Photograph of Dr Sari Giering
Group
Ocean BioGeosciences
Site
Southampton
Email
s.giering at noc.ac.uk
Biography

I am interested in how marine organisms influence the capacity of the ocean to store carbon. My research combines shipboard measurements, laboratory analyses, data synthesis and numerical modelling. Examples of my work include my data synthesis and modelling effort that resulted in the world’s first balanced carbon budget for the deep sea. We are now building on this work, trying to understand the flow of carbon through the food web in contrasting environments, such as the Southern Ocean and the subtropical Atlantic (see our COMICS project).

I am also promoting the use of the ever-growing amount of data collected by optical devices and marine autonomous vehicles to infer ecosystem processes such as deep ocean carbon storage. I am chair of the dedicated SCOR working group TOMCAT. Our work includes the effort to promote standardized data recording, processing and deposition of optical data.

Employment

Apr 2017 – open end
Research Fellow, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
Dec 2016 – Mar 2017
Project Scientist, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Jun 2015 – Nov 2016
Post-doc Research Fellow, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK
Jan 2014 – Jun 2015
Post-doc Researcher, University of Aberdeen, UK
Jul 2013 – Dec 2013
Research Assistant, University of Aberdeen, UK
May 2013 – Jun 2013
Twilight Zone Ecology Researcher, National Oceanography Centre, UK

Education

2009 – 2013
PhD Marine Biogeochemistry; University of Southampton, UK
2006 – 2009
BSc (Hons) Marine Biology; University of Aberdeen, UK

Publications

For an up-to-date list of my publications check out my google scholar profile. You can also find me on ORCiD and Researchgate.

Current supervisor of 2 MSc students and 2 PhD students

Mr Nathan Hubot - University of Southampton, UK (Jellyfish export – Investigating the role of gelatinous zooplankton in the biological carbon pump)

Ms Nwabisa Malongewni - Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

Guest editor for the journal Frontiers in Marine Sciences on the Research Topic We Shed Light: Optical Insights into the Biological Carbon Pump

Work package leader for the COMICS synthesis work

Co-investigator in CUSTARD for vertical particle transport

Co-investigator in the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry programme for the role of zooplankton in the shelf sea ecosystem

Chair of SCOR Working Group 150: Translation of Optical Measurements into particle Content, Aggregation & Transfer (TOMCAT)

SCOR website

TOMCAT Blog

COMICS

COMICS (Controls over Ocean Mesopelagic Interior Carbon Storage) aims to quantify the flow of carbon in the ocean’s ‘twilight’ zone in order to more accurately model global climate change. We have had two expeditions to two fascinating sites: The Benguela Upwelling off the coast of Namibia and the Southern Ocean around South Georgia. By studying these two contrasting environments, we can better understand what drives ocean carbon storage. I have been heavily involved in the field work and am the leader for the synthesis work package.

CUSTARD

CUSTARD (Carbon Uptake and Seasonal Traits in Antarctic Remineralisation Depth)will examine how seasonal changes in food availability for phytoplankton at a key junction of the global ocean circulation influences how long carbon is trapped in the ocean rather than escape to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. My work will focus on supervising a small group that uses optical devices to estimate vertical particle fluxes.

SSB

A holistic approach to the cycling of nutrients and carbon and the controls on primary and secondary production in UK and European shelf Sea, to increase understanding of these processes and their role in wider biogeochemical cycles.