Leah May Ver
Professor
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
The University of British Columbia
Canada
Biography
Lecturer, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2003 to now Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1999-2001 Ph.D. Chemical Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1998 Thesis: Global Kinetic Models of the Coupled C, N, P and S Biogeochemical Cycles: Implications for Global Environmental Change Adviser: Dr. Fred T. Mackenzie, Professor of Oceanography M.S. Agricultural Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1989 B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines, 1979 Lecturer, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2003 to now Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1999-2001 Ph.D. Chemical Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1998 Thesis: Global Kinetic Models of the Coupled C, N, P and S Biogeochemical Cycles: Implications for Global Environmental Change Adviser: Dr. Fred T. Mackenzie, Professor of Oceanography M.S. Agricultural Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1989 B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines, 1979
Research Interest
My research focus is on gaining a better understanding of the behavior of the global oceans (including the coastal oceans) under perturbation from environmental and climate change, particularly that of its biogeochemical processes, its role in regulating climate change, and the resulting feedback mechanisms, via the study of the coupled biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and other micronutrients. Further, my goal is to understand the human dimensions of environmental change, specifically in the coastal margin where the land and oceans interact, in collaboration with research scientists in fields of earth and ocean science, soil science, economics, terrestrial ecology, climate science, and sociology. Some major results from my previous research include: (1) quantification of how the human-induced N and P fertilization of terrestrial ecosystems ("greening of the Earth") translate into effects downstream on the productivity and burial of organic carbon in the coastal zone, leading to a sink of anthropogenic CO2 [Mackenzie et al., 1998a; Mackenzie et al., 1995; Mackenzie et al., 1998b; Mackenzie et al., 1993; Ver et al., 1994b]; (2) reconstruction of the history of atmospheric CO2 growth and the fate of anthropogenic CO2 during the past 300 years demonstrating that there is no €œmissing CO2€Â [Mackenzie et al., 1998b; Ver et al., 1999]; (3) first global assessment of the quantitative role of the coastal zone as a source or sink of atmospheric CO2 during the past 300 years [Mackenzie et al., 1998a; Mackenzie et al., 1998b; Ver et al., 1999]; (4) assessment of how changes in the thermohaline circulation of the ocean owing to global warming can affect the air-sea exchange of CO2 in the coastal zone [Mackenzie et al., 2000], and (5) development of preliminary models of the interactions between the coupled biogeochemical cycles of C-N-P and micronutrient trace metals [Ver et al., 1994a].
