Specialty: trace metal speciation, marine biogeochemistry

Research in my lab is focused on the interface between marine chemistry and ocean ecosystems, with particular emphasis on the role of metal-binding organic ligands in the cycling and bioavailability of trace metals including iron, copper, and nickel. Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for life in the oceans, and insufficient Fe limits primary productivity in large regions of the global ocean. Copper (Cu), on the other hand, is a common anthropogenic contaminant to estuaries and the coastal ocean that can act as an acute toxicant to marine organisms. Organic complexation of trace elements by largely uncharacterized natural ligands in seawater has proven to be an integral component of oceanic biogeochemistry, defining the bioavailability of these elements to marine microorganisms and shaping ocean ecosystems.

The Elemental Ocean Lab performs total concentration analyses of natural waters for inorganic macronutrients (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicic acid, ammonium) and for dissolved trace metals (aluminum, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead).