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Joaquim Goes

Joaquim Goés

Senior Research Scientist
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
P.O. Box 475
180 McKown Point Road
West Boothbay Harbor, ME   04575-0475
U.S.A.
Phone: 207 633 9600
Fax: 207 633 9641

CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
- Eurasian Warming and Arabian Sea Phytoplankton Blooms
- El Niño and Carbon Export in the North Pacific

Education

Research Interests

My major research interests fall within the general field of biological oceanography, with special reference to marine phytoplankton and how they interact with the environment to influence the health of our planet. For my research work, I rely on an approach that looks at phytoplankton at the cellular level, where changes in phytoplankton cell physiology, biochemistry and optical properties are studied as a means of evaluating their role and response to changes in the environment. With the help of empirical or semi-analytical modeling techniques, information obtained at the cellular level is then extrapolated to regional and global scales using data from satellites and ships.

My most recent work in this direction has led to the development of a satellite based method that makes it possible to estimate the drawdown of atmospheric CO2 (export production) into the oceans by phytoplankton. This compound remote sensing method relies on estimating inorganic nitrate in seawater from space. The uptake of inorganic nitrate in the water column over the growth season of phytoplankton is used to calculate export production. The method has been successfully tested in the North Pacific Ocean, a region which experiences strong climate-modulated seasonal, interannual to decadal variations in meteorological and physical oceanographic conditions, which have a profound impact on phytoplankton production. Our ongoing work is directed at understanding how biological processes and carbon sequestration into the subarctic Pacific Ocean are impacted by the rise and fall of El-Niño and La Niña events at the Equator.

Another research project that is currently underway is aimed at understanding consequences of enhanced ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the marine ecosystem. This investigation is directed specifically at examining the impact of UV radiation on marine phytoplankton community structure, physiology and biochemistry and assessing the consequences of these changes on the ocean's food web and biogeochemical cycles.

Over the past two years, we (Dr. Barney Balch and I at Bigelow Laboratory) have been working to develop the Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (FFFF) technique for use in marine sciences. Currently, the FFFF technique, which can provide information on size spectra of sub micron particles is being utilized to understand the formation (phytoplankton exudates, viral lysis of phytoplankton and bacteria etc.) and fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in seawater (bacterial uptake, aggregation, photo-oxidation etc.). DOM is by far the most abundant form of reduced carbon and detrital material in the ocean, and it is one of the largest reactive reservoirs of organic carbon on Earth. We believe that the FFFF can provide information on how DOM can become non-reactive and how it can affect light scattering and radiative transfer properties of seawater.

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Professional Affiliations and Memberships

Awards