FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Rare is the person who might consider taking a long trip aboard a tiny research vessel in subantarctic waters, but for biology professor Steve Stephenson, such a voyage represents an opportunity to explore a living laboratory and possibly find new species.

Stephenson, a professor at the University of Arkansas, has received a National Geographic Society research grant to lead a team to the Auckland Island archipelago south of New Zealand to characterize the slime molds, fungi and beetles that reside there. The research team will consist of scientists from the United States and New Zealand. They are scheduled to depart from Bluff, the southernmost port in New Zealand, on March 20 and return in early April.

A previous expedition to the neighboring Campbell Island in 2000 yielded a treasure trove of finds, including more than 100 unknown species of fungi and 18 previously unknown species of slime molds. A short visit to the Auckland Islands at the end of this trip indicated that the diversity of species there might equal or exceed that of Campbell Island.

Little known and sparsely studied, slime molds nonetheless perform functions essential to life on earth. They break down bacteria and release back nutrients into the soil. Members of one group of slime molds can communicate between cells, creating shapes favorable to survival, a characteristic of interest to cancer researchers who investigate how cell nuclei divide. These organisms, which live in the soil, on dead plants, rotting logs and stumps, and in other microhabitats, are found on every continent, but the extent and diversity of their distribution remains largely unknown — especially in remote locations.

The Auckland Islands expedition will further the work of Stephenson and biology professor Fred Spiegel, who have a National Science Foundation Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Program grant to characterize the global biodiversity of slime molds in collaboration with researchers from around the world. Past expeditions to seek out slime molds have taken researchers involved in the project to Argentina, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Oman, Peru, the Ukraine and the Western United States. Images from these expeditions are available at http://slimemold.uark.edu.

For the Auckland Islands expedition, the researchers will take the vessel to the southern part of the islands and work their way back north, stopping at many points along the way to sample different habitats at high and low elevations, Stephenson said.

“At the low elevations you find some of the southernmost forests in the world,” Stephenson said. “One hundred meters up slope, you find a completely different community.

“You keep climbing and you get into tundra-like communities. At the highest elevations, it’s essentially a polar desert,” he said.

The researchers will collect thousands of samples of plant debris and return these to laboratories to examine the samples for microscopic organisms.

The Auckland Islands lie 350 miles south of New Zealand. They are a wildlife refuge for thousands of birds and sea lions. Auckland Island, the main island, is about 24 miles long and three to 25 miles wide. The islands are volcanic in origin and shaped by high cliffs, sea caves and fjords.

This is Stephenson’s sixth National Geographic Society grant and his third expedition to the subantarctic. He is a professor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.