Month: October 2023

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Abstract:

The Greenland ice sheet is the largest mass of ice in the northern Hemisphere, comprising more than 200 glaciers and enough ice to raise sea level by over 25 feet. In the past several decades, the ice sheet has been melting, contributing to sea level rise, and causing changes in biological productivity in the regional ocean around the ice sheet. In this talk, I will start by providing an overview of the main drivers of Greenland ice loss and uncertainties in our future projections of overall sea level rise. Next, I will highlight some of my recent observational and modeling work to better constrain future sea level projections resulting from Greenland ice melt. I will conclude my talk with a description of some new efforts to investigates changes in phytoplankton growth around the ice sheet and couple regional ocean models with biogeochemistry. This talk will highlight collaborations with scientists at all levels including undergraduates at SJSU, graduate students at MLML, and scientists at MLML and NASA.

Bio:

Mike is a (relatively) new professor at MLML, starting in January 2023. He holds a joint appointment with the SJSU Department of Computer Science and is in the process of starting up a Computational Oceanography lab at MLML. Mike is interested in any topic that uses satellites observations, numerical ocean models, and in situ observation to further our understanding of the ocean and its role in climate change. His main research activities are currently focused on ice-ocean-biology interactions and sea level rise from the Greenland ice sheet. Being a California kid, Mike enjoys surfing and climbing when he can get a break from prepping classes or debugging code.

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Abstract:

With the climate, biodiversity, and inequity crises squarely upon us, never has there been a more pressing time to rethink how we conceptualize, understand, and manage our relationship with nature. This is acutely true among the world’s coastal oceans where marine ecosystems provide the nutrition, livelihood, climate regulation, and well-being for over 3 billion people globally. While it is conventionally assumed that the alteration of marine ecosystems by people is a recent phenomenon and inherently destructive, human societies have been intentionally shaping, enhancing, and sustaining biodiversity across the planet’s coastal oceans for millennia. In fact, for thousands of years people have been developing innovative practices to maintain resilient relationships within coastal ecosystems amid predator disturbance and extreme climatic events. By weaving ecological, archaeological, and Indigenous knowledge, I will share recent discoveries from Canada’s west coast kelp forests and ancient clam gardens revealed only by considering people as fundamental components of nature, looking back through time, and democratizing ocean science itself. Expanding our models of nature and modes of science will help disrupt scientific paradigms, illuminate novel interactions, and guide us towards more ecologically sustainable and socially just ocean policies.

Bio:

Anne Salomon is a Professor of Applied Marine Ecology and Social-Ecological System Science at Simon Fraser University working at the nexus of applied ecology, sustainability science, and marine policy. She seeks to discover what makes the relationships between people and other components of nature resilient to disturbance to inform ecologically sustainable and socially just conservation policies. She is deeply committed to working across disciplines and sectors to catalyze transdisciplinary research that addresses environmental challenges of concern to global society. She links science to policy by co-designing and co-delivering research with Indigenous knowledge holders, resource users, and government agencies, with knowledge mobilization as a fundamental goal of her research program. Her ecological research incorporates archaeological and Indigenous knowledge to provide greater time-depth to her analyses of coastal system dynamics and to democratize ocean science and governance. Anne was elected to the Royal Society of Canada College in 2019, named a Pew Fellow in marine conservation in 2013, and awarded the International Prize in of Professional Excellence in Ecology in 2013.

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Abstract:

Biological dinitrogen (N2) fixation is a critically important component of the marine N cycle, as it supplies readily-available nitrogen (N) and can support primary productivity. N2 fixation is mediated by some Bacteria and Archaea, referred to as diazotrophs. These specialized single-celled organisms convert nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and convert it to biologically available nitrogen via nitrogen fixation. Marine nitrogen-fixing microbes inhabiting the well-lit surface ocean have diverse physiologies, from free-living autotrophs to particle-bound heterotrophs to symbiotic associations with eukaryotes, and few cultivated marine nitrogen-fixers are available to study in isolation. Their distributions and nitrogen-fixing activities are controlled by a complex interplay between physical and chemical controls and biological interactions that vary from species to species. My research uses cultivation-independent techniques and biogeochemical rate measurements to advance our understanding of the environmental drivers behind the distribution and activity of some of the most enigmatic nitrogen-fixing taxa. Today I will talk about some recent research centered on the importance of enigmatic marine nitrogen-fixing symbioses in both oligotrophic and coastally-influenced ecosystems.

Bio:

Kendra is a marine microbial ecologist studying specialized microbes that convert nitrogen gas into bioavailable nitrogen, which is a vital process supporting oceanic primary productivity. Her research focuses on understanding the ecophysiology of poorly understood nitrogen-fixing microbes, an effort fundamental for improving our ability to predict the magnitude and distribution of nitrogen fixation in contemporary and future oceans. Many nitrogen-fixers have yet to be isolated in culture, so Kendra’s research relies on extensive field work and applying cultivation-independent techniques to detect and study these cryptic microbes. Kendra’s uses single-cell rate measurements, targeted molecular techniques, metagenomics, and biogeochemical rate measurements to enable integration across huge spatial scales in the ocean.