About
My research focusses on marine phytoplankton, oceanic microbes that form the base of the marine food web and generate half of the oxygen we breathe.
My work is highly interdisciplinary, encompassing biological, physical and chemical oceanography and marine optics, and I use both observations and numerical modelling in my approach.
I am particularly interested in how phytoplankton growth and physiology are controlled by the physical environment. Much of my current research focusses on how light availability shapes phytoplankton biogeography and, in turn, how the community structure affects the surface ocean colour observed from satellites.
Specialties: Oceanography, phytoplankton, primary production, photophysiology, ecosystem modelling, biogeochemistry, marine optics, ecology
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- The role of marine phytoplankton in biogeochemical cycles
- Phytoplankton ecology, primary production, photo physiology and bio-optics
- Understanding the physical controls on biological processes and associated feedbacks
- Marine optics and application of satellite remote sensing in biological oceanography
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Teaching
Programme Lead: MRes Ocean Science, MRes Marine Geology and Geophysics
Admissions Tutor: MSc Oceanography, MSc by Research in Ocean and Earth Science
Teaching includes: SOES6042 MRes Research Project (module lead), SOES2006 Phytoplankton and Primary Production, SOES6070 Advanced Oceanography Feildwork,
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
- Lecturer, University of Southampton, UK (current position)
- Academic Fellow/Proleptic Lecturer, University of Southampton, UK
- NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Essex and University of Southampton, UK
- Research Associate, University of Liverpool, UK
- Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
- Research Scientist, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, UK
- Research Assistant, George Deacon Division, NERC, UK
- PhD Oceanography, University of Southampton, UK (completed 2007)
- MSc Oceanography (w. Distinction), University of Southampton, UK
- BSc Geology and Geophysics, Durham University, UK
Prizes
- Dean's Prize: Citizenship and All Round Contribution (2014)