Abstract:

A strain of the marine coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi isolated from the California Current was grown over a series of temperatures from 10°C to 28°C at CO₂ partial pressures of either 500 or 1000 ppm and under either nutrient-replete or nitrate-limited conditions. At the optimal temperature of 20°C the growth rate of E. huxleyi was about 20% higher at 1000 than 500 ppm pCO₂. Ratios of calcium-carbonate carbon to organic carbon were about 50% higher at 500 versus 1000 ppm pCO₂ at most temperatures. Ratios of photosynthesis to dark respiration were higher at 1000 versus 500 ppm pCO₂ and under nutrient-replete versus nitrate-limited conditions. Ratios of particulate organic carbon to particulate nitrogen at nitrate-limited growth rates equal to half the nutrient-replete growth rates at the same temperature and pCO₂ were unimodal functions of temperature and varied by almost an order of magnitude.

Bio:

Dr. Edward Laws obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard University in 1972. He served as an instructor in the oceanography department at Florida State University from 1971 to 1974. Subsequently, he joined the oceanography department at the University of Hawaii in 1974 and eventually became a professor of oceanography in 1984. In 2005, he relocated to Louisiana State University (LSU) and assumed the role of dean at the School of the Coast & Environment until 2008. Currently, he holds a professorship in the Department of Environmental Sciences at LSU.

Dr. Laws has made notable contributions to phytoplankton ecology, water pollution and climate change, with over 220 refereed papers published in esteemed scientific journals. Additionally, he is the esteemed author of two books: "Mathematical Methods for Oceanographers" and "Aquatic Pollution." The latter, now in its 4^th edition, has been translated into both Japanese and Chinese.

Recognized for his exceptional work, Dr. Laws received the Best Paper Award from the Organic Geochemistry Division of the Geochemical Society in 1995. Furthermore, in 2007, he was honored with the Tyge Christensen Prize for his outstanding algal paper in Phycologia. His expertise and contributions were further acknowledged with the Qingdao Award from the Qingdao Municipal Government in both 2012 and 2015, Friendship Award from the Government of China in 2018.

On July 23, 2013, Dr. Laws delivered the Nanqiang Lecture titled "The Earth's Changing Climate: Natural Cycles and Human Effects" at Xiamen University.

MEL Visiting Fellow, Xiamen University, 2019 and 2020

Keynote speaker, Aoshan Forum, Qingdao, China, 11 August , 2020; First International forum on Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions, November 14, 2022, Xiamen University, China; World Marine Science and Technology Conference, December 13, 2022, Qingdao, China