Speaker

Megan Sullivan, Ph.D.

“Linking Phytoplankton Physiology to Global Carbon Sequestration”

Abstract

Phytoplankton drive the ocean’s biological carbon pump by fixing carbon dioxide at the surface and transporting it to the deep sea, where it can be stored for decades to centuries. My research aims to connect cellular physiology to global biogeochemical cycles to understand how these microscopic organisms shape long-term carbon storage. I will discuss work showing how variability in phytoplankton carbon-to-phosphorus ratios influences global carbon export, and how the decoupled cycling timescales of carbon and nutrients could create a “productivity hangover” after ocean fertilization. I will also introduce new projects in the Inomura Lab at URI that explore how phytoplankton macromolecular allocation affects global carbon sequestration. Together, these studies reveal how the biochemistry of life at the cellular scale influences carbon storage in the global ocean.