Master Thesis: Impact of ocean alkalinity enhancement on phytoplankton communities – Deadline when position is filled

Planktonic organisms are the base of aquatic food webs and play a key role in marine ecosystem functioning. At the same time, they are particularly sensitive to environmental change. Understanding how plankton communities respond to rapid changes in ocean chemistry is therefore essential for predicting ecosystem responses to global change.

Currently Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) has emerged as a promising carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy to enhance the ocean’s natural carbon uptake capacity. While, the research on ecological consequences of increased alkalinity levels is becoming more and more prevalent many aspects of the ecological impacts remain uncertain. Little is known on the temporal dynamics of short-term responses.

To address this knowledge gap, a time-series experiment will be conducted over the course of one year using natural phytoplankton communities from the North Sea. In this project we aim to investigate how rapid changes in alkalinity levels affect phytoplankton physiology and community structure at different seasons. Ultimately, this work will contribute to identify periods of the year when the deployment of alkaline substances might have minimal ecological impact.

• Participating in a year-long experimental time series with natural plankton communities from the North Sea
• Exploring short-term phytoplankton responses to increased alkalinity (e.g., photosynthetic efficiency, photosynthetic pigment analysis, etc.)
• Supporting sampling and analysis of phytoplankton community composition and biomass
• Assisting with measurements of biogeochemical parameters (e.g. alkalinity, dissolved organic carbon)
• Analyzing experimental data and interpreting ecological responses to alkalinity enhancement

• Snrolled at an University
• Strong interest in marine ecosystems and climate change mitigation strategies
• Motivation to work in both laboratory and data analysis
• Basic experience with statistics or programming (e.g., R) is beneficial
• Strong English communication skills (written and oral).

The place of employment will be Helgoland.

Start: as soon as possible

Then please send us your application with Cover letter an CV (with all documents merged into one PDF file) by e-mail to: Daniel Franco Lopez (daniel.francolopez@awi.de)