Research interests

Linking spatiotemporal scales; Nitrogen fixation, diazotroph diversity; Organic matter-microbe interactions; Physical-biological coupling; Microbial identity-function coupling; Climate change stressors

Education

2022 Diploma to supervise PhD students (Habilitation, HDR), Aix-Marseille Université, France

2013 PhD Oceanography, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

2008 MSc Oceanography, Universidad de Cádiz, Spain

2007 MSc Integrated Environmental Studies, University of Southampton, UK

2006 BSc Marine Science, Universidad de Cádiz, Spain

Appointments

2024-present Senior researcher (permanent), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), UK

2018-present    Scientific researcher (permanent), French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), France (position paused until 2028)

2017-18        Postdoctoral Researcher, Marine Biology Section, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2014-16        Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral fellow, MIO France – IRD New Caledonia

2013            DAAD Postdoctoral fellow, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Germany

2008-12        FPI Predoctoral fellow, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Spain

Service

2023-2026    Member of the French Oceanographic Fleet Commission (CNFH)

2022-2023    Working group Specialized commission for Ocean-Atmosphere (CSOA), INSU, France

2021-now     Member of the Aquatic N2-Fixation Research Coordination Network (ANF-RCN), NSF USA

2021-now     Research Committee of the Turing Centre for Living Systems (CENTURI)

2021-now     Associate Editor Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences,

2021-2023    Associate Editor Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology

2019-2023    Review Editor Frontiers in Marine Biogeochemistry

Awards

2022            MOGPA research fellowship (Benavides scientist in charge of grant to E. Cerdán)

2022            Provence Department Research Prize (France)

2022-24       IRD bonus for research excellence and student mentoring

2022            Severo Ochoa travel grant, ICM-CSIC, Spain

2021            CNRS -French National Centre for Scientific Research- early career scientist medal

2020            Nominated for the young researcher prize from the Provence Department (France)

2020            Exploration Japan travel grant, French Embassy in Japan

2019            IAPSO-International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans- early career scientist medal

2019-21       IRD bonus for research excellence and student mentoring

2019 IRD Mission Longue Durée (funding for 2 months research in Vietnam)

2018            Young researchers’ installation award (City of Marseille, France)

2014            7th Framework Programme for Research (FP7) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Intra-European Fellowship, Project DIADOM (2013-IEF-625185)

2013         Postdoctoral Fellowship (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Germany)

2013            Selected to participate in the C-MORE Summer Course on Microbial Oceanography (University of Hawai’i, USA)

2008-12        FPI Predoctoral Fellowship (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain)

Grants and project funding

2023            POET: Particles as niches for nOn-cyanobactErial diazoTrophs, co-PI (Transatlantic Research Partnership, USA-France), 20k€

2023            EXTENDING_FdA: nitrogEn fiXaTion bEyoNd ocean Deserts, PI (IRD, France), 30k€

2023            ANITA: Architecture and dyNamics of marIne parTicle colonizAtion, PI (Amidex, France), 160k€

2023 IRD equipment funding 10k€

2023            EXTENDING: nitrogEn fiXaTion bEyoND the Indian oceaN Gyre, PI (Actions Sud, France), 6.2k€

2023-25       PANDA: Particles as niches for non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs, PI (EC2CO, France), 14.6k€

2022-24       MANIOC: iMpact of particle microbial colonisation on Nitrogen cyclIng in the Ocean, PI (A*Midex, Institut Océans, AMU, France), 70k€

2022-25       FIESTA: “FInE scale dynamicS of diazoTrophs in the oceAn”, PI (ANR-JCJC, France), 330k€

2022-24       DEFINE2: “Diazotroph activity and diversity shaped by fine scale ocean dynamics”, PI (LEFE, France), 29k€

2021-23       DOGMA: “Diazotrophs and OrGanic Matter under climAte change”, co-PI (EC2CO, France), 18k€

2020-22       IDEFIX: “Dinitrogen Fixation in the Indian Ocean: an interbasin and seasonal comparison”, PI (Pure Ocean Fund, France), 41.6k€

2020            IRD Fonds amorçage: Funding to produce proof of concept data for an ERC CoG application, 38.5k€

2020            FIGURE: “Fine scales shaping nitrogen fIxation in the GUlf stream”, PI (Eurofleets), 12k€ and 8 days ship time onboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer (Bermuda, UK)

2020 ART: “AggRegation processes in Trichodesmium”, PI (EC2CO, France), 8.2k€

2020-23       DINDE: “Dinitrogen Fixation in the Indian Ocean: an interbasin and seasonal comparison”, co-PI (Indo French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, France-India), 198k€

2020            DEFINE: “Diazotroph activity and diversity shaped by fine scale ocean dynamics”, PI (LEFE, France), 7.1k€

2020            EMPANADAS: “Exploring Microbes in marine PArticles: fuNction, trAits and Diversity Associated”, co-PI (Axes Transverses MIO, France), 7.7€

2020-24       NOTION: “NitrOgen fixers structuring phyToplankton bIodiversity in the OceaN under climate change”, PI (BNP Paribas Foundation Climate & Biodiversity initiative), 660k€

2019            TAPAS: “Transfert et cAractéristiques des PArticules dans les Systèmes océaniques”, co-PI (Axes Transverses MIO, France), 6.5k€

2019-22       OASIS: Oceanic nitrogen fixation Across SpatIotemporal Scales”, co-PI (Thomas Jefferson Foundation, USA-France), $18.9

2019            REACH: Remineralization of black carbon (BC) particles in coastal waters off Halong Bay (Vietnam) under different oxidation states”, PI (Action Sud IRD, France), 6.3k€

2019 IRD equipment funding 10k€

2018 Black Carbon project, PI (Action Sud IRD, France), 7.5k€

Invited talks, lectures and seminars

2023 Invited talk BioGeoSCAPES Science Plan workshop: “Multifaceted insights into particle-associated N2 fixation”, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA.

2023 Invited talk Eurofleets+ conference: “Fine-scale diazotroph dynamics during the FIGURE cruise”. Online.

2022 Invited seminar: “Nitrogen fixation beyond the tropics: unexpected diazotrophs in unexpected environments”, Stockholm University, Sweden.

2022 Invited seminar: “Nitrogen fixation beyond the tropics: unexpected diazotrophs in unexpected environments”, LEMAR, Brest, France.

2022 Invited keynote: “Fine-scale dynamics of N2 fixation in ocean”, FilaChange workshop, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.

2022 Invited speaker: “Nitrogen fixation beyond the tropics: unexpected diazotrophs in unexpected environments”, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.

2022 Invited speaker: “Le futur des océans: négocier la biodiversité marine”, National History Museum of Vienna, organized by the Embassy of France in Vienna, Austria.

2022 Invited keynote speaker: “On the role of non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs as a source of nitrogen for the Southern Indian Ocean”, International Indian Ocean Science Conference, Goa (India).

2021 Invited keynote speaker: “Interactions between diazotrophs and organic matter: from coral lagoons to the dark ocean”, Science for Life Laboratory Biodiversity symposium (Stockholm, Sweden).

2021 Invited seminar: “N2 fixation across spatiotemporal scales”, University of Liverpool (UK).

2021 Invited seminar: “N2 fixation in the Gulf Stream”, CANAIMOC Workshop, IFREMER (France).

2019 Seminar: “N2 fixation across scales”, invited talk at the National Oceanography Centre (Southampton, UK).

2019 Seminar: “Microbial degradation of black carbon particles”. SOOT-SEA Workshop organized as part of the IRD GDRI SOOT-SEA by Xavier Mari, USTH, Hanoi, Vietnam.

2018 Seminar: “Microbial degradation of black carbon particles”. IBT, Hanoi, Vietnam.

2016 Seminar: “Linking microbial diversity and function to organic matter in the ocean: from coral lagoons to the dark ocean”. University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

2016 Seminar: “The contribution of diazotrophs to coral heterotrophic nutrition”. Institute de   Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, New Caledonia.

2015 Seminar: “The interaction between organic matter and microbes as a carbon sequestration     pathway in the ocean”. Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales       (LEGOS), Toulouse, France.

2014 Seminar: “Oceanic nitrogen fixation and organic matter interactions”. Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille, France.

2014 Seminar: “Linking microbial diversity and function to organic matter in the ocean: heterotrophic N2 fixation from coral lagoons to the dark ocean”. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, USA.

2013 Seminar: “Nitrogen fixation in the subtropical North Atlantic: new views and constraints”. Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Warnemünde, Germany.

2011 Invited talk: “Nitrogen fixation in the subtropical North Atlantic”. Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain.

2010 Invited talk: “Perspectives on Atlantic N2 fixation”. Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma, Spain.

Participation in scientific meetings

2023

Mar Benavides, Christian Furbo Reeder, Arthur Coët, Elena Cerdán-García, Alba Filella, Olivier Grosso, Sarah R. Smith, Matthew M. Mills, Kendra A. Turk-Kubo. Oral: Multifaceted insights into particle-associated N2 fixation. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Hörstmann, Cora; Barrillon, Stéphanie; Grosso, Olivier; Carpaneto Bastos, Cécile; Le Bihan, Caroline; Aguiar-González, Borja; Pérez-Hernández, M. Dolores; Carracedo, Lidia; Benavides, Mar. Oral: Fine-scale diazotroph connectomics across the Gulf Stream and its eddies. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Alba Filella, Aurelie Cebron, Léa Guayomarch, Pauline Martinot, Catherine Guigue, Marc Tedetti, Olivier Grosso, Marine Vallet, Benoît Paix, Lasse Riemann, Kendra A. Turk-Kubo, Mar Benavides. Poster: Deciphering the diversity of diazotrophs taking up dissolved organic matter in the North Pacific Ocean. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Subhadeep Chowdhury, Hugo Berthelot, Christian Furbo Reeder, Stéphane L'Helguen, Jean-François Maguer, Carolin Löscher, Arvind Singh, Stéphane Blain, Nicolas Cassar, Sophie Bonnet, Hélène Planquette, Mar Benavides. Poster: Diazotroph community and activity in the southern Indian Ocean. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Cerdán-García, E.; Álvarez-Salgado, X.A.; Arístegui, J.; Benavides, M. Poster: Mesoscale eddies impact the structure and distribution of particle-attached non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs in the subtropical North Atlantic. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Hagen, Stine Z.; von Friesen, Lisa W.; Grosso, Olivier; Benavides, M.; Gonçalves Araujo, Rafael; Stedmon, Colin A. and Riemann, Lasse. Poster: Nitrogen fixation and diazotroph community composition across environmental gradients in the Arcti Fram Strait. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Lisa W. von Friesen, Hanna Farnelid, Wilken J. von Appen, Mar Benavides, Olivier Grosso, Christien Laber, Johanna Schüttler, Marcus Sundbom, Sinhué Torres-Valdés, Stefan Bertilsson, Ilka Peeken, Pauline Snoeijs-Leijonmalm, Lasse Riemann. Oral: Nitrogen fixation across contrasting hydrographical and sea ice regimes in the central and eastern Arctic Ocean. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

Jacqueline Umbricht, Mar Benavides, Noémie Choisnard, Joachim W. Dippner, Joseph P. Montoya, Ajit Subramaniam and Maren Voss. Oral: Ammonium uptake rates are responsible for a large proportion of the CO2 uptake in the Amazon River plume. ASLO meeting, Palma, Spain.

2022

Hörstmann, C., Barrillon, S., Grosso, O., Benavides, M. Poster: Diazotrophs’ diversity and activity mapped across fine-scale structures of the Gulf stream and associated eddies. FilaChange workshop, Paris, France.

Fernández-Gómez, B., Palacios, L., Trébec, A., Marín-Samper, L., Montero, M.F., Hernández-Hernández, N., Gómez-Letona, M., Gelado-Caballero, M.D., Menéndez, I., González-Ramos, A.J., Coca, J., González, A., Espino, M., Soler, E., Gómez-Pinchetti, J.L., Herrera, R., Benavides, M., Arístegui, J. Oral: Fertilization of the coastal waters of the Canary Islands by the diazotrophic cyanobacteria Trichodesmium spp. ISMS, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

Hernández-Hernández, N., Santan-Falcón, Y., Montero, M.F., Gómez-Letona, M., Baños, I., González, A., Espino, M., Hallstrøm, S., Benavides, M., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Arístegui, J. Oral: Coastal-ocean variability in primary production in the Canary Current upwelling region: comparison among in situ and satellite-derived estimates. Open Science Conference on Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS): Past, Present and Future, Lima, Perú.

Chowdhury, S., Berthelot, H., L’Helguen, S., Maguer, J.-F., Löscher, C., Singh, A., Cassar, N., Bonnet, S., Benavides, M. Oral: Diazotroph community and activity in the Southern Indian Ocean. International Indian Ocean Science Conference, Goa, India.

Chowdhury, S., Berthelot, H., L’Helguen, S., Maguer, J.-F., Löscher, C., Singh, A., Cassar, N., Bonnet, S., Benavides, M. Poster: Diazotroph community and activity in the Southern Indian Ocean. American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, New Orleans, USA. https://www.essoar.org/doi/10.1002/essoar.10509657.1

2021

Berdún, J., Valotteau, C., Sebastián, M., Arístegui, J., Rico, F., Benavides, M. Poster: Trichodesmium aggregation at the nanoscale. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Virtual Meeting.

Hallstrøm, S., Benavides, M., Salamon, E., Evans, C., Potts, L. Oral: Pelagic diazotroph communities in the shallow estuarine Narragansett Bay are influenced by diazotrophs resuspended from sediment. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Virtual Meeting.

Filella, A., Van Wambeke, F., Pulido-Villena, E., Nunige, S., Grosso, O., Bonnet, S., Riemann, L., Duhamel, S., Díaz, J.M., Benavides, M. Oral: P-anhydrides as a potential source of P for diazotrophs in the Western Tropical South Pacific (WTSP). Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Virtual Meeting.

2020

Benavides, M., Hallstrøm, S., Evans, C.W., Potts, L.J., Granger, J., Tobias, C.R., Mouw, C. B., Moisander, P.H., Riemann, L. Poster: Dominance of heterotrophic N2 fixation in a temperate estuary. American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA.

Meunier V., Bonnet S., Benavides M., Voolstra C.R., Geissler L., Perna G., Rädecker N., , Lambert C., Grosso O., Rodolfo-Metalpa R., Houlbrèque F. Oral: Corals change their nitrogen acquisition mode under high pCO2. ICRS 2020 - 14th International Coral Reef Symposium. Bremen, Germany.

2019

Benavides, M., Chu Van, T., Mari, X. Poster: Microbial degradation of black carbon particles in Halong Bay (Vietnam). IMBeR Future Oceans meeting, Brest, France.

Bonnet, S., Benavides, M., Berthelot, H., Caffin, M., Van Wambeke, F., Moutin, T., Berman-Frank, I., Barthaux, V., Grosso, O., Grégori, G., Heliás-Nunige, S., Hunt, B., Carlotti, F. Oral: How does diazotroph derived nitrogen transfer in the planktonic food web? Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Hallstrøm, S., Benavides, M., Arístegui, J., Riemann, L. Oral: Nitrogen fixation and diazotroph communities at the upwelling ecosystem off Cape Verde. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2018

Hallstrøm, S., Benavides, M., Riemann, L. Poster: Extensive N2 fixation in the upwelling system off Cape Verde. Gordon Research Conference, Tuscany, Italy.

Benavides, M., Moisander, P.H., Watkins-Brandt, K., Ames, E.J., Granger, J., White, A.E., Riemann, L., Palter, J.B. Poster: Mesoscale and Submesoscale Variability of Diazotrophs Across the Gulf Stream. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, USA.

Evans, C.W., Benavides, M., Nutall, R.A., Oviatt, C., Moisander, P.H. Poster: Spatio-Temporal Variability of Microbial Chitinase Activity in Narragansett Bay. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, USA.

Moisander, P.H., Benavides, M., Shoemaker, K.M., White, A.E., Granger, J., Palter, J.B. Poster: Diazotroph communities in photic and aphotic waters along a latitudinal transect in western North Atlantic Ocean. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, USA.

Ames, E.J., Palter, J.B., Moisander, P.H., Benavides, M., Granger, J., Watkins-Brandt, K., White, A.E. Poster: Nutrients and Nitrogen Fixation Across the Gulf Stream. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, USA.

Potts, L.J., Granger, J., Tobias, C.R., Rollinson, V.R., Benavides, M., Moisander, P.H., White, A.E. Poster: Assessing One Point Calibrations of the MIMS of N2 Isotopic Tracers for N2 Fixation and Denitrification Incubations. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR, USA.

2017

Duhamel, S., Van Wambeke, F., Lefèvre, D., Benavides, M., Bonnet, S., Moutin, T. Oral: Assimilation of organic molecules by unicellular cyanobacteria: evaluating the importance of photoheterotrophy in natural communities of the Southwest Pacific. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI, USA.

2015

Álvarez-Salgado, X. A., Arístegui, J., Alonso-Pérez, F., Anabalón, V., Baltar, F., Benavides, M., Espino, M., Froján, M., Graña, R., Montero, M. F. Oral: A tale of the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of a parcel of water transported by the Cape Ghir filament (NW Africa): a Lagrangian view. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Granada, Spain.

Benavides, M., Bonnet, S., Moisander, P., Berthelot, H., Grosso, O. Poster: Significant mesopelagic N2 fixation in the Bismarck and Solomon Seas (SW Pacific). Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Granada, Spain.

Santana-Falcón, Y., Benavides, M., Sangrà, P., Mason, E., Barton, E. D., Arístegui, J. Oral: Annual cycle of offshore transport of organic matter by an upwelling filament off Cape Ghir (NW Africa). Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Granada, Spain.

2014

Santana-Falcón, Y., Barton, E.D., Benavides, M., Sangrà, P., Mason, E., Arístegui, J. Oral: An annual cycle of the offshore transport of organic matter and chlorophyll by an upwelling filament off Cape Ghir (NW Africa). International Symposium of Marine Science (ISMS14), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

Balmonte, J.P., Foster, S., Rouco-Molina, M., James, A., Bramucci, A., Bausch, A., Benavides, M., Bibiloni Isaksson, J., Evans, S., Jessen, G., Kent, A., Lankiewicz, T., Munoz Plominsky, A., Paul, A., Satinsky, B., Webb, A. Poster: See more seas with C-MORE. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI, USA.

2013

Anabalón, V., Arístegui, J., Morales, C.E., Andrade, I, Benavides, M., Correa-Ramírez, M.A., Espino, M., Ettahiri, O., Hormazabal, S., Makaoui, A., Montero, M.F., Orbi, A. V. Oral: The structure of planktonic communities under variable coastal upwelling conditions off Cape Ghir (31°N) in the Canary Current System (NW Africa). 45th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics. Université de Liège. Liège, Belgium.

Arístegui, J., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Alonso-Pérez, F., Anabalón, V., Baltar, F., Benavides, M., Espino, M., Figueiras, F.G., Froján, M., Graña, R., Montero, M.F., Padín, X.A., Pérez, F.F., Reinthaler, T., Ríos, A.F., Rosón, G., Sangrà, P., Teixeira, I.G., Troupin, C., Barton, E.D. Oral: Variability in primary production, carbon stocks and fluxes, plankton community structure and metabolic balance, along the Cape Ghir filament (NW Africa): A lagrangian approach. 45th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics. Université de Liège. Liège, Belgium.

Benavides, M., Bronk, D.A., Agawin, N.S.R., Pérez-Hernández, M.D., Hernández-Guerra, A., Arístegui, J. Oral: Longitudinal variability of size-fractionated N2 fixation and DON release along 24.5ºN in the subtropical North Atlantic. Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA.

2012

Benavides, M., Agawin, N.S.R., Arístegui, J., Ferriol, P., Stal, L.J. Oral: Nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium and small diazotrophs in the subtropical northeast Atlantic. International Symposium of Marine Science (ISMS12), Cádiz, Spain.

2009

Benavides, M., Echevarría, F., González-Gordillo, J.I. Poster: Mesozooplankton community structure: spatial and temporal variability in the Bay of Cádiz. International Symposium of Marine Science (ISMS09), Vigo, Spain.

Teaching

2023 Invited lecture: “Principles of marine N2 fixation”, Aix-Marseille Université, France.

2022 Invited lecturer: “Changing paradigms in marine N2 fixation”, Marine microbial ecology: from genomes to biomes graduate course, Stockholm University, Sweden.

2021 Invited lecture: “Changing paradigms in marine N2 fixation”, CIVIS (online course).

2021 Invited lecture: “Marine diazotrophic cyanobacteria”, University of Jena (Germany).

2020 Invited lecture: “N2 fixation in the Ocean”, Université de Liège (Belgium).

2020 Invited lecture: “Marine diazotrophic cyanobacteria”, Cyano2020 Summer School, Heinrich Heine University (Düsseldorf, Germany). Video recording available here.

2017 Invited lecture: “The depths of N2 fixation”. PhD course “Molecular analyses of bacterioplankton composition and function”, Marine Biology Section, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

2010 Invited microbial oceanography lecture at the MSc in Marine Ecology, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Meeting organization and chairing

2024 Chair of session OB005 - Exploring the ecology and importance of non-cyanobacterial N2-fixers across ocean ecosystems. Ocean Sciences Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA.

2022 Co-chair of session OB019 - Moving beyond Trichodesmium: assessing the importance of non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs and other previously overlooked nitrogen-fixers in marine ecosystems. Ocean Sciences Meeting, Honolulu, HI, USA.

2021 Scientific advisor and organizer - CENTURI day, Marseille, France.

Scientific advisor and organizer - European conference of Aix-Marseille University: protect our oceans, the challenge of Europe’s global leadership, Brussels, Belgium.

Chair of session SS39 - The present and future of nitrogen fixation in aquatic systems. ASLO Aquatic Sciences virtual meeting, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

2020 Co-chair of session OB020 - New Tools and Approaches to Constrain the Marine Nitrogen Cycle: From the Surface to the Sediments. Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA.

Reviewer duties

Agencies:     National Science Foundation (NSF, USA), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, France), German Science Foundation (DFG, Germany), Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), INSU-LEFE (France), Israel Science Foundation (ISF, Israel), Czech Science Foundation (GACR), Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)

Reports:       5th IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

Journals:      Nature, Science, Nature Communications, ISME J, Trends in Microbiology, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Limnology & Oceanography, Microbial Ecology, Marine Biology, Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Biogeochemistry, Progress in Oceanography, Biogeosciences, PLOS ONE, Frontiers in Marine Science, Frontiers in Microbiology, Scientific Reports, mBIO, Annals of Microbiology, Global Change Biology, Continental Shelf Research, Science of the Total Environment

Mentoring and student supervision

Postdocs

2022-23       Elena Cerdán-García (MOPGA, France). Project: “Ecogenomics of particle-attached non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs”.

2022-24       Christian F. Reeder (Institut Océan, Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “Impact of particle microbial colonization on nitrogen cycling in the ocean”.

2022-24       Cora Hörstmann (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “Fine scale dynamics of diazotrophs in the ocean”.

2020-21       Jean-Charles Cancel (IRD, France). Project: “Immunolabeling for near real-time detection of diazotrophs at sea”.

PhD students

2022-25       Arthur Coët (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Co-supervised with Pierre Ronceray. Thesis: “Dynamics and architecture of non-cyanobacterial diazotroph particle colonization”.

2020-23       Subhadeep Chowdhury (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Co-supervised with Sophie Bonnet. Thesis: “Dinitrogen Fixation in the Indian Ocean: an interbasin and seasonal comparison”.

2020-23       Alba Filella-Lamadrid (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Co-supervised with France Van Wambeke. Thesis: “Diazotroph interactions with organic matter under climate change”.

2017-20       Isabel Baños (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain). Co-supervised with Javier Arístegui. Thesis: “The effect of climate change stressors on marine plankton respiration”.

MSc students

2023            Rémi Legrand (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “Improving the nifH gene annotation database”.

2022            Arthur Coët (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France). Project: “Particles as niches for non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs”.

2022            Cinthya Vieira (Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico). Project: “DOM uptake genes in diazotrophs from the global expedition Tara Oceans”.

2020            Louis Conradt (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “The role of fine scale on structuring diazotroph communities in the Wester Tropical South Pacific Ocean”.

2019            Emilie Poletti (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “Diazotrophs under pressure”.

2015            Laure Papillon (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Project: “Analyse de sucres particulaires et dissous par chromatographie liquide afin d’évaluer des interactions entre les bactéries diazotrophes et la matière organique”.

BSc students

2020            Clara Ducrocq (Université de Versailles, France). Project: “Microbial respiration under climate change”.

2017-18       Ellen Salamon (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). Project: “N2 fixation in coastal temperate zones”.

2017            Clayton Evans (Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), National Science Foundation, USA). Project: “Influence of environmental factors on microbial chitinase activity in the Narragansett Bay”.

Technician/Engineering students

2023-now     Pierre McCavana, IRD, France. Hired on the “Fonds d’Amorçage” project (PI Benavides).

2023-now     Cécile Carpaneto, Aix-Marseille Université, France. Hired on the FIESTA project (PI Benavides).

2021            Alana Boyer, Polytech, Marseille, France. Project: “Microbial particle colonization: functional traits and diversity”.

2021            Emile Seris, Institut Sup’Biotech, Paris, France. Project: “Diazotroph growth in an acidified ocean”.

2019-20       Louise Miech, Institut Sup’Biotech, Paris, France. Project: “Diazotroph-coral interactions under bleaching”.

Member of PhD committees and juries

PhD committees

2023-now     Ariadna Aldrich (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico). Thesis: “Caracterización de la Fijación Biológica de Nitrógeno en ambientes diferenciados dentro de la zona costera del Pacífico Mexicano”.

2022-now     Mateo Léger-Pigout (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Thesis: “Sargassum microbiome”.

2021-now     Natalia Torres (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Thesis: “Marine Hg species dynamics and distribution”.

2021-now     Andrea Márquez (Universidade de Vigo, Spain). Thesis: “Nitrous oxide distribution in the North Atlantic Ocean”.

2021-now     Daniel Fernández (Universidad de Vigo, Spain). Thesis: “N2 fixation in the Galician coast”.

2020-now     Chloé Baumas (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Thesis: “marine particle remineralization: influence of particle typology and associated prokaryotic diversity”.

2020-now     Jacqueline Umbricht (Rostock University, Germany). Thesis: “Diazotroph grazing under climate change”.

2019-21       Valentine Meunier (Université de la Nouvelle Calédonie). Thesis: “Interactions between diazotrophs and corals under climate change”.

PhD jury member

2022 Inès Mangolte (Sorbonne Université, France). Thesis: “Effet des fronts océaniques sur les communautés de plancton”.

2022 Kandasamy Priyanka (Annamalai University, India). Thesis: “New and Primary production uptake role in marine environment using isotopic and remote sensing techniques in the Northern Indian Ocean”.

2022 Nauzet Hernández (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain). Thesis: “Short-term drivers of phytoplankton community structure and primary production in the Canary Current Region”.

2022 Christian Furbo (Southern Denmark University, Denmark). Thesis: “Ecology of marine diazotrophs: past, present, and future”.

2021 Victor Fernández-Juárez (Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain). Thesis: “Response of nitrogen fixers associated with Posidonia Oceanica to environmental factors and emerging pollutants”.

2019 Gema Batanero (Universidad de Granada, Spain). Thesis: “Microbial ecology in saline wetlands: nitrogen, flamingos and drought as drivers”.

2018 Víctor Moreira Coello (Universidade de Vigo, Spain). Thesis: “Biological N2 fixation in the upwelling region off NW Iberian Peninsula: magnitude, relevance and players”.

2015 Francisca García (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain). Thesis: “Predicting the metabolic balance of the oceans”.

Master jury member

2023 Laura Giraud (AMU, France). Project: “Détermination et caractérisation des nutriclines en mer Méditerranée en période stratifiée (pour une meilleure estimation du flux diffusif)”.

2023 Yanis Maire (AMU, France). Project: “Effects of turbulence on diatoms of the genus Pseudonitzschia spp. and associated bacteria”.

2023 Pierrick Lemasson (AMU, France). Project: “Limitation de la production primaire océanique par la disponibilité en fer à l’échelle globale”.

Oceanographic cruises (>400 days and >30,000 km at sea)

2023 RRS Discovery, N-ARC cruise. Arctic Ocean, 37 days (July-August 2023)

2022 R/V Atlantic Explorer, FIGURE cruise. Gulf Stream, 10 days (Chief scientist)

2022 R/V Kilo Moana, NCD cruise KM2206. Hawaii, 28 days

2021 R/V Tethys II, PARTY cruise. Mediterranean Sea, 7 days

2019 R/V L’Atalante, TONGA cruise. Tonga volcanic arch, 37 days

2017 R/V Endeavor, cruises EN596&597 Gulf Stream Nitrogen Fixation Experiment, 20 days

2015 R/V L’Atalante, OUTPACE cruise. New Caledonia-French Polynesia, 36 days

2014 R/V Thomas G. Thompson, MoorSPICE cruise. Solomon Sea, 31 days

2013 R/V Kilo Moana, C-MORE Microbial Oceanography course, station ALOHA, 10 days

2012 R/V Atlantic Explorer, cruises GUAYOTA-II. El Hierro island submarine volcano (Canary Islands, Spain), 3 days

         R/V Atlantic Explorer, cruise GUAYOTA-III. El Hierro island submarine volcano, 3 days

2011 R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa, cruise Expedición Malaspina. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)-Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), 56 days

2010 R/V Atlantic Explorer, cruises LUCIFER. Canary Islands, 7 days

2009 R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa, cruise CAIBEX-II. Iberian Peninsula-Canary Islands, 30 days

         R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa, cruise CAIBEX-III and CAIBEX-monitoring 5, 30 days

         R/V Al Amir Moulay Abdullah, cruise CAIBEX-monitoring 6, 10 days

         R/V Al Amir Moulay Abdullah, cruise CAIBEX-monitoring 4, 10 days

         R/V Al Amir Moulay Abdullah, cruise CAIBEX-monitoring 3, 10 days

         R/V Al Amir Moulay Abdullah, cruise CAIBEX-monitoring 2, 10 days

         STS Tenacious (Jubilee Sailing Trust UK). Canary Islands, 15 days

2008 R/V Al Amir Moulay Abdullah, cruise CAIBEX-monitoring 1, 10 days

         R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa, cruise GIBRALTAR 08. Strait of Gibraltar, 14 days

Recent training and courses

2023 EMBO Lab Leadership Workshop for Group Leaders (online)

2022 CNRS project management leadership, CNRS, France

         EMBO Self-leadership Workshop for women scientists (online)

         LC-MS-based Marine Metabolomics Workshop

         EBAME Workshop on Computational Microbial Ecogenomics, IUEM, France

2021 DADA2 bioinformatics pipeline training, MIO, France

         ERC CoG writing workshop, Protisvalor, France

2019 ERC StG writing workshop, Protisvalor, France

2018 PhD student supervision workshop, IRD, France

Project collaborations

G-FREDIZ: “Global Freshwater Diazotrophy: Abundance, Diversity & Rates”, PI: Edo Bar-Zeev. ISF, Israel.

N-ARC: “Nitrogen fixation in the Arctic Ocean”, PI: Claire Mahaffey. NERC, UK.

NCD: “Collaborative Research: Quantifying N2 fixation rates of noncyanobacterial diazotrophs and environmental controls on their activity”, PI: Kendra Turk-Kubo. NSF, US.

ARMORIC: “Assessing the Role of cheMolithoautotrOphy on caRbon fluxes in the mesopelagIC realm”, PI: Frédéric Le Moigne. ANR-JCJC, France.

BIOMAS: “BIOenergetic Modeling Approach for Sargassum dynamics”, PI: Léo Berline. ANR, France.

e-IMPACT: “Biogeochemical impact of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale processes along the life history of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies”, PI: Javier Arístegui. Ministerio Innovación Ciencia, innovación y Universidades, Spain.

TRICHODESMIUM: “Seguimiento de floraciones de microalgas: desarrollo de un modelo predictivo”, PI: Javier Arístegui. Operative programme FEDER Canarias (2014-2020) and Gobierno de Canarias, Spain.

TONGA: shallow hydroThermal sOurces of trace elemeNts: potential impacts on biological productivity and the bioloGicAl carbon pump, coPIs: Sophie Bonnet, Cécile Guieu. ANR, LEFE-CYBER.

EAGER: Collaborative Research: Detection limit in marine nitrogen fixation measurements - Constraints of rates from the mesopelagic ocean, PI: Pia H. Moisander. NSF OCE 1733610.

TOUCAN: TrOphic link between Corals and plaNktonic diazotrophs, PI: Fanny Houlbrèque.

StreamFix: Nitrogen fixation driven by phosphorus excess in the Gulf Stream, PI: Jaime Palter. NSF OCE 1130495.

Nitrogen fixation and ecology of heterotrophic bacteria in coastal temperate waters, PI: Lasse Riemann. Danish Research Council grant number grant 6108-00013.

FLAMENCO: Importance of free-living diazotrophs for corals, PI: Fanny Houlbrèque.

FLUXES: Constraining organic carbon fluxes in an Eastern Boundary Upwelling system (Cape Blanc, NW Africa): the role of non-sinking carbon in the context of the biological pump. PI: Javier Arístegui.

OUTPACE: Oligotrophy to UlTra-oligotrophy PACific Experiment. CoPIs: Thierry Moutin, Sophie Bonnet. ANR-14-CE01-0007-01, CNES BC T23, ZBC 4500048836.

VAHINE: Fate of fixed nitrogen in the oceanic pelagic food web and its potential impact on carbon export. PI: Sophie Bonnet.

DIADOM: Interactions between nitrogen-fixers (DIAzotrophs) and Dissolved Organic Matter in the ocean (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme, project no. 625185). CoPIs: Sophie Bonnet, Mar Benavides.

DIADOM-Coral: Diazotrophs and Dissolved Organic Matter in coral reefs. LabEx-Corail. PI: Sophie Bonnet.

HOTMIX: Dark-ocean water mass boundaries and mixing zones as "hot-spots" of biodiversity and biogeochemical fluxes across the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern North Atlantic (CTM2011-30010-C02-01). PI: Javier Arístegui.

EXPEDICIÓN MALASPINA: (CSD2008-00077). PI: Prof Carlos M. Duarte.

LUCIFER: Lunar Cycles and Iron Fertilization (CTM2008-03538). PI: Santiago Hernández-León

CAIBEX: Shelf-Ocean Exchanges in the Canaries-Iberian Large Marine Ecosystem (CTM2007-66408-C02-02). Co-PIs: Desmond Barton, Javier Arístegui.

CYFOD: Cyanobacteria: Dominating the functioning of ocean deserts (CTM2008-00915-E). PI: Nona S. R. Agawin

Innovaciones en técnicas y metodologías para especiación funcional y química multielemental en medios acuosos pseudo-multifase. (CTQ2009-14237-C02-01). PI: Juan R. Castillo.

GIBRALTAR 08: Análisis integral del ecosistema marino del estrecho de Gibraltar: forzamiento físico y niveles tróficos. (CTM2005-08142-C03-01). PI: Carlos M. García-Jiménez.

BAHÍA: Balance de carbono en la bahía de Cádiz: intercambios con mar abierto, sedimento y atmósfera (P06-RNM-01637). Fidel Echevarría.

Professional memberships

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Microbiology Society

International Indian Ocean Expedition II (IIOE-2)

Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB) N2 fixation working group
JETZON - Joint Exploration of the Twilight Zone Ocean Network

Alliance of World Scientists

Visiting scientist

2022            (2 weeks) Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India

2019            (2 months) Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (IMER) and University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH), Vietnam

2018            (1 month) Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (IMER) and University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH), Vietnam

2018    (6 months) Marine Biology Section, University of Copenhagen (KU, Denmark)

2017    (5 months) University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD, USA)

2014    (3 months) University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD, USA)

2011    (4 months) Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS, USA)

2010    (4 months) Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ, The Netherlands)

2009-11        (various visits of ~1 month) Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB, Spain)

Outreach actions

2023 Science popularization event “Océans d’avenir”, Marseille, France

2023 Article in “The Conversation”, French version

2023 Round table “Bleue, la mer dans tous ses spectacles”, IRD, Marseille, France

2021 RFI radio interview about diazotrophs and climate change

2021 Science popularization Marine & Oceans (in French)

2021 Science popularization IRD Le Mag and YouTube video

2021 Science popularization BNP Paribas Event also available in YouTube, >300 attendees

2021 Science popularization event Midi Science Connecté IRD

2020 Article in “The Conversation”, French and English versions

2020 YouTube video of the NOTION project, French and English versions

2017 Science popularization of a massive Trichodesmium bloom in the Canary Islands in various journals and radio programs Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4

2015 Participation in videos onboard R/V L’Atalante during the OUTPACE cruise, broadcasted on national New Caledonia TV and IRD Channel

2014    Science popularization article in the Atlantic Oceanographer’s Association magazine OKEANOS

2014-16 DIADOM project blog and Facebook page

2011-12 Participation in public talks about marine science, “Ciclo de ciencia compartida”, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

2009-11 Series of science divulgation articles published at UTM-CSIC website (Spain)

Languages

English Fluent (CAE, IELTS)

French         Read advanced level, written intermediate level, spoken advanced level

Portuguese   Fluent (resident in Portugal for 7 years)

Italian           Read advanced level, written basic level, spoken basic level

Spanish        Fluent (mother tongue)

Miscellaneous

2017 SCUBA diving PADI: Deep Diver Specialty

2016 SCUBA diving PADI: Open Water Diver, Enriched Air Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver

2004 Driving license