Our Research
Understanding how the ocean breathes
The oceans play a vital role in Earth's climate system. Ocean ventilation, or exchange of water between the surface and interior ocean, is central to setting the distribution of heat and biogeochemical properties around the global ocean. We use tools from underwater autonomous vehicles to satellite remote sensing to idealized numerical models to investigate these ventilation processes and also how ocean dynamics are responding to a warming planet.
Investigating the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean
The polar oceans, while far away from most of our day-to-day lives, are at the center of our planet's climate system. Our research focuses on understanding these unique ecosystems and the underlying dynamics. We think about connections between the ocean, atmosphere, and ice in order to help improve the prediction skill of global climate models and to aid conservation efforts.​​
Quantifying interactions between ocean physics and biology
The ocean is the ultimate sink of 90 percent of anthropogenic carbon. However, the pathways that take organic carbon, stored primarily in phytoplankton, from the sunlit upper layers of the ocean to depth remain unconstrained and under-observed. We specifically investigate the physical mechanisms of carbon transport, which may contribute up to half of carbon export in certain seasons and regions. Image courtesy of NASA.
