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Harnessing microbiology to tackle global challenges

Professional headshot photo of Prof Corinne Le Quéré

Prof Corinne Le Quéré

Royal Society Research Professor of Climate Change Science

Research themes:
Climate and Environmental Interactions
Contact details:
c.lequere@uea.ac.uk
Part of

Biography

I conduct research on the interactions between climate change and the marine carbon cycle, particularly those mediated by marine microbial ecosystems. My main research topic is to understand and quantify the strength of the ocean uptake of carbon dioxide (the “ocean CO₂ sink”) and how it evolves in a changing climate. This includes understanding how marine microorganisms respond to changing environmental conditions.

My research group has developed a unique global marine ecosystem model, called “PlankTOM”, representing lower-trophic marine microbiology by grouping organisms in Plankton Functional Types (PFTs) according to their effect on others and on the carbon cycle. The PlankTOM model enables in particular the study of bacterial remineralisation and recycling of organic material throughout the water column. This work is growing to include the study of the effect of viral infections in the ocean.