Lucy Wright

Lucy Wright
DPhil Student
St Edmund Hall
lucy.wright@seh.ox.ac.uk

I am a biogeochemist researching the interactions between climatic, chemical and biological factors that drive the breakdown of organic-rich sedimentary rocks. The goal of my research is to better understand and quantify rock-derived greenhouse gas emissions, both in response to anthropogenic climate change and to inform its future trajectory. 

I completed a BSc at the University of Durham and an MSc in Geoscience at University College London. My previous research investigated rainfall palaeoseasonality and silicate weathering intensity during the Holocene, and explored the use of lithium isotopes in speleothem carbonate as a geochemical proxy. Currently, my research aims to constrain modern-day weathering dynamics through a combination of fieldwork and laboratory experiments.

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My research focuses on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon between sedimentary rocks and the atmosphere. Anthropogenic climate change is fast-tracking rock organic carbon, typically cycled on geological timescales, into the short term carbon cycle. This shift has significant implications for Earth's modern day greenhouse gas emissions and future emission scenarios.

I am particularly interested in understanding the role of microbial communities in mediating the release of rock organic carbon. Climate change is actively driving shifts in regional temperature and hydrological regime, which has implications for the stability of rock organic carbon and the spatial diversity, distribution and metabolic efficiency of microbial communities. I am interested in investigating how feedback mechanisms associated with microbially driven weathering fluxes may evolve in response to changing environmental conditions. Additionally, I seek to understand the role of carbon substrate stability and rock mineralogy in microbe-mineral organic matter interactions and their impact on carbon dioxide release. 

 

 

 

Publications