Matt Horn
Profile Page
Educational Background
B.S. Science of Earth Systems - Oceanography - Honors in Research
PhD Oceanography
Cornell University
URI - GSO
2004
Areas of Specialization
Research
My current research interests focus on a paleoceanographic approach utilizing stable nitrogen isotopes. The isotopic composition of N bound within diatom microfossils is a potentially powerful tool for determining past nutrient cycling and its relationship to climate change. Polar diatom species are currently being cultured in environmental chambers in order to quantify the relationships between the isotopic composition of diatom biomass N, diatom frustule-bound N, and the dissolved nitrate in the water upon which the diatoms grew. These experimentally determined relationships will be used to estimate changes in past surface nutrient conditions from diatom-bound N isotope profiles of Southern Ocean cores. Multidisciplinary in nature, this paleoceanographic approach combines biological culturing and chemical techniques to resolve past climate from the geologic record. Previous research at GSO included work in the field of air-sea gas exchange. Laboratory experiments aided in the development of a novel gas tension device while field-testing proved its usefulness, in situ. I entered GSO in 2004 and am currently a PhD candidate working under Dr. Rebecca Robinson.Publications:
McNeil, C., E. D'Asaro, B. Johnson, M. Horn. 2006. A Gas Tension Device with Response Times of Minutes. American Meteorological Society. Vol. 23. pp. 1539-1558.
Brooks, I.M. et al. 2008. Physical Exchanges at the Air-Sea Interface – UK-SOLAS Field Measurements. American Meteorological Society, In Press.
Significant Contributions:
McNeil, C. D. Katz, R. Wanninkhof, B. Johnson. 2005. Continuous shipboard sampling of gas tension, oxygen, and nitrogen. Deep-Sea Research I. Vol. 52. pp. 1767-1785.
