Alex Moosbrugger ’24
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nutrient Consumption in the Southern Ocean During the Last 1 Million Years
The aim of my project was to analyze nitrogen isotopes in fossilized single-celled organisms called foraminifera from the Southern Ocean in order to gain an understanding of the region’s nutrient makeup. The samples I analyzed ranged from 325,000-493,000 years old. Specifically, my job was to identify and collect/sort two species of foraminifera found in core samples drilled from the Southern Ocean seafloor in 2019. After sorting these foraminifera, I sent them to my mentor, who processed them using methods created by the Sigman Lab to determine the ratios of nitrogen isotopes present. We compared these data to similar data from other time periods to contextualize our findings. I found this work to be intellectually interesting and a fun introduction to laboratory science and research. I learned how to work in a lab, how to analyze historical geoscience data, and about the possible role of nutrients in influencing climatic shifts over the past 500,000 years. This experience motivated me to incorporate more geosciences background into my study of environmental engineering, look for more opportunities to do field research, and possibly even pursue a geological engineering certificate.
2021
Climate and Environmental Science
Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University
Daniel Sigman, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences; Jesse Farmer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Geosciences