Coastal marine ecosystems receive nutrient and organic matter inputs from diverse sources, making these sites of intense and complex biogeochemical cycling. My aim is to understand the dynamic processes influencing carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling within coastal systems and the impacts of human and climatic processes on these cycles. My research approach combines novel isotopic and organic geochemical techniques in both experimental and field settings to study the sources and fates of C and N in estuarine and marine ecosystems and the role of sediment microbes in processing these nutrients. My research has demonstrated the key buffering role that microbes play, both in terms of C and N retention in microbial biomass and N release through novel processes, such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox).
