Award: OCE-2049298

The biology on the planet - up on land and in the ocean - generates the oxygen gas that we as humans breath through photosynthesis and the oceans also consume that same O2 through respiration by life within it.  The oceans and the life they hold play a critical role in this oxygen cycle, which in parallel effects the accumulation and fixation of CO2.  Through this work we developed a new chemical framework (using a tool called 'isotopes') to assess how much of this oxygen consumption and production is happening in the ocean.  This work took a huge step toward revising our capacity to estimate the fluxes through that oxygen cycle, with special attention on the respiration by marine bacteria (single cell organisms living freely in the oceans).  One thing that this work discovered and quantified was the fact that the 'fingerprint' of respiration is dependent on the tempaerture and nutrient content of the water where respiration is happening.  

In parallel to this science, this funding supported the career development of a post-doctoral scholar (Kevin Sutherland) and a PhD student (Ella Hughes).  Both had the oppertunity to learn mentoring skills and classroom teaching expertise, with Sutherland volunteering time to the National Science Bowl.

Last Modified: 04/02/2025
Modified by: David T Johnston