Research Interests

Human induced change has been well studied in easily accessible locations (land, and surface ocean), but the extent to which deeper parts of the ocean feel human impacts is understudied. I am investigating the ways in which deep sea coral ecosystems are affected by ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and temperature variability higher in the water column.

Specifically, I seek to answer the following questions: 1) How have surface water carbonate chemistry and biological productivity changed over timescales of modern oceanographic monitoring (i.e. decades), and 2) Is there evidence that these short-term processes impact benthic communities?

The California Current system is dominated by upwelling and is a harbinger of change. Bamboo corals, in particular, have two records - one from the surface and one from the deep sea - which make them a wealth of information. To better understand the effects of human-induced change, I am studying coral growth in the California margin, specifically how they respond to environmental parameters like oxygenation via depth in the water column, and food availability via geography/latitude. I measure this through the variability of the coral skeleton, including morphology, density, and rate of radial growth.

The California margin is usually replete in biologically available nitrogen due to upwelling, so the base of the food web stays relatively stable. However, a recent paper found an isotopic excursion - possibly a signal of a state change. The geochemical toolset Schiff et al. (2014) used to detect a change in the isotopic composition of the coral is effective in tracking coral diets, so this could signal that the coral’s food source has changed. My research aims to isolate exactly what caused this excursion so as to determine implications for the entire ecosystem.