Robert Letscher
Assistant Professor of Chemical Oceanography
Earth Sciences &
Assistant Director, Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory
I am a marine biogeochemist meaning I work to uncover and quantify the interrelated chemical, biological, and physical processes occurring within the ocean that result in transformations of the important bioactive elements carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen. My focus is understanding the production, transformation, and fate of biologically produced organic matter and the related cycling of chemical nutrients in the sea. My research program studies these processes at the largest scales – the global ocean, annual to millennial. I am particularly interested in studying the low nutrient ecosystems of the ocean subtropics. Covering 60% of the Earth’s surface they are the world’s largest biome, responsible for a quarter of all biological productivity. My group uses a variety of techniques and tools including collection of new chemical observations at sea, development of ocean biogeochemistry within Earth System Models, laboratory experiments, and analysis of data from autonomous platforms such as BGC-Argo.
Research Interests
- Biogeochemistry
- Ocean Modeling
- Oceanography
Courses Taught
- ESCI 400: Freshman Field Seminar
- ESCI 501: Introduction to Oceanography
- ESCI 747/847: Aqueous Geochemistry
- ESCI 752/852: Chemical Oceanography
- INCO 590: Student Research Experience
- INCO 790: Advanced Research Experience
Selected Publications
Liang, Z., Letscher, R. T., & Knapp, A. N. (2023). Global Patterns of Surface Ocean Dissolved Organic Matter Stoichiometry. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 37(12). doi:10.1029/2023gb007788
Wang, W. -L., Fu, W., Le Moigne, F. A. C., Letscher, R. T., Liu, Y., Tang, J. -M., & Primeau, F. W. (2023). Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data.. Nature, 624(7992), 579-585. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06772-4
Letscher, R. T., Moore, J. K., Martiny, A. C., & Lomas, M. W. (2023). Biodiversity and Stoichiometric Plasticity Increase Pico‐Phytoplankton Contributions to Marine Net Primary Productivity and the Biological Pump. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 37(8). doi:10.1029/2023gb007756
Liang, Z., McCabe, K., Fawcett, S. E., Forrer, H. J., Hashihama, F., Jeandel, C., . . . Knapp, A. N. (2022). A global ocean dissolved organic phosphorus concentration database (DOPv2021).. Sci Data, 9(1), 772. doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01873-7
Letscher, R. T., Wang, W., Liang, Z., & Knapp, A. N. (2022). Regionally Variable Contribution of Dissolved Organic Phosphorus to Marine Annual Net Community Production. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 36(12). doi:10.1029/2022gb007354
Letscher, R. T., Primeau, F., & Moore, J. K. (2016). Nutrient budgets in the subtropical ocean gyres dominated by lateral transport. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, 9(11), 815-+. doi:10.1038/NGEO2812
Letscher, R. T., & Moore, J. K. (2015). Preferential remineralization of dissolved organic phosphorus and non-Redfield DOM dynamics in the global ocean: Impacts on marine productivity, nitrogen fixation, and carbon export. GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, 29(3), 325-340. doi:10.1002/2014GB004904
Letscher, R. T., Moore, J. K., Teng, Y. -C., & Primeau, F. (2015). Variable C: N: P stoichiometry of dissolved organic matter cycling in the Community Earth System Model. BIOGEOSCIENCES, 12(1), 209-221. doi:10.5194/bg-12-209-2015
Letscher, R. T., Hansell, D. A., Carlson, C. A., Lumpkin, R., & Knapp, A. N. (2013). Dissolved organic nitrogen in the global surface ocean: Distribution and fate. GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, 27(1), 141-153. doi:10.1029/2012GB004449
Letscher, R. T., Hansell, D. A., & Kadko, D. (2011). Rapid removal of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon over the Eurasian shelves of the Arctic Ocean. MARINE CHEMISTRY, 123(1-4), 78-87. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2010.10.002
Most Cited Publications