Many have argued that in order to stay below a global temperature increase of 1.5C, carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere will become necessary. One proposed solution for doing this is enhancing the alkalinity, or buffering capacity, of the ocean. However, the effects of OAE on the surface ocean carbon cycle and its organisms remain largely unknown. We are filling a key gap in our understanding of OAE risks and efficacy by evaluating the influence of increased alkalinity on foraminifera calcification and growth. When foraminifera make their shells, they take alkalinity out of the ocean, which would make OAE less efficient. Funded by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, we’re growing foraminifera in the lab at Vassar and in Bermuda in 2025/2026 under enhanced alkalinity to understand the impacts of this proposed climate solution on ocean chemistry. We are utilizing MicroCT imaging in collaboration with NOAA AOML to determine changes to shell morphology and density with high spatial precision. Click here for Press Release 

In January of 2020, we collected a new record of Cenozoic climate from Site U1553, a re-drill of the classic DSDP Site 277. We are generating records of temperature and the carbon cycle from the Eocene to better constrain the functioning of the high-latitude oceans in a warm climate state. 

When foraminifera make their CaCO3 shells, they incorporate other ions as "impurities", such as Mg, B, and Sr. These ions are incorporated in systematic ways- some responding to temperature, and others to pH. These trace element signatures can be measured in fossil foraminifera and are used to reconstruct past climate. We grow foraminifera in the laboratory under varying seawater chemistry conditions to test the controls on trace element incorporation in order to better understand the paleo-record of foraminifera trace element geochemistry.