MARINE BIOGEOCHEM LAB
University of South Carolina -Columbia
CURRENT PROJECTS
NASA/NSF: Elucidating spatial and temporal variability in particle export using short lived radionuclides, 238U:234Th, as part of the EXPORTS (https://oceanexports.org/) and GEOTRACES Programs (https://www.geotraces.org/)
NSF: Forams and Sediment traps
Three decades of foraminiferal assemblages in the Santa Barbara Basin provide a link between present and past climates and Foraminiferal Ecological Response to Ocean Conditions in the Northwest Pacific Ocean
NOAA: Determining the sources and composition of organic matter and nutrients using a suite of biomarkers
ABOUT ME
I am currently a Senior Associate Dean for College Initiatives and Interdisciplinary Programs and a Carolina Distinguished Professor & Endowed Chair in Marine Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of South Carolina. As a Senior Associate Dean, I have direct oversight of a number of interdisciplinary units and institutes as well as college initiatives that encompass faculty scholarship grants, fellowships, and mentorship programs. My research focuses on the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus and carbon and how these elements are influenced by both natural and anthropogenic processes. Over the past two decades, I've authored or co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed articles, including lead author publications in the journals Science and Nature and have been continuously supported by substantial, multi-year research and education grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among others. My research honors include the Early Career Award in Oceanography from AGU and Fulbright and Marie Curie Fellowships. In 2015 I was named an AAAS Fellow, and in 2017, was named an ASLO Sustaining Fellow. I love to teach and mentor students and received the University of South Carolina’s Distinguished Professor of the Year Award, the SC SEC Faculty Achievement Award, and was named the UofSC Outstanding Faculty Advisor of the Year. In 2014, I was honored to receive the Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring from the Biogeosciences Section of AGU and the 2021 Oceanography Society's Mentoring Award for Excellence and Innovation in Mentoring the Next Generation of Ocean Scientists. I am regularly called upon by national and international scientific and policy agencies and currently serve as the Chair of the Ocean Studies Board and a member of Sciencemoms, a group founded to help moms concerned about climate change who are seeking more knowledge and how they can help. I earned a B.S. in chemistry and oceanography from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program in 1999.
RESEARCH
My research examines the mechanisms of aquatic particle formation, export, and burial and how the composition of these particles changes both temporally and spatially. Much of this work focuses specifically on phosphorus and carbon biogeochemistry, but includes other elements and compounds ranging from mercury to the neurotoxin, domoic acid. We use a variety of geochemical techniques in our laboratory, including radiochemistry and mass spectrometry. My research sites span the globe, from coastal South Carolina to Venezuela to South Africa.
PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED
* Denotes my graduate student or my postdoc as author, **Denotes my undergraduate student as author
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*Szewczyk, CJ, Smith, E, Benitez-Nelson, CR (2023) Temperature sensitivity of oxygen demand varies as a function of organic matter source, Frontiers in Marine Science, 10 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1133336.
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Benitez-Nelson, CR, McNeal, KS, Jones, WJ (2003) Improving Retention of Underrepresented Groups in the Geosciences through an Intensive First-Year Experience at the University of South Carolina Oceanography Magazine, 36(4), https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.108.
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Motta, LC, Blum, JD, Popp, BN, Umhau, BP, Benitez-Nelson, CR, Close, HG, Washburn, SJ, Drazen, HC (2022). Mercury Isotopic Evidence for the Importance of Particles as a Source of Mercury to Marine Organisms, PNAS, 19 (44) e2208183119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208183119.
*McCabe, K, Smith, E, Lang, S, Osburn, C, Benitez-Nelson, C (2021) Particulate and dissolved organic matter in storm water runoff influences oxygen demand in urbanized headwater catchments, Environmental Science and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04502 .
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Buesseler, KO, Benitez-Nelson, CR. Roca-Marti, M, Wyatt, AM, Laure Resplandy, L, Clevenger, SJ, Drysdale, JA., Estapa, ML, Pike, S, Umhau, BP (2020) High resolution spatial and temporal measurements of particulate organic carbon flux using thorium-234 in the NE Pacific Ocean during the EXPORTS Program, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 8 (1): 030. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.030
*Sarno, CT, Benitez-Nelson, CR, Ziolkowski, LA, Hendy, IL, *Davis, CV, Tappa, EJ, Thunell, RC (2020) The Impacts of Flood, Drought, and Turbidites on Organic Carbon Burial over the Past 2,000 years in the Santa Barbara Basin, California, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35, e2020PA003849. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA003849
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*Davis, CV, Benitez-Nelson CR (2020) Evidence for rapid trace element alteration of planktic foraminiferal shells from the Panama Basin: Manganese adsorption during vertical transport. Marine Micropaleontology, 157, 101872 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2020.101872.
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*Bell, DW, Pellechia, P, Ingall, E.D., Benitez-Nelson, CR (2020) Resolving marine dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) composition in a coastal estuary, North Inlet, South Carolina. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(11), 27872-2799. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11552
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OVERVIEW OF COURSES TAUGHT
I take great pride in every course they teach. While the subject matter may vary between classes, each curriculum is designed to ensure students understand the key concepts and gain valuable critical thinking skills that can be applied to other courses and life outside of the classroom.
MSCI 101: INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY
Origin and evolution of the oceans, plate tectonics, ocean circulation, waves and tides, seawater and sediment composition, and influences on biology. Three lecture and three laboratory hours per week. Scheduled field trips required.
Introduction to radioactivity and the use of radionuclides to study environmental processes, including age-dating and biogeochemical cycling in aquatic systems. Two lectures per week.
MSCI 782: CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Chemical characteristics of sea water, distribution of properties, and chemical processes in the oceans.
OUTREACH
SCIENCE MOMS
We’re a group of nonpartisan climate scientists and mothers, working to give our children the planet they deserve. Science Moms was founded to help mothers who are concerned about their childrens’ planet, but aren’t confident in their knowledge about climate change or how they can help.