What you would be doing
You will focus on identifying how seafloor topology influences the mesopelagic biological carbon pump, specifically looking at particle type, size and microbial remineralisation across a seamount and abyssal plain. You will be part of a wider team capturing the contributions of larger organisms, deep-sea communities, and connections between the seafloor and the open ocean in the BCP. Your specific responsibilities will include going to sea in the North Atlantic (Summer 2027) and will use multiple techniques to determine the regional BCP, to then feed into the physical, food-web and statistical models, used by the OceanSOS team. The post-holder will also facilitate fieldwork south of South Africa (early Summer 2027) and the samples collected from this region. The tools you will use at sea include sediment traps, marine snow catchers and optodes to measure microbial remineralisation.
You will be responsible for organising your component of the fieldwork so it is essential you have fieldwork experience at sea. You will also process the samples you collect to then lead and co-author peer-reviewed publications, and will work closely with the wider project team. You will have the opportunity to present findings to the research team as well as at national and/or international conferences. As this project is part of a large consortium, the you will have the opportunity, and be expected to, collaborate widely within our smaller sub-team, but also with the rest of the consortia including at annual science meetings. There will also be the opportunity to work with international partners.
What we are looking for
- Experience in fieldwork and sample analysis associated with the biological pump, sediment traps and/or microbial respiration
- A track record of overseeing successful experiments from design, manipulation and sampling, to data analysis and publishing the results
- Knowledge of processes involved in organic carbon cycling in the ocean
- Ideally some experience of leading your own work at sea
- Knowledge of how to analyse organic carbon samples
- Enthusiasm for research in ocean carbon science
Salary range: £50,733 – £59,484 per annum
Application deadline: November 30, 2026
Location: Imperial College London
