Projects

ARC DECRA Fellowship

Evaluating the Impact and Efficiency of Engineering the Ocean to Remove CO₂

Role: Sole Chief Investigator

Award: $807, 743 (ARC: $451,697)

Duration: 2024-2027

This project aims to evaluate the viability of engineering the ocean to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by simulating a suite of climate intervention and baseline scenarios. To better predict changes in marine carbon cycling, I will first make novel observations of zooplankton grazing dynamics, then use them to improve, validate and constrain a new marine biogeochemical model. Using this model, coupled to an ocean, atmosphere and fisheries model, I will quantify the long-term efficiency with which marine carbon dioxide removal strategies sequester carbon along with their impact on fisheries catch. These projections will help scientists, policy-makers, and industry leaders decide if, when, and how we could leverage marine carbon dioxide removal.

ICONIQ Impact Ocean Co-Lab

Constraining the Additionality Problem for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement

Role: Co-lead Chief Investigator

Award: $746,512

Duration: 2024-2027

Anthropogenic Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) poses a promising mechanism to reduce atmospheric CO2 by shifting the speciation of the carbonate system in order to increase the ocean’s carbon reservoir. However, this shift in carbonate chemistry is may, in turn, may trigger a reduction in the ‘natural’ alkalinity source by decreasing CaCO3 dissolution across coastal sediments and open ocean corrosive microenvironments such as marine snow and zooplankton guts. Any such feedback must be considered in order to evaluate additionality for both initial proof-of-concept validation and eventual monitoring, reporting and verification. The aim of this project is to enable the quantification of additionality during large-scale OAE simulations by making experimentally-informed improvements to a global coupled-biogeochemical model. The model will explicitly account for the primary feedbacks by which anthropogenic alkalinity can buffer the dissolution of CaCO3 in coastal sediments and open ocean microenvironments. Thus, we will constrain if the addition of anthropogenic alkalinity can reduce natural alkalinity sources (or enhance natural alkalinity sinks), thereby quantifying the net climatic benefit of OAE.

National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme

mCDrive: Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Impact and Validation Experiments

Role: Lead Chief Investigator

Award: 1,000 KSU ( ~$15,000)

Duration: 2025

This project aims to evaluate a suite of mCDR technologies, deployed on different timelines, alongside different levels of temperature overshoot. Three types of mCDR will be explored: Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF), Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement sourced from contaminant free carbonate minerals or electrochemical processes (OAE), and OAE sourced from mafic minerals containing silicate, iron, and other trace metals (OAE-Si). Each scenario will be explored through a hierarchy of control and perturbation simulations in a coupled ocean model, run with a new biogeochemical model designed to realistically simulate key processes related to mCDR. Through analysis of these simulations, this project will isolate the impact and efficiency of isolated mCDR technologies in a stable climate, then determine if and how they could be deployed alongside emissions reductions to safely abate the worst impacts of climate change across a suite of future projection scenarios.

ARC LIEF Award

Expanding Australia’s ocean observatory of biogeochemical Argo floats

Role: Chief Investigator

Award: $1,490,619

Duration: 2026

Expanding Australia’s ocean observatory of biogeochemical Argo floats. Robotic biogeochemical Argo floats autonomously measure ocean physics, biology and chemistry for <5% of the cost of ship-based measurements. This data can, and has, addressed important climate and societal issues spanning ocean carbon storage, acidification, deoxygenation and fisheries management. Science and societal impact scales with the number of floats in the water. This project will fund 12 floats with novel hyperspectral sensors to strengthen the array in waters strategically important to Australia. The expected outcomes include an improved understanding of ocean processes relevant to biogeochemical cycles, ecosystems and climate around Australia, increased scientific publications targeting this region, and a well-trained work force.

Short-listed Centre of Excellence

Proposed ARC Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans

Role: Chief Investigator; Co-Lead of mCDR Theme

Award: Under Consideration

Duration: 2026-2032

Australia’s oceans are at the heart of our economic, social, cultural, and environmental well-being. Australia is responsible for the third largest marine jurisdiction in the world, with our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) covering 8.2 million km². Australia’s marine industries contribute around $120b per annum to our economy, but climate and environmental change are threatening the health of our oceans, risking our national marine sector. The proposed ARC Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans will bring together Australia’s leading ocean science and engineering communities to harness new and emerging technologies to better observe and model our changing oceans.

Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

Role: Affiliate Researcher

Duration: 2020-present

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) is a partnership of Australia’s leading Antarctic research institutions supported by the Australian Government Antarctic Science Collaboration Initiative. The AAPP will improve our understanding of the role of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean within the global climate system and its implications for marine ecosystems.

US DoD NDSEG Fellowship

Computational analysis of the biophysical controls on Southern Ocean phytoplankton ecosystem dynamics