About Oscar — CV
Last updated 5th August 2024.
Research Interests
Biomineralisation
The formation of calcium carbonate minerals by marine organisms is a central theme in my research. I study how organisms manipulate chemical and physical processes to control crystal formation, examine the structure, mineralogy and composition of the complex ‘biominerals’ they produce, and study how these are preserved in the geological record.
Geochemistry
I use the trace element and isotopic composition of marine biominerals as tracers of their formation mechanisms, and use these tracers to examine how biomineralisation processes respond to environmental changes. Empirically established relationships between geochemical tracers and environmental conditions have been widely developed and interpreted as archives for past climate change, which have played a key role in developing our understanding of Earth’s climate system. However, our incomplete understanding of biomineralisation hinders our interpretation of these valuable records. I work to advanced our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of biomineralisation and how they record the state of the climate system, and also how the act of biomineralisation modifies the state of the environment they form in.
Ocean Carbon
The formation and dissolution of calcium carbonate biominerals plays a key role in the ocean carbon cycle, and the ability of the ocean to absorb anthropogenic CO2. Uncertainties in our understanding of biomineral formation and dissolution mean that we cannot reliably predict the response of these key processes to future climate change, which is a significant area of uncertainty in future climate projections. I conduct field and laboratory experiment to explore the dynamics of these processes in response to environmental stresses. A major goal of my current research is to develop a quantitative mechanistic understanding of biomineral formation that can be used to understand how these processes will change in response to both future climate change, and the modification of seawater chemistry by ocean-based carbon capture and storage technologies.
Academic History
Positions
- Associate Professor Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
- Fellow Queens’ College, University of Cambridge
- Assistant Professor Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
- Postoctoral Researcher Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis
Qualifications
- Ph.D. Earth Sciences University of Cambridge
- M.Sc. Oceanography National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
- B.Sc. Biology University of Bristol
Funding
- NERC Pushing the Frontiers Grant [£800k] A novel proxy for past ocean carbon concentration
- Isaac Newton Trust Research Grant [£22k] Physiology of Marine Calcifying Organisms under Extreme Conditions
- Royal Society International Exchange Grant [£11k] Culture experiments to transform our understanding of foraminiferal palaeoclimate proxies
- Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award [£1M] Building Shells: Towards a Mechanistic Understanding of Biomineralisation
- NERC Cross-disciplinary Research for Discovery Science [£10k] Exploring novel fibre optic sensors for measuring ocean carbon
- Isaac Newton Trust Early Career Support Grant [£54k] The Role of Metastable Phases in Biomineralisation
- ANU Research Fellowship
- Synchrotron Proposals 13 out of 15 proposals funded
- NERC PhD Studentship
Activities
Leadership Roles
- Co-Director of Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Risk (AI4ER) Doctoral Training Programme & Director of AI4ER MRes Programme
Community Engagement
- Goldschmidt Conference Session Convener
- Challenger Workshop Session Convener
- International Working Group on Reef Calcification Budgets
- Goldschmidt Conference Session Convener
- International Working Group on Palaeo-CO2 Reconstructions
- Goldschmidt Conference Session Convener
- TMS Geochemistry Workshop Organiser
- Guest Editor for Frontiers Biomineralisation Special Edition
- Goldschmidt Conference Session Convener
- Goldschmidt Conference Session Convener
- AGU Annual Meeting Session Convener
- AGU Annual Meeting Session Convener
Service Roles
- Department Seminar Convener, Earth Sciences, Cambridge
- Scientific Computing Teaching Group, Earth Sciences, Cambridge
- ‘Data Surgery’ Convener, RSES, ANU
- Data Science Research Committee, RSES, ANU
- Equity and Diversity Committee, RSES, ANU
Professional
Qualifications
- Remote Area First Aid, Field Safety and First Aid, O2 Administration
- ADAS Occupational SCUBA Diver to 30m (HSE SCUBA equivalent)
- PADI Rescue Diver
Memberships
- American Geophysical Union
- European Association of Geochemistry
- The Mineralogical Society (UK)
Supervision
PostDoctoral Research Associates
- Duygu Sevilgen Micro-physioloy of marine calcifiers.
- Nishant Chauhan Transcriptomics of marine calcifiers.
- Lara Jurković Vaterite formation and geochemistry.
- Kate Holland (ANU) Foraminifera geochemistry.
PhD Students
- Alice Ball The physiology of marine calcifying organisms.
- Robert Petrie Fibre optics for ocean carbon measurement.
- Orlando Timmerman Machine learning and coral reef survival.
- Madison East Coral calcification mechanisms and geochemistry.
- Wei-Ning (Winnie) Fang Foraminiferal micro-evironments and goechemistry.
- Kate Holland (ANU) Thesis: Environmental and biological controls on the shell geochemistry of the planktic foraminifera Orbulina universa. Now: Australian Capital Territory Environment Agency.
- Elizabeth Read (Cambridge) Thesis: Diffraction and Spectroscopy of Marine Calcite Biominerals: Insights into Structure and Geochemistry. Now: Senior Analyst, GlobalData.
Masters Students
- Orlando Timmerman Predicting coral reef distribution using multi-modal machine learning.
Undergraduate Students
- Pratyusha Madhnure (IISc, Bangalore) Assisted foraminifera culturing field work in Taiwan and set up of coral aquaria at ANU. Now: MSc in Marine Environmental Science at the University of Bordeaux
Teaching
* denotes newly designed course material.
Course Development
- Co-Designer & Lecturer of Quantitative Environmental Sciences course, new cross-disciplinary 2nd year course in the Natural Sciences degree.
- Redesigned AI4ER MRes Core Courses, ‘Environmental Risk’ and ‘Environmental Data Analysis’.
Natural Sciences (NatSci)
1st Year
- *Earth Sciences: Practical class on carbon in the ocean and its interaction with atmospheric pCO2 using an interactive model.
2nd Year
- *Quantitative Environmental Sciences: lectures on ocean carbon cycling and climate, and practicals building an ocean carbon model in Python [6 lectures, 4 practicals].
3rd Year
- *Earth Sciences: section of Mineralogy course focussing on Biominerals [6 lectures, 4 practicals].
4th Year
- *Earth Sciences: section of Environmental Geochemistry course on Ocean Acidification [4 lectures, 4 practicals].
AI4ER MRes
- *Environmental Risk: Lectures and practical session on machine learning approaches to ocean-atmosphere CO2 transfer.
Field Teaching
- Part 1A Earth Sciences field trip to the Isle of Arran, Scotland, UK.
- Part III Earth Sciences field trip to Greece.
- Sedimentology 2nd year undergraduate trip to the Jurassic Coast, UK.
- Coral Reefs Field Course (ANU) Marine chemistry and calcification leader. 3rd year undergraduate trip to One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef.