Sam is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences and the Oxford Martin School Programme on Monitoring Ocean Ecosystems.

His research to date has focused on how marine phytoplankton responds to warming and the implications for carbon cycling in the ocean. With this in mind, Sam is interested in techniques to improve our monitoring of these essential phytoplankton communities.

After completing his DPhil research at the University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Sam joined the Monitoring Ocean Ecosystems Programme to carry out fundamental experiments aimed at testing a novel electrochemical sensing technique for distinguishing different phytoplankton cell types. This technique could provide a powerful tool in autonomous marine observations, where there is currently a lack of detailed and quantitative spatial and temporal data on how phytoplankton populations are shifting in response to environmental perturbations across the global ocean. Gaining better observational data on how phytoplankton communities are responding to climate change is essential for understanding the implications for the key ecosystems services these organisms provide.