How will Air-Sea Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Respond to Global Change (SUNTHARALINGAM_UENV25ARIES)
Key Details
- Application deadline
- 23:59 on 8 January 2025
- Location
- UEA
- Funding type
- Competition Funded Project (UK and International)
- Start date
- 1 October 2025
- Mode of study
- Full or part time
- Programme type
- PhD
Project description
Primary Supervisor - Professor Parv Suntharalingam
BACKGROUND
The ocean plays a key role in controlling atmospheric greenhouse-gas levels. It removes a significant fraction of anthropogenic carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere, and also emits nitrous-oxide and methane, important greenhouse-gases formed by marine ecosystems. We urgently need to understand the processes regulating these air-sea fluxes, and how they will evolve under future global change. To accurately assess the combined impact of different greenhouse-gases on climate it is important to use models that integrate the underlying carbon and nitrogen cycles, and deliver a consistent greenhouse-gas flux response to global change.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this project you will work with a team of scientists from the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), to develop an integrated greenhouse-gas ocean biogeochemistry model. You will apply the integrated model to assess the combined oceanic greenhouse-gas response to a range of climate change scenarios, e.g., accounting for the impacts of ocean warming and deoxygenation on marine ecosystems. The overarching aim will be to assess how the impacts of global change will affect the air-sea fluxes of the major greenhouse-gases within a consistent physical and biological model framework.
TRAINING
This is a collaborative project between UEA, and the British Antarctic Survey and builds on previous research by the supervisory team on ocean biogeochemistry and climate change impacts. You will receive training in ocean circulation and biogeochemistry, numerical methods, and associated climate data analyses. You will acquire skills in science communication, project management and collaborative research, and will be involved in a project of critical interest to oceanography and climate research communities.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
This project is suited for a candidate with a background in natural sciences, engineering or mathematics, with good numerical and programming skills, and interests in ocean biogeochemistry and global change.
Entry requirements
The minimum entry requirement is 2:1 in a Bachelor’s degree in Natural sciences, Physics, Engineering, Mathematics, Environmental Sciences
Funding
This project has been shortlisted for funding under the ARIES BBSRC-NERC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) scheme. Successful candidates who meet UKRI's eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded ARIES studentship of fees, maintenance stipend (19,237 p.a for 2024/25) and research costs.
A limited number of ARIES studentships are available to International applicants. Please note however that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK.
ARIES is committed to equality, diversity, widening participation and inclusion in all areas of its operation. We encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and transgender status. Projects have been developed with consideration of a safe, inclusive, and appropriate research and fieldwork environment. Academic qualifications are considered alongside non-academic experience, with equal weighting given to experience and potential.
For further information, please visit www.aries-dtp.ac.uk
References
Tian, H. et al. (including P. Suntharalingam and E, Buitenhuis), Global Nitrous Oxide Budget (1980-2020), Earth System Science Data, 16, 2543–2604, 2024. https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2543/2024/
Tian, H. et al. (including P. Suntharalingam and E, Buitenhuis), ‘A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks’, 2020, Nature. 586, 7828, p. 248–256.
Buitenhuis, E. T., Suntharalingam, P. & Le Quéré, C., ‘Constraints on global oceanic emissions of N2O from observations and models’, 2018, Biogeosciences. 15, 7, p. 2161-2175
Takano, Y., et al. (including P. Suntharalingam and E, Buitenhuis), Simulations of ocean deoxygenation in the historical era: insights from forced and coupled models. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. 21 pp. 10.3389/fmars.2023.1139917
Suntharalingam, P., Buitenhuis, E., Le Quéré, C et al., ‘Quantifying the Impact of Anthropogenic Nitrogen Deposition on Oceanic Nitrous Oxide’, 2012, Geophysical Research Letters. 39, 7, L07605.