New frontiers in understanding the role of marine dissolved organic matter in the global carbon cycle

Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) contains the largest store of reduced carbon in the ocean, but the interactions of this pool with the global carbon cycle remain largely unconstrained. The average radiocarbon age of DOM suggests that some components are unreactive and persist in the ocean for more than 5,000 years, however we currently lack any mechanistic understanding of the sources, sinks, and true residence time of DOM in the marine water column. In this seminar, I will discuss how my work begins to address these gaps through the application of novel chemical characterization and isotope measurements. By directly detecting, for the first time, specific compound classes in marine DOM, my results suggest that the most unreactive component of marine DOM has remarkably familiar, but distinct, structural features. These results open up new avenues for investigating the cycling of this globally important but poorly understood carbon pool.

Zoom link: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/61227908464?pwd=eE9IaGhPZFF6OW5OSWROL3U4cmJYQT09 (link is external)

Meeting ID: 612 2790 8464

Passcode: 009405

Please note that after the seminar, the candidate will give a chalk-talk regarding their research plan over the next five years at ESB 5104 @2:30 pm, you are welcome to join as well!