Research Topics

Oceanic distributions of microplastics (MPs) and black carbon (BC) particles, Raman Microspectroscopy

I am using vibrational spectrometry techniques (Raman microspectroscopy and Fourier Transform-InfraRed (FT-IR) as a powerful tool for quantifying and identifying the chemical signature of microplastic (MP) and Black Carbon (BC) particles from environmental samples at very fine spatial scales of less than 1µm. I have been developing protocols for the use of this technology to address some of the unanswered questions about MP and BC pollution.

I am interested in combining approaches that will help in establishing the mechanisms of horizontal transport and vertical fluxes of MP and BC particles, calculating more realistic estimates of MP and BC abundances in the ocean, establishing a mass balance, determining which clades of bacteria or fungi, are responsible for the in situ degradation of these rich-carbon particles in the ocean, and evaluating how unintentional inclusion of MPs and BC in carbon cycling measurements might distort our models of how the ocean processes natural carbon.