The oceans play a crucial role in the regulation of Earth’s climate. Our faculty study the stability of our climate system, as well as feedbacks between Earth’s changing climate and marine ecosystems – from shallow coasts to the deep sea, and from tropical to polar latitudes. This research encompasses small-scale studies of hard to observe processes, regional-scale exploration of climate sensitive ecosystems such as those in the Arctic and Antarctic, long-term observations of critical coastal habitats, and everything in between. Our faculty are working on questions ranging from how sea-level rise or melting ice affects coastal systems, to how microbial processes regulate planetary climate. In undertaking this research, UGA faculty use tools from chemical, biological, geological and physical oceanography and combine field observations with satellite imagery and models to provide a fully interdisciplinary approach.
