Heather Bouman

I am a sea-going scientist with a primary research focus on understanding how ocean physics and chemistry regulates phytoplankton productivity over multiple scales. My approach is to combine field observations with satellite remote sensing to improve knowledge of the factors governing the taxonomic structure and biogeochemical function of phytoplankon communities. My research has also examined the utility of marine bio-optics and molecular biology as tools for monitoring the ecological and physiological dynamics of marine ecosystems.  Our most recent fieldwork has focussed on high latitude regions (e.g. Atlantic Arctic and Southern Oceans) that serve as a sink for both heat and carbon and are believed to be hotspots of ecosystem change.

I am also a member of the Agile Management Group.  The Agile Initiative hosted by the Oxford Martin School and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council is a research programme set to deliver solution-oriented science through a new model of interdisciplinary research. Groups of researchers from across the University work with stakeholders and partners in rapid “Sprint” projects to address a time-critical research question identified by policymakers.  Click here to find out more.

Research themes include: plankton macroecology, modelling of marine primary production, physiological ecology of marine microalgae and picocyanobacteria, biological-physical interactions, bio-optical properties of phytoplankton.

1st-year Cell Biology

2nd-year Remote Sensing

3rd-year Biological Oceanography

4th-year Topics in Climate Science

4th year field course in Ocean, Climate and the Environment (Bermuda)

The Research Vessel Atlantic Explorer monitors the state of open-ocean ecosystems off Bermuda.

 Onboard the RRS James Cook: Unlocking the role of marine life in ocean carbon storage

In September 2024, we sailed along with the rest of the JC269 science party  on the RRS James Cook.  This video highlights the main scientific objectives of the cruise and how we use ships, satellites and autonomy to better understand the fate of carbon in the subpolar North Atlantic.

Click here to see the YouTube Clip!

New Scientist Video Story: Why ocean scientists measure chlorophyll data from satellites

Heather talks to Oxford DPhil student Arianwen Herbert aboard the RRS James Cook about her research on converting satellite maps of phytoplankton chlorophyll into large-scale estimates of marine primary production.  This work was conducted in collaboration with colleagues across the UK as part of the IDAPro project. 

Click here to see the YouTube clip!

BIO-Carbon Spring Cruise onboard the RRS Discovery

In May and June of 2024, we sailed from Southampton aboard the RRS Discovery to sample the spring bloom in the Iceland Basin. Working together with UK and international collaborators, we will combine ship-based experiments along with observations from earth-orbiting satellites to estimate the amount of carbon fixed by marine phytoplankton within the sunlit layer and how it has changed over time.

Sarah Le Besque (DTP DPhil) will be joining us in another expedition this autumn to find out how many and what type of algal cells live in these subpolar waters as the surface ocean cools and becomes more turbulent.  We will also measure the photosynthetic properties of the phytoplankton as they enter a new phase of the annual productivity cycle.

The Bio-Carbon team that sailed on the spring cruise was made up of scientists from universities across the UK as well as two of our leading oceanographic centres (the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory).