Joint GEOTRACES/OCB Workshop on Internal Cycling of Trace Elements in the Ocean

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to inform you of an upcoming joint GEOTRACES/OCB workshop to stimulate data analysis and synthesis focused on internal cycling of trace elements in the ocean. The workshop will take place August 1-4, 2016 at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, NY. The first workshop announcement is available to download here.

GEOTRACES is producing a wealth of new data for trace elements and their isotopes (TEIs) in the ocean, including a suite of essential micronutrients and chemical tracers of carbon flux. GEOTRACES seeks to engage a wider spectrum of expertise for the synthesis and further application of these data in order to maximize benefits to the broader oceanographic community. There is heightened interest and momentum in the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) community to integrate these types of data into studies of the biological pump and feedbacks between marine organisms and biogeochemistry, particularly in the face of newly emerging research initiatives such as EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS), North Atlantic-Arctic, and Global scale Microbial Interactions across Chemical Surveys (GeoMICS).

Trace element micronutrients play a vital role in regulating the growth of marine organisms, which, in turn, are key players in modulating the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements. This workshop will bring together expertise from GEOTRACES, OCB, and the broader oceanographic community of observationalists and modelers to explore the biological-chemical-physical underpinnings of trace element cycling in the ocean, including (but not limited to) bioavailability, uptake, scavenging, and regeneration. A workshop organizing committee is currently refining workshop goals and identifying key focus areas. More information and a workshop website will be available in early 2016.

Best wishes,

Bob Anderson and Heather Benway on behalf of the workshop organizing committee (see below)

Workshop organizing committee:

Robert Anderson (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory)
Kathy Barbeau (Scripps Inst. Oceanography)
Heather Benway (OCB Project Office)
Mark Brzezinski (Univ. California, Santa Barbara)
Kristen Buck (Univ. South Florida)
P. Dreux Chappell (Old Dominion Univ.)
Gregory Cutter (Old Dominion Univ.)
Elena Masferrer Dodas (GEOTRACES IPO)
John Dunne (NOAA/GFDL)
Bethany Jenkins (Univ. Rhode Island)
Maite Maldonado (Univ. British Columbia)
Keith Moore (Univ. California, Irvine)
Alan Shiller (Univ. Southern Mississippi)
Alessandro Tagliabue (Univ. Liverpool)
Benjamin Twining (Bigelow Laboratory)