The Marine Biogeochemistry Laboratory at Boston College (PI: Prof. Hilary Palevsky) is seeking a new PhD student to join our group working on research related to a recently funded NSF CAREER award.
The research project: This project seeks to better understand the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle and ocean carbon uptake from the atmosphere using marine biogeochemical time series data from Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Arrays in the northeast Pacific and subpolar North Atlantic Oceans. The research approaches we will use to accomplish this goal include seagoing fieldwork on the R/V Neil Armstrong, laboratory analysis of samples collected at sea, and computational data analysis to calibrate and analyze autonomous sensor datasets. The project also involves development of educational videos for use in undergraduate courses, and the PhD student working on this project will be highly encouraged to contribute to educational material development and undergraduate student mentoring.
The PhD program: The Boston College Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences graduate program offers broad training in the Earth and Environmental Sciences through coursework, teaching assistantships, and professional development opportunities through the department and the broader university. Distinctive features of our program include an emphasis on the importance of “broader impacts” such as outreach and education, in addition to research, and a broad disciplinary scope within our relatively small department, offering opportunities to develop close relationships with peers and faculty working across the geosciences.
Our research group: The Marine Biogeochemistry research group includes early career scientists spanning the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels, and prioritizes a lab culture of mutual support and near-peer mentorship among all lab members. Our group holds regular full lab group meetings and meetings among the team working on each project, in addition to each mentee having regular individual meetings with me. All group members create a strategic plan covering personal and professional goals for the coming months at the beginning of each spring, summer, and fall, and discuss key goals from their plan with the full lab group as well as with me.
Applying for this position: Prospective students interested in this position should apply to the Boston College PhD program in Earth and Environmental Sciences, and include in their application materials that they are interested in working with me on this project. I recognize that all applicants, no matter their prior research experience or coursework, will have lots to learn as a PhD student. The strongest applications will share how this project aligns with your professional goals and interests, including your existing skills and experiences it would build on as well as new skills it would help you develop. I will not be meeting with potential candidates prior to the application deadline (Jan. 2, 2025) because I will be on parental leave and there is no expectation that candidates reach out prior to applying. However, candidates who have questions prior to applying may contact Dr. Kristen Fogaren, Senior Research Associate in our group, or Prof. Noah Snyder, Department Chair, if they have questions about the project, research group, department, or PhD program.
For more context on this research project and related work from our group:
Palevsky, H. I. and D. P. Nicholson (2018). The North Atlantic biological pump: Insights from the Ocean Observatories Initiative Irminger Sea Array. Oceanography, 31(1): 42-49, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.108
- This paper, written while I was a postdoc just starting to use OOI data, provides a good starting point for understanding the ocean’s biological carbon pump, and key questions about its role in the subpolar North Atlantic that can be addressed with OOI data
Greengrove, C., C. S. Lichtenwalner, H. I. Palevsky, A. Pfeiffer-Herbert, S. Severmann, D. Soule, S. Murphy, L. M. Smith, and K. Yarincik (2020). Using Authentic Data from NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative in Undergraduate Teaching: An Invitation. Oceanography, 33(1): 62-73, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2020.103
- This is an early paper from what has grown to be a large community of undergraduate educators finding ways to teach with OOI data, and frames why this is valuable pedagogical practice. Some of the fabulous colleagues with whom I wrote this paper are partners for the educational video component of my CAREER project.
Palevsky, H.I., S. Clayton, et al. (2023). OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data: Best Practices & User Guide, Version 1.1.1. Ocean Observatories Initiative Biogeochemical Sensor Data Working Group, 135 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1865.2
- This document presents community consensus best practices for using OOI biogeochemical sensor data, developed over two years by a working group that I co-led, and also provides a good overview for the OOI and the types of data it collects. These best practices lay the groundwork for methods you would use in your research.
Palevsky, H. I., S. Clayton, et al. (2024) A Model for Community-driven Development of Best Practices: The Ocean Observatories Initiative Biogeochemical Sensor Data Best Practices and User Guide. Frontiers in Marine Science: Best Practices in Ocean Observing. 11, 1358591. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1358591 [pdf]
- This perspective paper, co-authored by the working group that wrote the best practices document above as well as the “Beta Testers” who reviewed it and provided feedback, presents the process used to develop these best practices. I strongly believe that the practices of how we do science – especially in collaborative teams – are extremely important, and this gives a taste of how I and our group approach those practices.
Yoder, M. F., Palevsky, H. I., & Fogaren, K. E. (2024). Net community production and inorganic carbon cycling in the central Irminger Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129(7), e2024JC021027. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC021027 [pdf]
- This paper, the first chapter of current PhD student Meg Yoder’s dissertation, presents marine carbonate chemistry system time series data from the OOI Irminger Sea Array that Meg developed methods to synthesize and calibrate, and uses these data to investigate the physical and biological drivers of surface ocean carbon cycling. These are very exciting results that set the stage for our ongoing research at this site.