The oceans are one of the biggest and most important resources on Earth. They cover more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface and are connected to vital weather and climatic patterns, a plethora of food sources and a wealth of economic activity.“What happens in the oceans impacts the entire planet,” says Lehigh biologist Michael Layden.
This is why Lehigh’s College of Arts and Sciences just launched Lehigh Oceans Research Center, created to focus on marine science and the most pressing questions facing the Earth’s oceans. Lehigh Oceans is both an acknowledgement of the strength of ocean research at Lehigh and a place to go deeper.
“You don’t need to have access to a coast line to have a vibrant research program in ocean science,” says Jill McDermott, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences, who is a geochemist and the inaugural director of the center. “The researchers associated with Lehigh Oceans are successful as individuals in our respective fields, and we hope if we combine our successes together, we’ll have even more scientific impact as a center.”
The field of ocean science has risen in global importance in recent years. There’s been a growing recognition of the urgent need to address the oceans’ health and to probe how the oceans are responding to climate change, pollution, acidification and rising sea levels. In 2021, the United Nations launched the UN Decade of Ocean Science to promote ocean science that will reverse the decline of oceans and help sustain marine ecosystems.
“Oceans are critical for the health of our planet,” says Santiago Herrera, assistant professor of biological sciences. “They play a fundamental role in regulating the Earth’s climate, feeding our population, producing goods and services, contributing to novel medications and providing energy alternatives to fossil fuels.”
The four Lehigh researchers affiliated with the center have already landed millions of dollars in research funding for their work studying ocean systems and the life within them. Lehigh Oceans will provide an official home to expand upon this work, attract new funding sources and create a vibrant community of interdisciplinary researchers that can include experts from all of Lehigh’s colleges.
Marine science is an inherently collaborative field, says McDermott, as many research questions naturally draw on different disciplines. Even the logistics of ocean research invite collaboration, as research groups often team up on field expeditions out to sea.
“Many research projects require cross disciplinary partnerships because the ocean is a complex system,” says Herrera, adding that he’s worked with geologists, engineers and physicists on various research projects and is a frequent collaborator with McDermott, among others at Lehigh.
“You need multiple insights to be able to study a system as complex as the oceans,” says microbial ecologist and biogeochemist John Paul Balmonte, assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences. He remembers that the core classes for his graduate work spoke to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, as they included physical, chemical, geological and biological oceanography. The researchers hope to foster an environment at Lehigh Oceans that will generate even more interdisciplinary collaboration, along with a culture of informal conversation and ideation for researchers at Lehigh, which can stimulate new research and dialogue across ocean science.
“When you convene a bunch of people with fairly diverse expertise, it naturally leads to more innovation,” says Balmonte.