I am an ocean biogeochemist specialising in the intersection of computational modelling and observations, with a primary focus on the marine carbon cycle. My research aims to enhance modelling and observational capabilities to better monitor the pulses of organic carbon from the ocean’s surface to its interior and seafloor, particularly through the ocean’s biological carbon pump. This essential ecosystem service naturally captures atmospheric CO2, mitigating the greenhouse effect and contributing to our planet’s thermal regulation. Aligned with various UN Ocean Decade agenda targets, my work spans from establishing ecological guidelines for the offshore carbon capture and storage industry to understanding the environmental drivers influencing the ocean’s BCP transfer efficiency.
My current research, funded by NERC and the Oxford Martin School’s Agile Initiative, is part of a collaborative effort with a team of geologists, biologists, and policy analysts in Oxford. Together, we are building a comprehensive environmental impact assessment for geological carbon storage (GCS) of CO2 in offshore reservoirs beneath UK shelf waters, fostering collaboration between academia and the evolving net-zero oil and gas sector. GCS is a technology crucial for the UK’s decarbonisation goals. Although the subsurface beneath the UK’s shelf waters is rich in stable geological reservoirs –safe locations for the deployment of GCS–, the UK government has not yet provided a comprehensive assessment of the North Sea’s GCS capacity and associated environmental risks. Critical concerns involve potential releases of toxic brines and CO2, which could detrimentally impact the marine ecosystem. To address these concerns, me and Prof. Heather Bouman are developing an ecological baseline assessment, which provides a long-term view of ecosystem’s regional spatiotemporal variability, against which anomalies can be identified. Our assessment of ‘normal’, baseline conditions of the marine ecosystem focuses on phytoplankton phenology metrics, a strategic choice enabling cost-effective satellite monitoring and effectively capturing environmental signatures of carbon in the surface ocean ecosystem.
Previously, during my PhD training with Prof. Samar Khatiwala and funded by the NERC large grant COMICS (Controls over Ocean Mesopelagic Interior Carbon Storage), I acquired computational skills by developing a sophisticated mathematical model of stochastic, Lagrangian marine particles within the context of the ocean’s biological carbon pump. These Lagrangian, discrete particles are stochastically produced according to biogeochemical rules, interact with one another and their ecosystem and gravitationally sink through the water column. By tracking particle’s position, biogeochemical and morphological traits, we gain insights into the processes that affect the transformation of surface ocean characteristics into the ocean’s interior.