Upcoming research opportunities

PhD opportunity: Is ocean circulation the ultimate driver of biological carbon storage in the ocean?

School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool

Further information: Is ocean circulation the ultimate driver of biological carbon storage in the ocean? at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com

Closing date: 1st June 2025

 

About the Project

Marine phytoplankton play a crucial role in the carbon cycle and climate by locking dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) in the deep ocean away from the atmosphere. This process is called the Biological Pump and is an important natural reservoir of carbon in our Earth System. The latest IPCC Report concluded there is high confidence that feedbacks to climate will arise from alterations to the Biological Pump, but the precise processes driving these feedbacks are still uncertain. Although the Biological Pump involves ecological and biological processes that are widely expected to change significantly with climate change, a new analysis of IPCC future projections showed that the slowing down of ocean circulation in response to warming is a main driver of carbon storage by the Biological Pump in the coming century (Wilson et al., 2022).

Project Aims and Methods

The PhD aims to quantify the importance of ocean circulation in driving biological carbon storage by the Biological Pump. The student will initially use an intermediate complexity Earth System Model to run historical simulations and future projections and investigate the role of circulation on the Biological Pump during the present-day and in the future, and identify the key processes that control the response of the biological pump to a climate-induced changing circulation. The student will have freedom to then explore various research directions based on their interests such as: 1) Will ocean circulation continue to be the main driver beyond the 21st century and/or after net zero? 2) What are the main drivers of uncertainties in the Biological Pump in current IPCC projections? 3) What impact does a changing circulation have on proposed marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) techniques?

Training and Support

The student will receive direct training and support from the supervisory team in running Earth System Models as well as processing and analysing their outputs. This includes training in widely-used programming languages and high performance computing. The student will work within the lab-group of the “Predicting Biological Carbon in the Ocean Globally” project newly funded by UKRI, alongside the PI and research staff. The project provides opportunities to engage and collaborate with the National Oceanography Centre, the international research network JETZON, Universities of York and East Anglia, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), and the AXA Research Fund. The student will be supported to present their research at (inter)national conferences. The student will be situated within the internationally-leading Ocean Sciences Research Group at Liverpool and benefit from being part of a large and active postgraduate cohort and research environment.

Candidate Requirements

Candidates should have an academic background from across any of the following areas: ocean, earth system, climate, environmental, or natural sciences. Additional experience, or a strong interest in developing skills in, programming and command-line environments such as Unix/Linux will be beneficial.

Supervisors:

Jamie Wilson - jamie.wilson@liverpool.ac.uk

Alessandro Tagliabue -atagliab@liverpool.ac.uk

Anna Katavouta - annkat@noc.ac.uk

Oliver Andrews - oliver.andews@york.ac.uk

Research Associate in Oceanic Blue Carbon

Duration:  Full-time, fixed term for up to 24 months

£48,056 - £56,345 per annum

Closing date: 1 Apr 2025

Further information: Description | Jobs | Imperial College London

 

About the role

This post is funded by UKRI and is part of a large Horizon Europe consortia, SeaQUESTER, https://sea-quester.eu/ which aims to better understand marine carbon cycling and storage in polar ecosystems, and how climate change may produce new or novel blue carbon ecosystems as sea-ice melts. The regional focus is on Arctic and Antarctic Ocean ecosystems. We are looking for an enthusiastic Research Associate to join the team and develop computational approaches to assess blue carbon transit and stocks.

What you will be doing

You will be responsible for using different modelling approaches to determine the sequestration time of a variety of different marine carbon sinks using collated data from across the project (i.e the biological pump plus others including benthic carbon). The post will involve designing a new modelling framework allowing us to assess carbon sequestration globally and at the poles, across multiple biological mechanisms. This will involve constraining different types of data to make them useable for modelling purposes. You may also get the opportunity to go to sea too.

You will be responsible for leading and co-authoring peer-reviewed publications and will work closely with the wider project team. You will present findings to the research team as well as at national and/or international conferences. As this project is part of a large consortium, you will have the opportunity, and be expected to, collaborate widely within our smaller sub-team, but also with the rest of the consortia. There will also be the opportunity to work with international partners.

What we are looking for

  • Experience in computational modelling related to biogeochemistry or physics

  • A track record of overseeing successful experiments from design, manipulation and sampling, to data analysis and publishing the results

  • Knowledge of processes involved in organic carbon cycling in the ocean

  • Strong knowledge and ability in R or Python and other relevant applications to the study of biogeochemical/ecological statistics.

  • Enthusiasm for research in ocean carbon science.

What we can offer you

  • Being part of a large international network of project partners from across Europe, with the possibility of fieldwork and placements in the Arctic

  • Inclusion in a vibrant team at Silwood Park Campus working on many aspects of oceanic and freshwater carbon cycling

  • The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity

  • Grow your career: Gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression

  • Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).