Dennis A Hansell

The primary question Hansell’s laboratory asks is “What is the role of dissolved organic matter in the ocean’s carbon cycle?” To address this question, which is far from solved, the lab goes to sea each year for extensive periods. Their observational work includes surveys of the major ocean basins, with measurements of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen made throughout the ocean’s water column. The analyses are typically done in the shore-based laboratory, and interpreted for presentation in peer-reviewed journal articles.

His research interests are in the biogeochemistry of the major elements (such as carbon and nitrogen), primarily conducted by inferring the biological processing of those elements from their spatial and temporal variations.