Dharma Reyes-Macaya

Since I move from Chile to Bremen, the years passed in one sweet short breath. The PhD adventure started with the utopic idea of trying to reconstruct the geometry of the South East Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone (SE-Pacific OMZ) without having a good understanding of the paleoceanography proxies can help us with this scientific mission. Therefore, in 2017 with my thesis committee, we decided looking and understand in detail the best proxies that can be used to study the spatial and circulation variability of the SE-Pacific OMZ.

Part of the PhD project deal with study new bottom water oxygenation proxies that include i) the variability of the stable isotope signature of benthic foraminifera ii) redox trace element enrichments iii) I/Ca ratios in benthic foraminifera from different dissolved oxygen conditions at the South and Equatorial East Pacific.

During my research stay time in Edinburgh, I had the opportunity to perform from marine and river sediments, complete digestions and elemental composition analysis using mass spectrometry under the supervision of Dr Laetitia Pichevin and Steve Mowbray from the Grant Institute of Geosciences (Edinburgh University). As well, I join the Biogeochemistry group (members: Helge Winkelbauer, Kathy Cordova) from the Lyell Centre (Heriot-Watt University) under the supervision of Dr Babette Hoogakker. During my time there, I worked in the data set of the first manuscript of the PhD; we finish to write a cruise proposal to possible join future expeditions in the SE-Pacific.  As well, in collaboration of Dr Nicolas Clock (Geomar, Kiel), we performed several cleaning experiments to check the best cleaning protocol that can be used for I/Ca measurements in benthic foraminifera.

Dr Laetitia Pichevin and Babette Hoogakker are top paleoceanographers scientists leading the using and study of novel paleoceanography proxies. Steve Mowbray is a laboratory manager, guiding generations of researchers in the performance of complete digestion of sediments. To join the two groups for almost three months bring me not only the possibility to build new knowledge in inorganic biogeochemistry, but also the chance to exchange scientific and philosophical ideas, thinking about my future career and strengthen the collaboration with our partners from these two institutions.

Besides the work, I explored Edinburgh city by bike, visited the Island of Mull in the western coast of Scotland, do hiking with the working group and the family of my supervisor in the extinct volcano in the middle of Edinburgh city and the Peatlands. As well, I get the chance to join the biogeochemistry group at the Edinburgh Science Festival.

I am grateful for the opportunity of working in the last stage of my PhD thesis at the group of Laetitia and Babette. It was valuable for my personal and professional development. Thanks to GLOMAR and the BYRD the financial support. Besides, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. D. Hebbeln, Dr Babette Hoogakker, Dr Mahyar Mohtadi and Dr Gema Martínez-Méndez for allowing me to perform my research stay.

As well, acknowledge Clayton Soares, Dr Elisabeth Michel, Dr Michel Graco, Dr Ariana Bertin, Dr Laura Farias, Dr Carina Lange, Alejandro Avila, Wilson Carhuapoma, Paola Cardenas, Gerardo Garcia, Benjamin Sien, Jorge Cardich, Victor Aramayo, Dr Michael Sicca, Alex Wülbers, Jens Weiser, Volker Diekamp, Monica Fuentes Poza and family Reyes-Macaya for their support during the IMARPE Crio expedition Dec. 2018, Chilean rivers-field trip, CNRC and GeoB sampling party and the valuable help in logistics issues.