Southern Ocean and Antarctic phytoplankton-climate drivers and feedbacks on past and present biogeochemical cycles

Southern Ocean phytoplankton are tiny marine plants that modulate global climate through ocean-atmosphere processes. Guided by kaitiakitanga (guardianship), I will lead a research program that aims to examine Southern Ocean and Antarctic phytoplankton-climate drivers and feedbacks on past and present biogeochemical cycles to help predict the response of primary production to future change over the next century. This will be achieved by bridging real-time atmospheric observations of phytoplankton biogenic emissions on a Southern Ocean-wide scale with ice core paleoclimate reconstructions representing a long-term trend of natural phytoplankton variability.