The Hardison Lab, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
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Welcome to the Coastal Biogeochemistry Lab!

Coastal marine ecosystems receive nutrient and organic matter inputs from diverse sources, making these sites of intense and complex biogeochemical cycling.  The aim of this lab is to understand the dynamic processes influencing carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling within coastal systems and the impacts of human and climatic processes on these cycles.  The lab's research approach combines novel isotopic and organic geochemical techniques in both experimental and field settings to study the sources and fates of C and N in estuarine and marine ecosystems and the role of  microbes in processing these nutrients.  So far, Amber's research has demonstrated the key buffering role that microbes play, both in terms of C and N retention in microbial biomass and N release through novel processes, such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox).
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A number of analytical instruments are used in the Hardison lab, including:
  • nutrient autoanalyzer for dissolved nutrients
  • membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS) for N2  and O2
  • elemental analyzer for C and N content of solid samples
  • gas chromatograph (GC-FID) for lipid analyses
  • GC-mass spectrometer (GC-MSD) for lipid analyses
  • DIC analyzer
  • oxygen microprofiling system
  • temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen probes

Recent News in the Hardison Lab

November, 2017: PhD Assistantship in Marine Biogeochemistry available

December, 2016: Nick Reyna graduates with his MS!


October, 2016: New paper on Arctic N cycling published in Nature Communications!

May, 2015: Amber's new paper is in press at Geochmica et Cosmochimica Acta.

April, 2015: Nick Reyna presents his first research poster at the Texas Bays & Estuaries Meeting

January, 2015:  Welcome to grad student Nick Reyna who has arrived in Port A from his semester in Austin.


Interested in joining the lab?

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Hardison Lab, please get in touch with Amber Hardison.  Inquiries are welcome from high school, undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and volunteers.  Please visit the Research page for more information about current projects.

If you are considering being a graduate student in this lab, please first visit this site for information about graduate school at UTMSI.  Note that applications are usually due in early December.

If you are thinking of participating in the UTMSI Semester by the Sea program, you should consider doing research in the Hardison lab. You can visit the People page to see what research previous SbtS students have conducted and the Research page for more information on current projects.

UTMSI has an excellent summer REU program for undergraduates.  Please visit this site for more information.
  Note that applications are due in February.

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