EPSP Connects - October 15th

[Roberto Fernández]

Dear colleagues, 

This month's AGU EPSP Connects features Dr. Julie Hope from the Scottish Oceans Institue, University of St. Andrews. Dr. Hope will give a science talk on the role of biofillms in sediment and contaminant transport, and biogeochemical fluxes. We look forward to seeing you there. 

Registration Link: https://psu.zoom.us/meeting/register/RPqawR6iQZ6ZjPPhTHzDOQ#/registration

Speaker: Dr. Julie Hope

Title: Benthic Biofilms Under Global Change: Implications for sediment stability, contaminant transport, and biogeochemical fluxes.

Abstract: Benthic biofilms play a critical role in estuarine environments by stabilising and trapping fine sediments through their cohesive surface layers and sticky extracellular matrix. Beyond shaping sediment dynamics, they modulate the exchange of nutrients and gases across the sediment–water interface, thereby playing a vital role in benthic–pelagic coupling. Yet these essential functions are increasingly under pressure from chemical pollution and climate-driven warming.

This talk highlights new insights into how benthic biofilm communities and their processes respond to global change. First, I will present findings showing that well-developed biofilms can trap and retain microplastics (MPs) under flow, influencing their transport from land to sea. I will also examine how co-occurring contaminants, such as heavy metals, affect this retention capacity. Second, I will share results from experiments demonstrating that extreme temperature regimes and additional stressors can disrupt biofilms’ role in regulating nutrient, gas and sediment exchange processes.

Together, these findings reveal how global change may reshape biofilms’ critical functions at the sediment–water interface.

Short Bio: Dr. Julie Hope is Lecturer at the Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. After earning her PhD at the University of St Andrews, she held postdoctoral and research fellow roles across environmental and ecology groups in Stuttgart, Auckland, and Hull.
Her interdisciplinary research explores how coastal sediments and benthic biota exchange materials, including sediment particles, plastics, nutrients, gases and energy with their surroundings. She investigates the physical, chemical, and biological drivers that regulate these fluxes and examines how global change pressures (warming, heatwaves, pollution) reshape them. The dynamics she studies have critical implications for coastal ecosystem function, such as sediment stability, carbon cycling and storage, and the resilience of coastal ecosystems.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Roberto Fernández and the EPSP Connects Team

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Roberto Fernández, PhD (he/él)
Rob...@psu.edu

Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Institute of Energy and the Environment Faculty Member

Penn State University

Associate Editor

Geomorphica (www.geomorphica.org)

#RepresentationMatters
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Website: https://sites.google.com/view/geomoRF
Zoom: https://psu.zoom.us/my/roberto.fernandez