Stephanie Day

PhD Title: How Do Organic Nutrients Sustain Shelf Seas Productivity? 

I am a PhD researcher specialising in how organic nutrients sustain shelf sea productivity. My research aims to characterise dissolved organic nutrient pools and examine how these are used by coastal phytoplankton communities.

To investigate my research aims, I will collect and analyse field samples using analytical chemistry techniques and microbiological experiments. These methods will contribute towards unravelling the interactions between organic nutrients and phytoplankton in the Western English Channel coastal environment. My PhD is funded by the Marine Research Plymouth partnership and co-supervised by Dr Katherine Helliwell (MBA), Professor Mark Fitzsimons (University of Plymouth) and Dr Andy Rees (Plymouth Marine Laboratory).

During my MSci Environmental Science at the University of East Anglia, I researched how additions of inorganic nutrients to coastal water samples influenced chlorophyll concentration. My atmospheric chemistry internship, master’s year studying at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science at the University of Tasmania and recent BIO-CARBON research expedition have nurtured my desire to pursue a marine science research career.