The study of the geology, physics, chemistry, and biology of the oceans. Areas of current research include: carbon and nutrient cycling, satellite oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics, sediment dynamics, turbulence, physical properties of sea water, terrestrial inputs to the marine environment, marine food webs, ocean and coastal currents, estuarine dynamics, primary productivity, air-sea interactions, waves, and tides.
Biogeochemical cycling and export fluxes of nutrients. Global climate change in past and present day environments. Utilization of cosmogenic and uranium series radioisotopes to study ecological processes. Development of new analytical techniques.
My research focuses on the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous cycles in aquatic environments, from wetlands to the open ocean. Experimental approaches are used to characterize biogeochemical processes and the roles of microorganisms as key players in the production and transformation of organic matter. Geochemical approaches are used to integrate processes over space and time.
Marine biogeochemistry, Marine nitrogen cycle, Nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes, Molecular microbial ecology, Dissolved gases (N 2 , O 2 , Ar) as tracers of oceanic physical and biological processes, Trace gas production (N 2 O) in marine environments, Chemosynthetic deep-sea ecosystems, Oxygen minimum zones.
My research is in Remote Sensing, Satellite Oceanography, Physical Oceanography and Air-Sea Interaction. My research has focused on the use of Satellite Remote Sensing for studying ocean circulation utilizing both active microwave sensors (altimeters, scatterometers, imagers) and passive optical sensors (ocean color and sea-surface-temperature), as well as in the combination of passive/active (radiometer/radar) instruments.
Microbes interact among themselves and with the physical world. They respond to environmental changes in ways that shape the physical world in turn. I develop, apply, and integrate novel methods in microbial ecology and geochemistry to study these intricate relationships found in marine environments.
I study phytoplankton...the microscopic algae that give the ocean its greenish color and that photosynthesize, removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Specifically I'm interested in how light, nutrients, and temperature influence phytoplankton growth and taxonomic composition, including the development of "red tides" (harmful algal blooms).
Shoreline evolution; nearshore and beach processes; surf-zone and continental shelf sediment transport; wave-current interaction; sediment re-suspension; hydrodynamic and turbulence measurements in the field and laboratory; time-series analysis; tidal propagation in estuaries and lagoons; numerical model applications to coastal zone; operational oceanography; HFR Surface Radar measurements.
Most of the Earth's surface is hidden underwater, from the deep seafloor to wetland environments. Revealing the patterns and processes in these marine environments is the overarching theme of Scott's research group in marine geology and geophysics.
My primary research interests are focused on the flow dynamics on continental shelves, in marginal seas and in estuaries. This includes wind- and buoyancy-driven currents, transient and time-variable processes, long waves and wave-current interaction, mesoscale variability, and adjustment of waves and currents to topographic and coastline features. My research comprises numerical modeling and the analysis of observational data.