RECLESS – Recycling versus loss in the marine nitrogen cycle
Short description
RECLESS will study oxygen depleted areas in the ocean, which play a major role in the Earth's climate by influencing the uptake and release of greenhouse gases. However, gaps in our understanding of the underlying microbial dynamics prohibit robust predictions of how this will evolve in the future ocean.
RECLESS uses a novel multidisciplinary approach combining oceanographic, biogeochemical, microbiological, and modelling studies to create the first comprehensive global microbial ecosystem model for oxygen depleted marine systems.
The model will help scientists predict how ongoing deoxygenation impacts nitrogen cycling, nitrogen loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and the overall carbon cycle.
Project name
RECLESS – Recycling versus loss in the marine nitrogen cycle: controls, feedbacks, and the impact of expanding low oxygen regions
Project PIs and institutions
- Laura Bristow, Department of Marine AvÐÔ°®s, University AvÐÔ°®, expert on microbial nitrogen processes in oxygen minimum zones.
- Bo Thamdrup, University of Southern Denmark, specialised in techniques for studying these environments.
- Katharina Kitzinger, University of Vienna, focused on single-cell biology.
- Emily Zakem, Carnegie Institution for AvÐÔ°®, expert in modelling microbial ecosystems.
Additional project members at the Department of Marine AvÐÔ°®s
- Bastien Queste, Associate Senior Lecturer
- Sina Schorn, Researcher
- Alisa Wüst, PhD student
- Elizabeth Robertson, Research Engineer
ERC Synergy Grant
Financier is the European Research Council (ERC Synergy Grant).
The point of the ERC Synergy Grant is to bring together researchers with different expertise to work on very complex problems that no person or institute can address on its own.
Project size
€10 million for 6 years duration. A total of approximately €3 million will be coming to the Department of Marine AvÐÔ°®s.
Custom-made underwater laboratory
Using a new custom-made underwater laboratory called CockTail, the researchers will collect and process water samples in situ deep in the ocean, allowing them to study the microbial processes in their natural environment.
