Dr Lomas is currently a senior research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in the US. Before this current position, he spent nearly 12 years at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences where he was one of the lecturers at the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography in Bermuda, teaching the Biological Oceanography module as well as a module on scientific writing. Dr Lomas’ specialization is phytoplankton physiological ecology and ocean biogeochemistry. His current research involves: Dissolved organic phosphorus hydrolysis and assimilation by marine autotrophs and heterotrophs; relationships between environmental and phytoplankton community variability and its impact on the global carbon cycle; delineation of phytoplankton functional groups and determination of their physiological plasticity for inclusion in global ecosystem models; development of new techniques employing flow citometry as an ‘investigative’ tool in ocean sciences.