Oscar Sosa
University of Puget Sound, WA·Earth & Environmental Science
The open ocean's surface waters release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. This was long a puzzle, because methane was thought to form only in places without oxygen.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Microbiology & Immunology
Ecology & Evolution
- Topics
aerobic methane production
marine methane
methylphosphonate
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Test whether methane made from methylamine and methane made from methylphosphonate in high-molecular-weight dissolved organic matter carry distinct stable carbon isotope signatures.
- Grow diverse marine bacterial isolates, including those adapted to nutrient-poor and nutrient-rich waters, to test their ability to convert dissolved organic matter methylamines into methane.
- Profile methane, ethylene, carbon isotopes and organic methyl compounds in the water column of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre along 158°W north of Station ALOHA.
- Measure methane production rates with isotope tracers, C-P lyase enzyme activity, and the abundance and expression of C-P lyase versus aminotransferase genes.
- Use metatranscriptomics, which reads the genes microbes are actively expressing, to track how natural North Pacific microbial communities change their metabolism when dissolved organic matter is added.
More about the research
Scientists have since found that some microbes can turn organic matter into methane even when oxygen is present. This project asks whether the nutrient that is in shortest supply determines which of these microbial pathways makes the methane.
Why it matters
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas, and the open ocean is a natural source of it. Knowing which microbes and nutrients drive methane production in nutrient-poor seas could make estimates of ocean methane emissions more accurate. This understanding could also inform how ocean methane release might shift as nutrient conditions change.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Angelicque White
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Earth & Environmental Science
Sustain time-resolved hydrographic, biogeochemical and biological measurements at Station ALOHA through ten five-day cruises per year plus moored platforms, extending the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre climatology to 40 years.
Winifred Johnson
University of North Carolina Wilmington, NC·Earth & Environmental Science
Identify which marine microbial groups produce which osmolytes under nitrogen stress by pairing osmolyte measurements with transcriptomics in laboratory cultures.
Angela Knapp
Texas A&M University-College Station, TX·Earth & Environmental Science
Measure dissolved organic nutrients and nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in southwest Pacific seawater to build seasonal delta 15N budgets, isotope-based accounts of how much newly fixed nitrogen sinks to the deep ocean.
The school
University of Puget Sound: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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