Mark's main focus is applied biogeochemistry. The working title of his dissertation is "Utilization of
natural and supplemental biofuels for harvesting energy from marine sediments." This work
involves developing benthic microbial fuel cells which are devices to convert chemical energy into
electrical energy. The goal of this work is to eventually provide an inexhaustible power source for
sensors in aquatic systems.
My future research goals involve the chemical and physical processes in the sea and how they relate to ecosystem properties. Specifically, I’m interested in the interconnections between biogeochemical processes of the ocean and ecology of the coastal zone and nearshore communities through studying the benthic oxygen exchange processes and the coastal carbon cycle.
I’m currently working with Clare Reimers on the development of a non-invasive technique for measuring material flux between the ocean and seafloor sediments. I’m building fast responding microelectrode oxygen sensors that will be used in eddy-correlation methods that couple acoustic velocity sensors with rapidly responding chemical sensors to measure total benthic oxygen exchange, diffusive benthic oxygen exchange and sediment oxygen penetration depth by microprofiling. Field work will occur at three locations on the Oregon continental shelf at 25, 50 and 80 meters water depth.
Oregon is of particular interest in the changing ocean conditions due to the topography of the shelf and its distinct regions, and the recent natural hypoxic events that are continuing to take place nearshore. I look forward to coordinating our research with other new and ongoing research, including the coastal observatories of the Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Networks (ORION) program and the Glider project at OSU.
I am a Masters student intern from Marseilles, France. I will be working in Clare's lab from March-August 2008. My project is to assess the influence of sensor response time when determining oxygen uptake by marine sediments in contrasting nearshore environments using eddy-correlation.
I am an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Intern working in Clare's lab for the summer. My project is to determine seafloor oxygen consumption rates for
study sites on the Oregon Shelf. I will work with diver-collected sand
cores and will use microelectrodes to profile the cores while seawater is
percolated through the sand. From the steady state oxygen profile and
knowledge of the water flow rate and sediment properties, I will derive
the oxygen flux. This project follows a method described in Polerecky et
al. 2005 Limnology and Oceanography Methods 3:75-85.