Additionally, we study how microbes in the Anthropocene act as sinks or sources of various greenhouse gases.
Oxygen
The influence of oxygen on life
The surface of the earth is bathed in oxygen, and many organisms typically live in an oxic world. However, areas of low (hypoxic) and no oxygen (anoxic) are also full of life that plays an important role in element cycling and ecosystem functioning. At Nordcee, we seek to understand the effects of oxygen on a range of organisms from microbes to animals from different environments, working with individual organisms and whole communities. We want to know how are organisms adapted to their local environments, and how do they respond to changes in oxygen concentrations. We also study how nutrients are cycled between oxic, hypoxic, anoxic environments and at the interfaces in between. These studies are also relevant to the evolution of life on earth.
KEY RESEARCH AREAS
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Oxygen minimum zones
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Oxygen control on N-cycle and CH4-cycle
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Oxygen control on sedimentary and benthic community structure
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Benthic primary production
- Oxygen requirement in basal animals
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Oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis
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Anaerobes making oxygen
FUNDERS and PROJECTS (last 5 years)
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VILLUM: A newly discovered microbial oxygen production pathway
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AGOURON: Microbial oceanography of the oxygen-deficient waters of the eastern tropical South Pacific
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The Academy of Finland: The Breathing Seascape
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The Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation
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DFF: Sediment resuspension: an understudied key factor for biogeochemical functioning of coastal habitats
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DIAS: Microbial feedbacks in OMZ waters
PERSONNEL (A-Z)
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Karl ATTARD, Assistant Professor (O2-control on sedimentary and benthic communities, benthic primary production, coastal observatories)
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Laura BRISTOW, Associate Professor (OMZ, O2-control of N-cycle and methane-cycle)
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Don CANFIELD, Professor (OMZ; O2-control of N-cycle; O2-requirements animals; photosynthesis)
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Paula GARCÍA OTERO, Ph.D. student (anaerobes making O2)
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Elisa A. HERNANDEZ MAGANA, Ph.D. student (anaerobes making O2)
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Beate KRAFT, Assistant Professor (O2-control of N-cycle; anaerobes making O2)
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Carolin LOESCHER, Associate Professor (OMZ, O2-control of N-cycle, photosynthesis)
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Christian Furbo REEDER, Ph.D. student (O2-control on N-cycle; photosynthesis)
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Astrid SCHUSTER, Postdoc (O2-requirements in basal animals)
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Herdís G. STEINSDOTTIR, Ph.D. Student (OMZ, O2-control of CH4-cycle)
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Bo THAMDRUP, Professor (OMZ, O2-control of N-cycle and methane-cycle)
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Alexander TREUSCH, Associate Professor (oxycline communities; effect of fluctuating O2 on microbiomes)
- Peihang XU, Ph.D. student (O2-control; C-cycle; photosynthesis)
Image rights: Don Canfield