CAREER: Leveraging benthic foraminiferal biogeography to recognize ecosystem responses to climate change and engage first-generation students in scientific inquiry

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This project aims to understand how ancient ocean ecosystems were altered by past warming events that serve as analogs for future global environmental change. By analyzing both modern and ancient marine sedimentary records, PI Belanger will determine the range of ecosystem changes possible with future warming and identify ocean regions that are most vulnerable to its negative impacts, including the loss of oceanic oxygen. This assessment is important for the maintenance of economically valuable marine resources. Further, this work will identify ocean regions important for CO2 storage during past warming and improve our ability to forecast how the global carbon cycle will respond to ongoing climate change, which is critical for formulating national climate-related polices. PI Belanger will mentor first-generation college students in research related to this project via a structured program developed through this grant, which will enhance their retention in STEM fields and, thus, broaden our future STEM workforce. The delivery of organic matter produced in the surface water to the deep ocean fluctuates with climate change, which affects the amount of CO2 stored in the ocean as well as the distribution of oxygen and organisms. Single-celled organisms, such as benthic foraminifera, living on the ocean floor vary depending on the organic matter and oxygen available, thus their fossilized remains preserved in ocean sediment cores can be used to reconstruct these environmental factors over time. This project will create a global database of modern and fossil benthic foraminifera, quantify the relationships between benthic foraminifera and modern oceanic conditions, and apply those relationships to marine sedimentary core records to reconstruct spatial patterns in oceanic changes during past warming events. This data-driven project will provide accessible research experiences to first-generation college students and create a supportive community through a newly-developed program which will broaden participants’ mentor networks and provide skills-training needed to pursue advanced STEM education.This statement is non-editable and added to every proposal Abstract once it has been saved in eJacket. This statement is viewable after the Abstract has been saved, and is read-only.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.