to see it first hand by sending automated robots under the ice to see too.”

Dr Taylor will spend Christmas at home before heading off to join the expedition at the end of this week.

She added: “The deep sea is the largest habitat on the planet, but at the same time the least explored habitat on the planet.

“More people have been to the moon than to the deep sea.”

Following the expedition Dr Taylor will return to Essex in order to analyse the samples she will collect during the voyage.

She said: “I will have access to a very unique specimen and data set with which to undertake studies of deep-sea connectivity and evolution right here, at Essex.”

To watch a video of Dr Taylor talking about the trip visit vimeo.com/307481826.

For more about the trip visit weddellseaexpedition.org.