Special Oceanography Seminar

Dr. Daniel Reed*
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Michigan

“Nutrient cycling in oxygen-depleted marine environments: invasive species, engineering solutions, genomics, and beyond”

Abstract: Oxygen-depleted regions of the ocean are expanding as a result of human activities. Use of fertilizers, sewage discharge into the coastal ocean, and climate change all contribute to this phenomenon, which has grave implications for marine ecosystems and causes shifts in nutrient dynamics. During this talk, I explore how such redox transitions affect nutrient cycling through the use of comprehensive geochemical data sets and mathematical models. Initially focussing on phosphorus (and iron) cycling, I examine the geochemical response of sediments to hypoxia both in coastal regions and deep basins of the Baltic Sea – the world's largest anthropogenic "dead zone". Engineering solutions have been proposed for remediating low oxygen regions of the Baltic Sea and I consider the consequences of one such strategy. Next, I examine the impact of an invasive worm (Marenzelleria spp.) on benthic nutrient cycling, which is afforded the opportunity to become established when the native are displaced by hypoxia. Finally, I turn my attention to the role of microbial communities that mediate much of low-temperature geochemistry. I outline a novel gene-centric modelling approach for resolving cryptic geochemical cycles and explicitly integrating microbes into biogeochemical models, then apply this to elucidate nitrogen cycling in the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone.

*The speaker is a candidate for a faculty position in the Department of Oceanography.

Ticket Information
FREE

Event Sponsor
Oceanography, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-7633

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