Photograph of Dr Mar Benavides
Group
Marine Ecosystem Processes
Site
Southampton
Email
Mar.Benavides at noc.ac.uk
Biography

For more info about my research, team and projects, please visit www.ocean-bridges.net


My research bridges the spatiotemporal scales between diazotrophs (nitrogen-fixers) and global biogeochemical cycles. Ranging from cold and nutrient-rich waters such as the mesopelagic ocean or coastal upwelling ecosystems to ocean deserts, I seek to understand which factors control the magnitude, distribution and diversity of nitrogen fixation in the ocean. To this end I combine nanotechnology, molecular biology, biogeochemistry and modelling approaches.
Summary CV
  • 73 publications in peer-reviewed journals (2444 citations, h-index = 28)
  • 37 Keynote speaker, lecture, and seminar invitations
  • Associate Editor Limnology & Oceanography Letters
  • Associate Editor Global Biogeochemical Cycles
  • High-Seas French Oceanographic Commission member (CNFH)
  • NERC Cruise Programme Review Group member (CPRG)
  • 2025 Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography (ASLO) Yentsch-Schindler award
  • 2022 Provence Department Research Prize
  • 2021 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) early career researcher medal
  • 2019 International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) early career researcher medal
  • Senior Research Scientist (NOC)
  • Chargée de Recherche Hors Classe (IRD, France)
  • Co-lead of NOC's Arctic Mission Theme 3 "Ecosystems and Biodiversity"
  • Contributor to NOC's European Project Group
  • Co-organiser of Joint Biogeochemistry meetings (University of Southampton and NOC)

  • Associate Editor Limnology & Oceanography Letters

  • Associate Editor Global Biogeochemical Cycles

  • Member of NERC's Cruise Programme Review Group (CPRG)

  • Member of the French High-Seas Oceanographic Fleet Commission (CNFH)

  • Meber of the BioGeoSCAPES Science Plan Writing Team

  • Member of the Aquatic N2-Fixation Research Coordination Network

Current projects
  • EXPAND: will nitrogEn fiXaTion offset nitrogen dePletion in expAnding oceaN Deserts?, PI (ERC Consolidator Grant, EU)
  • FIN-POD: Fjords as natural incubators to understand polar ocean diazotrophy, co-lead (NERC, UK)
  • VICTOR: Viral infection modulation of diazotrophs community dynamics and nitrogen fixation rates in the Indian Ocean Gyre, co-PI (Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship, UK)
 
Past projects
  • POET: Particles as niches for nOn-cyanobactErial diazoTrophs, co-PI (Transatlantic Research Partnership, USA-France)
  • ANITA: Architecture and dyNamics of marIne parTicle colonizAtion, PI (Amidex, France)
  • FIESTA: “FInE scale dynamicS of diazoTrophs in the oceAn”, PI (ANR-JCJC, France)
  • PANDA: Particles as niches for non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs, PI (EC2CO, France)
  • MANIOC: iMpact of particle microbial colonisation on Nitrogen cyclIng in the Ocean, PI (A*Midex, Institut Océans, AMU, France)
  • DEFINE2: “Diazotroph activity and diversity shaped by fine scale ocean dynamics”, PI (LEFE, France)
  • DOGMA: “Diazotrophs and OrGanic Matter under climAte change”, co-PI (EC2CO, France)
  • IDEFIX: “Dinitrogen Fixation in the Indian Ocean: an interbasin and seasonal comparison”, PI (Pure Ocean Fund, France)
  • FIGURE: “Fine scales shaping nitrogen fIxation in the GUlf stream”, PI (Eurofleets)
  • ART: “AggRegation processes in Trichodesmium”, PI (EC2CO, France)
  • DINDE: “Dinitrogen Fixation in the Indian Ocean: an interbasin and seasonal comparison”, co-PI (Indo French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, France-India)
  • DEFINE: “Diazotroph activity and diversity shaped by fine scale ocean dynamics”, PI (LEFE, France)
  • EMPANADAS: “Exploring Microbes in marine PArticles: fuNction, trAits and Diversity Associated”, co-PI (Axes Transverses MIO, France)
  • NOTION: “NitrOgen fixers structuring phyToplankton bIodiversity in the OceaN under climate change”, PI (BNP Paribas Foundation Climate & Biodiversity initiative)
  • TAPAS: “Transfert et cAractéristiques des PArticules dans les Systèmes océaniques”, co-PI (Axes Transverses MIO, France)
  • OASIS: Oceanic nitrogen fixation Across SpatIotemporal Scales”, co-PI (Thomas Jefferson Foundation, USA-France)
  • REACH: Remineralization of black carbon (BC) particles in coastal waters off Halong Bay (Vietnam) under different oxidation states”, PI (Action Sud IRD, France)
  • Black Carbon project, PI (Action Sud IRD, France)