What are the physical controls on nutrients in the Southern Ocean?

Project overview 

Nutrients from the Southern Ocean are fundamental to global ocean ecosystems and carbon uptake. The project will use a combination of data from different ocean models to figure out the physical drivers of the amount of nutrients in the Southern Ocean and the paths they take to get there. 

Project description 

Nutrients from the polar oceans are the foundation of global primary productivity and an important driver of the global carbon cycle. It is therefore vital to understand what controls the amount of nutrients residing in and leaving the polar oceans, in order to understand the impact of climate change on the ocean’s uptake of carbon emissions and the health of oceanic ecosystems. 

The student will use a combination of existing and new data they will produce themselves from simulations to answer questions such as: what are the physical and biological drivers that determine the amount of nutrients in the Southern Ocean? What are the sources of these nutrients? What is the impact of climate change on these processes?  

The student will be hosted by the Polar Oceans team at the British Antarctic Survey, where they will learn how to use adjoint modelling techniques to interrogate a realistic ocean model to find the sensitivity of Southern Ocean nutrients to physical drivers such as winds, heat, and freshwater. The student will use a dataset of Lagrangian trajectories and an idealised two-basin model of the global circulation and carbon cycle (designed and ran as part of BIOPOLE) to investigate the pathways that nutrients take to get to the Southern Ocean, and how their properties change on the way. 

The project will be associated with BIOPOLE and BIO-Carbon, large multi-institute projects examining biogeochemical processes and ecosystem function in polar ecosystems. The student will have the opportunity to attend project meetings and interact with project researchers. 

Training 

Our programme provides comprehensive personal and professional development training alongside extensive opportunities for students to expand their multi-disciplinary outlook through interactions with a wide network of academic, research and industrial/policy partners. The student will be registered at the University of Southampton and hosted at the British Antarctic Survey. Specific training will include: (e.g.) 

• State-of-the-art modelling techniques 
• Coding for research (if necessary) 
• Advanced data analysis techniques 
• Support to attend national and international conferences 
• Support to apply for specialist summer schools 
• Possible research cruise experience (dependent on availability of suitable opportunities and student interest)  

Entry requirements: 

A UK bachelor’s degree with upper second-class honours or higher in a relevant subject. See international equivalent qualifications on our website. English language: IELTS 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in all components. We accept other English language tests. 

How to apply 

Apply online here. Please enter the project title and lead supervisor’s name in Section 2 to state which project you would like to apply for. 

It is essential for overseas applicants to contact the lead supervisor to discuss the project before applying. 

Applications should include: 

• curriculum vitae giving details of your academic record and stating your research interests 
• name two current academic referees together with an institutional email addresses in the Reference section of the application form. On submission of your online application your referees will be automatically emailed requesting they send a reference to us directly by email. 
• your academic transcript and degree certificate (translated if not in English) - if you have completed both a BSc & an MSc, we require both. 
• IELTS/TOEFL certificate, if applicable. For more information, please see the University of Southampton's English Language Proficiency page. 

Please remember to include a short statement of your research interests and rationale for your choice of project(s) in the Personal Statement section of the application form. 

Please ensure that you provide all required documentation and information so that your application can be reviewed and processed.