Research – Ocean Sciences

#3 Global rank for research influence by citation index

Overview

The Ocean Sciences department at UCSC has an international reputation in research and graduate and postdoctoral education. UCSC’s location on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the impressive growth of marine and ocean science initiatives at UCSC and surrounding institutions make this an outstanding collegial and collaborative setting for research. Intellectual strengths include biological oceanography, marine microbial ecology, chemical oceanography, marine biogeochemistry, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology, physical oceanography and climatology, and biological-physical modeling of the marine environment.

The Ocean Sciences department is distinguished by our high quality faculty and research programs, by our existing and expanding world-class research facilities, and by our integration of graduate education and undergraduate education in the ocean sciences and the related fundamental science disciplines. Although small in size relative to the major U.S. schools of oceanography, we have substantial presence and impact in our field. UCSC Ocean Sciences faculty members share a common disciplinary framework in our intellectual approach to understanding and investigating the ocean, present and past.

Evolving from the traditional oceanography subdivisions of biological oceanography, chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, and marine geology and geophysics, our small department is structured around thematic areas of emphasis. Faculty members’ academic interests and interactions are not limited by these thematic groupings, and typically span more than one area. The flexibility of the faculty approach to these thematic groupings allows for effective research interactions that cross departmental and divisional boundaries at UCSC, and create a larger impact than might be expected from our size. For example, interactions between faculty in Ocean Sciences and Earth & Planetary Sciences have established areas of excellence in paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. The paleoceanography faculty members in Ocean Sciences and EPS, along with colleagues in EPS, have extensive involvement in scientific ocean drilling, including participation in and leadership roles in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and its predecessor, the Ocean Drilling Program.

Oceanography Subdivisions

researchers with a flock of penguins in the antarctic

Biological Oceanography

Chemical Oceanography

Geological Oceanography

Physical Oceanography

Research Groups

Phoebe Lam with ocean water collection tool — The Lam lab is interested in the role that marine particles play in the biogeochemical cycling of major and minor elements in the ocean such as carbon, iron, and other trace elements. Pictured – collecting ocean water samples

Pictured - collecting samples at sea — The Turk-Kubo lab group focuses on how microorganisms control the availability of nitrogen, a critical element in all life. They study the microorganisms in the environment that fix nitrogen by looking for the genes and proteins involved in nitrogen fixation. Pictured – collecting samples at sea

Weighing samples in the antarctic — The Polito Lab studies the ecology of marine and coastal communities at the forefront of global environmental change and those that are under threat from anthropogenic influences. Pictured – collecting data in the Antarctic

a Whale breaching in the ocean — Foraging Ecology of Humpback Whales in Relation to Krill Catches

Bio-telemetry & Behavioral Technolgy

The Friedlaender lab research focuses on using advanced telemetry tools to study the underwater behavior of marine mammals. Specifically on in how the foraging behavior of marine mammals is affected by changes in their environment, including climate change and ocean noise, across a range of their habitats.

Biogeochemistry of Mercury

The Lamborg Lab research is on the biogeochemistry of mercury in the ocean, land and cryosphere at a variety of time and space scales.

Ocean water color is determination test — The ocean water color is determined by the tiny and often microscopic plants and algae living in them, as well as mineral particles and dissolved organic matter

Biological and Satellite Oceanography

The Kudela Lab studies phytoplankton dynamics in the Eastern Pacific Ocean coastal region and find new applications for remote sensing technology. In combination with other researchers at UCSC and partner institutions, we utilize satellite based remote sensing imagery, in situ mooring data, and bio-optical shipboard instruments to model ocean ecosystem dynamics.