The chemical composition of the oceans is all but stable. Over geological time, the oceans have undergone a remarkable transformation that gave rise to and was influenced by biological and geochemical processes. In fact, the composition of the ancient oceans was remarkably different than from today and pivotal changes had to take place. To this day, the oceans act as major components in biogeochemical cycles. For instance, the oceans contain the largest amount of actively cycling carbon on this planet and consistently exchange gasses with the atmosphere. Small changes to this huge amount have far-reaching consequences as they, in turn, alter the chemical composition of the oceans as evident by ocean acidification, an unanticipated byproduct of anthropogenic carbon emissions. Additionally, the oceans are home to a diverse array of organisms with the ability to catalyze extraordinary biochemical reactions at large scales that could be of huge benefit for industrial processes.
At UBC, global geochemistry is explored from the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans (Bertram, Calvert, Francois). Of special interest at UBC is how organisms influence global ocean chemistry and climate (Tortell, Maldonado, Crowe, Orians). In turn, how an organism’s biochemistry deals with the challenges of a changing ocean environment (Richards, Wood) and how such biochemical potential could be used for the benefit of mankind (Andersen) are also explored. Finally, the physical and chemical parameters of Canada’s large water bodies are assessed in the Environmental Fluid Mechanics group (Lawrence, Laval).
Raymond Andersen
Professor
Chemistry; Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Website
Email
The research interests of Dr. Andersen’s group center around the isolation and structure elucidation of novel organic metabolites produced by marine organisms. Current projects include the screening of marine invertebrates and bacteria for novel cytotoxic metabolites for new anticancer drugs, antibiotics as well as the analysis of defensive terpenoid and polyketide metabolite biosynthesis by dorid nudibranchs.
Allan Bertram
Professor
Chemistry
Website
Email
The Bertram lab focuses on chemical and physical processes important in the atmosphere. Of special interest are atmospheric aerosol particles and the role they play in urban air pollution, climate change and atmospheric chemistry. Ultimately their goal is to better understand the role of human activity on the Earth’s atmosphere.
Stephen Calvert
Professor Emeritus
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Departmental Website and Personal Website
Email
The long-term goal of the Calvert lab’s research is to understand the factors responsible for the wide compositional variability of marine sediments, the controls on organic matter burial and nutrient utilization in the ocean. This information is used to interpret past oceanographic and climatic changes from sediment core records.
Sean Crowe
Assistant Professor
Microbiology and Immunology; Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Website and Publications
Email
The overarching goal of Crowe’s research is to improve our capacity to predict and respond to global change by creating new knowledge of the earth system. To achieve this, quantitative information on microbial processes derived from insights into biological information carriers (e.g. DNA, RNA, protein) are integrated into past, present and future models of global biogeochemical cycles.
Roger Francois
Professor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Website
Email
Froncois’ current research interests center on the application of geochemistry to problems of paleoceanography with particular emphasis on late Quaternary paleoceanography, radiochemical approaches, carbon and nitrogen isotope geochemistry, and trace element proxies. One of the main objectives is to understand the potential impacts of climate change and human-induced disturbances on ecosystem dynamics, CO2 uptake capacity, and fish biomass.
Bernard Laval
Professor
Civil Engineering
Departmental Site, Personal Site, and Publications
Email
Fluctuations in the quantity and quality of available water, due to climate change and other human influences, greatly affect Canadian life. As part of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics group, Laval focuses on the description and understanding of the physical dynamics of water bodies with the aim of developing numerical models for the prediction of the impacts of climate change and human activities on lake circulation.
Gregory Lawrence
Professor
Civil Engineering
Departmental Site and Publications
Email
Fluctuations in the quantity and quality of available water, due to climate change and other human influences, greatly affect Canadian life. As part of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics groups, Lawrence focuses on the description and understanding of the physical dynamics of water bodies with the aim of developing numerical models for the prediction of the impacts of climate change and human activities on lake circulation.
Maria Maldonado
Associate Professor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Website and Publications
Email
Research in the Maldonado lab is directed towards understanding trace metal acquisition, metabolism and nutrition of marine bacteria and phytoplankton. Fundamental questions in microbial physiology, ecology and evolution are addressed to better understand how trace metal distribution and speciation may control global primary productivity. Laboratory physiological and biochemical investigations are complemented with field research.
Kristin Orians
Associate Professor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, & Chemistry
Website and Publications
Email
The Orians lab researches trace metals in seawater to understand biogeochemical cycles. Distributions of various elements and their isotopes, and the chemical speciation of these elements in the natural environment are investigated, providing clues as to the mechanisms that produce these patterns.
Jeffrey Richards
Professor
Zoology
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Email
The primary goal of the Richards lab’s research program is to understand the adaptive significance of the mechanisms coordinating cellular responses to stress. Specifically, they are interested in the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms that act to balance energy supply and demand during short- and long-term exposure to environmental stress and the signal transduction pathways responsible for coordinating acclimation.
Philippe Tortell
Professor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Botany
Website
Email
The Tortell Lab has broad interests in marine biogeochemical cycles. Current work focuses on the biological, chemical and physical factors regulating oceanic primary productivity and the concentration of climate active gases. His group has developed new measurement techniques based on sea-going mass spectrometry, optical measurements and tracer-based rate incubation experiments.
Christopher Wood
Adjunct Professor
Zoology
Departmental Website and Laboratory Website
Email
While the primary focus of the Wood group is on physiology and aquatic toxicology, research examines the interactions of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks with their environment at all levels from the molecular to the biogeochemical to the ecological. They are particularly interested in the sub-lethal effects of natural factors and anthropogenic pollutants on organismal function, and the strategies by which animals adapt to extreme environments.