Oceanographic Research - School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
Faculty within the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences are currently involved in a wide range of interdisciplinary oceanographic research projects:
Kevin Arrigo is a biological oceanographer investigating the cycling of carbon and other materials within marine ecosystems. His research combines laboratory studies and field research with data collected using satellite remote sensing technologies. These research results are synthesized within numerical models which permit the assessment of our understanding of the underlying processes as well as the development of predictive capabilities. The website of the Ocean Biogeochemistry Lab is at ocean.stanford.edu.
Robert Dunbar: His research interests involve oceanography, climate dynamics, and geochemistry. His research group is currently investigating a variety of topics related to global environmental change, with a focus on the coastal ocean, air-sea interactions,and polar processes. They have also started to engage in interdisciplinary studies of global change in collaboration with environmental scientists, economists, and policy specialists at Stanford's Center for Environmental Science and Policy at the Institute of International Studies. More on his website.
Chris Francis: His research interests center on the molecular, biochemical, and ecological aspects of the microbial geochemical cycling of nitrogen and metals in the environment. He is particularly interested in determining the key organisms, functional genes, and molecular mechanisms underlying these biogeochemical processes through both laboratory and field studies. More on his website.
Leif Thomas: His research involves theoretical geophysical fluid dynamics specializing in upper ocean circulation, frontogenesis and subduction, generation of mesoscale and submesoscale flow by wind forcing, nonlinear Ekman dynamics, symmetric instability, and potential vorticity generation/destruction by atmospheric forcing. See more on his website.
Karen Casciotti: Her research focuses on nitrogen cycle biogeochemistry, including how nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide (N2O) are produced and consumed in ocean waters. Nitrate and nitrite are important nutrients for marine photosynthesis, and N2O is a climatically important trace gas. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to these questions, applying tools from stable isotope geochemistry, geochemical modeling, microbiology and molecular biology.
Anne Dekas: Her research focuses on understanding the microbiology and biogeochemistry of the deep sea: the largest and least explored habitat on the surface of our planet. We investigate the diversity, distribution and activity of marine bacteria and archaea driving carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling. See more on the lab website.
"The Oceans" Undergraduate Curriculum
The highly successful Earth Systems Program within the School of Earth Sciences soon is offering a new curricular track called "The Oceans". Like the other tracks within the Earth Systems Program, "The Oceans" is highly interdisciplinary, drawing upon the expertise of faculty here at Stanford as well as from other local oceanographic institutions. [more info]
Courses (not a complete list)
At Stanford Main Campus:
Biological Oceanography, Kevin Arrigo, EARTHSYS151/251,ESS151/251
Advanced Biological Oceanography, Kevin Arrigo, EESS245
Marine Ecosystem Modeling, Kevin Arrigo, ESS244
Coral Reef Ecosystems, Kevin Arrigo, OSPAUSTL10
Remote Sensing of the Oceans, Kevin Arrigo, EARTHSYS 141/241, ESS141/241
Corals of Palau: Ecology, the Physical Environment, and Reefs at Risk, Rob Dunbar, OSPGEN53
Advanced Oceanography, Rob Dunbar, EESS240
Stanford at Sea, Rob Dunbar, EARTHSYS323
Environmental Microbial Genomics, Chris Francis, ESS259
Exploring the Critical Interface between the Land and Monterey Bay: Elkhorn Slough, Chris Francis, EARTHSYS46N, ESS46N
Topics in Geobiology, Chris Francis, EES208, GS208
Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics: The Atmospheric Circulation, Leif Thomas, EARTHSYS146A/246A, ESS146A/246A, GEOPHYS146A/246A
Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics: the Ocean Circulation, Leif Thomas, EARTHSYS146B/246B, ESS146B/246B, GEOPHYS146B/246B
