ABOUT
The Marine Global Change group is within the Umeå Marine Sciences Centre and the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science at Umeå University in Sweden. Our research profile is multidisciplinary and this is reflected in the composition of the team. We conduct research on marine biogeochemistry, ecology, biology, geology, climate change and oceanography.
Lab group fieldwork: Charlotte's joy at successful sample collection!
THE TEAM
Nick Kamenos (PI)
Professor of Marine Ecosystem Science
My research asks questions about global change and marine environments with focus on ecosystem engineers
Adriano Bonforti
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
My research uses numerical ecology to investigate the break down of symbioses as an adaptive / acclimatory process using coral reefs as a model system
Lourdes Martinez Garcia
Postdoctoral Scholar
My research focuses on the anthropogenic and environmental effects on ecological interactions within the marine ecosystem. In particular, I use ancient DNA methods to provide novel insights into historical coral bleaching events.
Alexandra Rouillard
Postdoctoral Scholar
I use geochemical and molecular tools to study paleoecological and paleoclimatic change in aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems on various spatial and temporal scales. Together with the Marine Global Change Group, I will investigate carbon transfer though the land-sea continuum. Specifically, I seek to understand the influence of Swedish landuse on historical riverine organic C export and burial in coastal systems of the Baltic Sea.
Irene Olive
Affiliated Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Investigating the impact of global change on seagrass ecosystems and their biogeochemical cycling
Lydia Bach
Honorary Postdoctoral Research Assistant
My interests lie in marine global change and their impact on ecosystem services, at present I am investigating Arctic blue carbon in a changing world
Charlotte Slaymark
Affiliated Research Technician
I am interested in the application of analytical chemistry to understand climate change and environmental response in terrestrial and marine systems. My background in environmental chemistry is applied to the analysis of environmental, water and biogeochemical samples and the field work associated. I maintain, manage and train members of the group in the Mesocosm Facility, Bio-Earth wet chemistry laboratory and Geographical and Earth Sciences' Isotope Facility.
Seb Leveque
PhD candidate
My research investigates coral bleaching trajectories in the context on climate change.
Kelly James
PhD candidate
Blue Carbon in a changing world: My interests are in the effects of anthropogenically induced climate change on coralline algal systems. I am using a variety of geochemical techniques to investigate how the ability of coralline algae to sequester carbon varies under a range of climate scenarios.
Beth Langley
PhD candidate
My research investigages Arctic blue carbon with a focus on the human and climatic drivers of change
Shannon Hanson
Visiting PhD candidate from HKU
Nitrogen cycling in coralline algae: My interests are in the cycling of nitrogen by coralline algae and the systems they engineer; in particular working with Nick's group at Glasgow I am asking questoins about coraline algal nitrogen cycling under global change.
Ellen MacDonald
PhD candidate
Oceans on Acid: My interests are in the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems over the past hundred years. Using coralline algae I am reconstructing high resolution records of ocean acidification in sites in Greenland, Scotland and Australia. A mix of geochemical techniques and ecological profiling is being used to investigate these changes
Nadia Jogee
PhD candidate
I’m interested in why some tropical corals are more resilient to environmental change than others. Coralliths are unattached, free-living corals that get moved around by wave action. This means they frequently experience variation in environmental parameters, such as light availability. My project aims to understand the limiting factors of corallith formation, why can only a handful of coral species form coralliths? And what ecological role might coralliths play in reef recovery and expansion, are they important in reef establishment and succession?
Sophie Plant
MRes candidate
My research is investigating how we can decipher the triggers of ecosystem engineer resilience to changing trend and variability of global change
RECENT ALUMNI
Bonnie Lewis
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Research associate in investigating historic changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and their role in driving marine ecosystem structure
Kate Schoenrock
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Research associate in marine global change investigating historic changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and their role in driving marine ecosystem structure
Heather Baxter
Postdoctoral Research Associate and previously PhD scholar
I am interested in the capacity of corals to survive in changing oceans. My research focuses on coral bleaching where I am investigating host-symbiont associations in the context of adaption or acclimation to place recent bleaching trends into an environmentally relevant context.
Kostas Gergoulas
PhD scholar
Modelling how corals apply the Goldilocks Principle to engineer habitat
Jinhua Mao
PhD Scholar
I'm interested in carbon storage by coastal habitats, especially by coralline algal systems. My research investigates both carbon burial processes and modification of benthic seawater chemistry by algal metabolic and calcification processes. My research uses both field work and lab experiments involving both stable & radio isotopes
Hans Recknagel
PhD Scholar
I am generally interested in the evolution of biodiversity in the animal kingdom. In particular, I am keen on understanding in which way organisms are adapted to their environment and how this is achieved on the genomic level. Parallel evolution constitutes a strong framework to study how the environment has repeatedly driven the evolution of similar forms via natural selection. In this context, I am particularly fascinated how key adaptations have evolved independently in distinct lineages.
Crystal Smiley
PhD Scholar
Many parts of the climate system, including impacts of freshwater input on polar oceans, are not fully understood. This limits our ability to determine the drivers of unexpected climate variations. My research uses oxygen and hydrogen isotopic fractionation during the land-ocean transit of freshwater to understand the 1) variablity of freshwater distribution in the marine environment, 2) the capacity of marine palaeoenvironmental proxies to record seasonal North Atlantic climatic variability and 3) the impact of freshwater on the climate system.
Kirsty Hill
PhD Scholar
Novel marine pCO2 sensors for marine biogeochemical applications
Charlotte Young
MSc Scholar
Breathing reefs: ocean-atmosphere carbon exchange of tropical coral reefs. Corals are ecosystem engineers that create morphological complex reefs, supporting some of the most diverse ecosystems in the oceans, yet climate change is rapidly altering their metabolic processes. My research focuses on quantifying patterns in air-sea CO2 gas exchange driven by coral reef ecosystems, both now and under projected climate change. My work will help determine the future role of the ocean in the carbon cycle.
Alyssa Bell
MSc Scholar
Spatial coral bleaching patterns and processes: I am interested in the spatial distribution of Symbiodinium across the wider Caribbean region. My research aims to characterise the Symbiodinium communities associated with coral reef organisms at numerous sites across the wider Caribbean region in order to identify areas of high/low Symbiodinium diversity