Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson

Dr. Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Professor of Marine Biogeochemistry

Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Professor of Marine Biogeochemistry at the University of South Carolina

Claudia operating a CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) instrument aboard the R/V Kilo Moana during a ship-borne study in May 2015.

Education and experience

2012 – Present: College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor in Marine Science, Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina

2010 – 2012: Professor, Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina

2006 – 2010: Associate Professor with tenure, Department of Geology, University of South Carolina

2002 – 2006: Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of South Carolina

1998 – 2001: SOEST Young Investigator & NOAA/UCAR Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate and Global Change, University of Hawaii.

1999: Ph.D. Oceanography, MIT/WHOI Joint Program

1992: B.S. Chemistry and Oceanography, University Of Washington

My interests

My interests focus on the biogeochemical cycling and export fluxes of carbon and nutrients, global climate change in past and present day environments, and utilization of cosmogenic and uranium series radioisotopes to study ecological processes. I am avid soccer player and love to spend time with my husband, two children, and dog.

How I became a scientist

I never had any plans to become an oceanographer. While I excelled in math and science in school, I only decided to major in chemistry because I was good at it and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in life. I knew I didn’t want to work in a lab all day. In my junior year of college I took an Introduction to Oceanography class on a lark – and fell in love. My Professor at the time took me aside and explained that I could do chemistry in the ocean AND spend plenty of time in the field. I was hooked and have never looked back. I obtained a second degree in Oceanography and was able to conduct research in laboratories at UW as well as in an internship at Woods Hole. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue a graduate degree, but after spending a year abroad and working, I realized I wanted to go back to school. I met my future graduate advisor as an intern, and that is how I ended up in the Joint Program. In my current research, I combine my love of chemistry with a suite of projects that focus on how material makes if way from the surface to the seafloor.

How my research benefits society

Understanding the mechanisms that influence the temporal and spatial magnitude of how material is transported from the sea surface to the seafloor, is of global importance for a variety of reasons. Organisms play a key role in the transformation of carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide or CO2, into biomass via photosynthesis. As the material sinks through the ocean, it carries the organic carbon trapped as biomass to depth, where it is removed from atmospheric exchange on the order of 1000s of years. This process, known as the biological pump, is a major mechanism by which atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, is removed from the atmosphere. Without the biological pump, it is estimated that atmospheric CO2 concentrations would be about 40% higher than what it currently is today. In addition to carbon, sinking particles also carry a number of important elements to the deep ocean. These particles become part of the community of organisms that make up the base of up the marine food chain (called the benthic foodweb) or they are buried in sediments. These particles can play an important role in the contamination of seafood with heavy metals, such as Mercury, and algal blooms with harmful toxins, such as the neurotoxin domoic acid.

In 2006, I received AGU’s Ocean Sciences Early Career Award in recognition of significant contributions to and promise in the ocean sciences. I was named USC’s Distinguished Professor of the Year in 2013, and I was awarded the 2014 Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring from the Biogeosciences Section of AGU.