Expertise
Marine organic geochemistry. I am broadly interested in picking apart the processes of production, physical movement or mixing, and degradation of organic matter in complex natural environments, modern or ancient, with a goal toward understanding how ecological change translates into larger-scale effects on the marine carbon cycle. One of my main focuses is the biological carbon pump in present-day open-ocean water columns, from surface to lower mesopelagic depths: I seek to clarify the roles of microbes in the production and degradation of marine organic matter, within the context of water column particle dynamics. Other research areas include investigating sources and bioavailability of organic matter in marginal marine sediments, identifying pathways for incorporation of microbial biomass into the higher food web, and fundamental questions regarding stable isotope effects during biological carbon uptake, biosynthesis, and enzymatic degradation.