We are pleased to announce two speakers to give their 2nd Year PhD talks:
- Nea Sneddon-Jenkins - Exploring the Impact of pH on Peatland Carbon Dynamics and Microbial Community Composition
Abstract: Peatlands are important global stores of sequestered carbon. Understanding how environmental conditions drive changes in microbial communities and impact organic matter decomposition and greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for understanding the role of peatlands in climate change. It is widely known that differences in pH strongly influence the composition of peatland vegetation, but previous research has also shown that pH correlates with differences in peatland microbial community structure and function. Since microbial communities are important in mediating the carbon cycle – and therefore greenhouse gas emissions – understanding how changing pH may affect the microbes performing these functions is key.
- Bernát Heszler - Reconstructing Cretaceous atmospheric pCO2 and climate sensitivity
Abstract: The Late Cretaceous experienced some of the warmest global temperatures of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras, while also witnessing major changes in the carbon cycle, which profoundly impacted climate dynamics and marine ecosystems. However, in the absence of tight constraints, our picture of how atmospheric pCO2 levels varied during the Late Cretaceous remain uncertain. We present a multi-species planktic foraminiferal boron isotope record (δ11B), which allows us to place better quantitative estimates on climate forcing from CO2 through the Late Cretaceous.