Marine Biogeochemistry Research At Pml

Fancy doing a PhD at the world's best marine science institute? (in our opinion 😊) New studentship opportunites have just been posted. Some exciting projects to apply for: http://www.pml.ac.uk/Learning_with_us/Stu dentships)

Check out this beautiful new video, introducing PML and the work we do: https://youtu.be/x9Wiqa_WWuc

Our fantastic apprentices Becca May and Oban Jones reflect on their first year at PML in this video. After just 12 months with us, they are already hugely valued members of the team!
https://youtu.be/bxJLvE3TsQ4

Our PhD student Charel Wohl has just been to the Arctic to deploy a newly developed equilibrator. This equilibrator allows novel measurement of very soluble organic gases in the polar waters. Charel has just been To the First International Conference on Soft Chemical Ionisation Mass Spectrometry and Applications to Trace Gas Analysis in Dornbirn, Austria. At the conference Charel presented the equilibrator and some tentative results.

Nice new paper from PhD student Richard Sims. Rich's project involved the development of a near-surface ocean profiler, designed to precisely measure vertical gradients in trace gases and other variables in the top 10 m of the ocean. Well done Rich!https://www.ocean-sci.net/13/649/201 7/

Job opportunity!

A great paper from PML PhD student Rachel Coppock.

The PML garden is a good place to hang out on a super hot and sunny Midsummer's Day. The biogeochemistry team enjoyed a glass of fizzy and some cake to celebrate John Bruun's birthday :)

Check out this video on our NERC-funded research on N-Osmolytes, featuring our very own Ruth Airs: https://youtu.be/qPIqpJ_BKTU

Check out this great little stop-motion video created by PhD student Charel Wohl - it nicely explains the research he is doing here with us at PML :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5IT5ZrB4 a8

Another recent addition to the biogeochemistry group is Paul Hackett, currently in the first year of his PhD :
Paul’s research focuses on estuarine OVOC (oxygenated volatile organic carbon) compounds - such as methanol, acetaldehyde and acetone, investigating both their sources and sinks. These compounds not only act as a carbon source for the microbial community but also affect the chemistry of troposphere if they enter the atmosphere. While previously measured in the surfac...e ocean, very few measurements have been made in estuarine or riverine systems, and it is hoped this research will fill this knowledge gap. Paul will be using PML’s proton transfer reaction- mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) as well as investigating other methods to analyse these compounds, in a multidisciplinary project encompassing analytical chemistry, oceanography and biogeochemistry. Paul’s supervisors are Jo Dixon (PML) Rachael Beale (PML), and Duncan Purdie (University of Southampton).
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Final leg of this epic expedition underway. Holly Pearson is on board for PML and UoP.

We recently welcomed Yinghao Chen to our group, who will be working with Frances Hopkins and Mingxi Yang for the next 6 months or so. Yinghao is undertaking an MRes at the University of Plymouth and is carrying out her research project here with us. Her project explores the reactions between ozone and seawater, and the resultant production of volatile organic compounds. Ozone is an important and interesting gas in the lower atmosphere. It’s a nasty air pollutant and can cause... health problem in humans. It is highly reactive and is rapidly lost at the sea surface. The reactions that result in its loss to seawater are poorly understood but do result in the production of a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Yinghao’s lab experiments involve reacting ozone with seawater, assessing the production of VOCs via PTR-MS and testing the influence of factors such as the amount of phytoplankton or dissolved organic matter present in the seawater. Yinghao is pictured in the lab with supervisor Frances Hopkins.
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