Dr Andrew Rees

Andy Rees is a  senior biogeochemist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and, with Hermann Bange, is the lead investigator of the PETRA project.

My research interests revolve around the biological cycling of nutrients and the flux of greenhouse gases in estuarine, coastal and oceanic waters.

I use state of the art analytical instrumentation and procedures to investigate the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on biogeochemical cycles and on the exchange of trace gases between water and atmosphere.

During the NERC/Defra UK Ocean Acidification Programme, myself and colleagues showed how the production of nitrous oxide by nitrification was sensitive to the increasing  acidification of Polar Ocean waters. During PETRA we aim to extend this analysis to examine how ocean acidification and increasing temperature and light might affect the air-sea exchange of climatically active gases nitrous oxide, methane, carbon monoxide and dimethylsulphide.

PETRA is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and by NERC.