Expertise
I am a chemical oceanographer, interested in the role marine microbes play in global biogeochemical cycles, with an emphasis on linking the rates of chemical processes with the activity of microbes.
My research centers on an environmental approach to this challenge, using geochemical tools to target biochemicals in the environment that are representative of specific microbes and microbial processes. Current projects are focused on quantifying microbial cycling of inorganic and organic phosphorus and identifying the cellular underpinnings that control uptake rates in the most abundant microbial groups in oligotrophic environments. I use a variety of analytical tools, including cell sorting flow cytometry to identify, quantify, and separate different microbial groups, mass spectrometry to identify and quantify microbial biochemicals, and isotope labeling to measure the rates of production and consumption of these biochemicals.
Microbial biogeochemistry, Geochemistry research.