Research Area

My primary research interests are in understanding how anthropogenic activities affect marine ecosystems, and marine microbial communities in particular. My current research centers on the biological impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), which is a proposed abiotic marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) technology that has become a focus of the oceanographic community due to its promising CO2 uptake capacity and attributed co-benefits (e.g., potentially counteracting ocean acidification). 

My experiments assess phytoplankton and marine microbial community responses to OAE using a combination of physiological and biogeochemical analyses, high-throughput amplicon sequencing, and quantitative imaging. My research and active role within the mCDR community have led to invitations to speak at scientific conferences, co-author a best practices guide for OAE, consult for mCDR startups, attend legislative scoping workshops in California, and engage with congressional staff on Capitol Hill.