Jenna L. Losh
Graduate Student - Geosciences
Department of Geosciences
Guyot 159
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Phone: (609) 258-7438
E-Mail: 
Advisor: François Morel
Research
I am interested in the ocean's response to climate change, specifically the response of phytoplankton to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2). Nitrogen (N), a limiting nutrient for primary production in large parts of the ocean, is used by phytoplankton to fix inorganic carbon and export it to the deep ocean. The aim of my project is to determine and quantify the response of ocean phytoplankton to increasing CO2 concentrations by looking specifically at the changing C/N stoichiometry under N-limiting conditions. Using chemostats to maintain phytoplankton cultures at steady state and study any observed change in stoichiometry, I hope to better understand the ocean's ability to store carbon under possible future environmental conditions. I am currently working with diatoms Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira weissflogii. My research hopes to characterize any observed physiological changes and link them to global-scale processes as the response of phytoplankton to this increase may lead to a significant feedback to increasing atmospheric CO2.