Investigating marine biogeochemistry, biological carbon pumps, and climate change responses
Role: Co-I
TiMBER will deliver the foundations of an early warning system for tipping elements in marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry suitable to inform potential impacts on the UK economy.
Role: PI
PARTITRICS uses novel autonomous technologies and biogeochemical sensors to address the mesopelagic processes transforming and respiring sinking organic particles, assisting in validation and development of biogeochemical models.
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BioGeoSea aims to design, develop and improve biogeochemical Essential Ocean Variables to understand variables essential for assessing marine ecosystem health and the ocean’s role in climate.
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OceanICU produces new data and understanding on the role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle. I lead a work package addressing the ecological controls on the biological carbon pump.
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CALIPSO improves representation of carbon loss processes in Earth System Models, focusing on three critical knowledge gaps in the global carbon cycle.
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GOCART deployed autonomous underwater gliders to investigate seasonal and high-frequency variability in organic carbon fluxes and remineralisation depth in the open ocean twilight zone.
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CELOS contributed to understanding how changes in marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry impact the Southern Ocean carbon sink. I led a work package on developing alternative parameterisations of the biological carbon pump.
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GLOBESINK used BGC-Argo profiling floats to construct global assessments of organic carbon flux, combining float data with satellite observations to map time-varying sinking carbon.
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BRICS identified major knowledge gaps concerning biological processes key for future ocean carbon storage, assessing their observational tractability and model parameterisation.
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CUSTARD examined how seasonal changes in Southern Ocean phytoplankton dynamics influence how long organic carbon remains trapped in the deep ocean, utilizing ship-board observations and gliders.
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COMFORT closed knowledge gaps around marine biogeochemical tipping points. I co-led a work package on the dynamics, extremes, early warning signals, and reversibility of tipping points.
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COMICS investigated the biological and physical drivers of carbon flux attenuation in the ocean's twilight zone, constructing comprehensive mesopelagic carbon budgets.
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This project investigated the impact of seasonal changes on Thorium-234 derived estimates of particulate organic carbon export flux in the ocean.
Role: PI
My independent fellowship explored how the composition of phytoplankton communities influences the efficiency of the biological carbon pump using satellite and in situ datasets.
My research interests center around phytoplankton response to perturbations in physical forcing and subsequent impacts on carbon export and sequestration.
We employ a data synthesis approach, integrating autonomous vehicles (such as Seagliders and BGC-Argo floats), satellite observations, biogeochemical models, and in situ ship-board measurements. By combining these diverse data sources, we scale up localized biogeochemical processes to construct regional and global carbon budgets.
Key themes of our work include characterizing seasonal and spatial variability in carbon export, detecting long-term climate-driven trends in ocean time series, and optimizing observation systems to detect future ecosystem shifts.
Deploying gliders and floats to capture high-frequency biological carbon pump dynamics in the mesopelagic zone.
Using ocean colour data to track global phytoplankton phenology, spring blooms, and ecosystem changepoints.
Developing algorithms and parameterisations to refine biological pumps in the next generation of climate models.