Michael Gonsior
Professor, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, USA
Main research aims? The discovery of structures of deep ocean dissolved organic matter (DOM) molecules, so that we can use them as reactivity tracers to better constrain marine organic carbon turnover.
Most critical environmental issue… Deciphering the marine organic carbon cycle is a missing link in truly understanding our oceans ability to store and sequester carbon. We need to find ways to predict the half-life of individual carbon molecules in the deep ocean to better define the marine carbon reactivity continuum and to give guidance. To date, not a single molecule is known in the rather vaguely defined refractory or recalcitrant deep-ocean DOM pool. This is critical to evaluate if marine carbon dioxide removal (marine CDR) ideas are effective or counterproductive. Unfortunately, it seems that numerous marine CDR projects are likely based on doubtful assumptions about the true age of deep ocean DOM.
The moral responsibilities of analytical scientists… Environmental science would be dead in the water (pun intended) without analytical scientists and experts in analytical chemistry are largely driving the discovery of fundamental biogeochemical processes today.
