Earlier this week, EAPS announced that marine biogeochemist Andrew Babbin will join the department in January 2017 as an Associate Professor in the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate.
Currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Babbin focuses on using microfluidic techniques to examine chemical controls of the marine nitrogen cycle. Read more about his work and new position below:
Andrew Babbin is a marine biogeochemist, working on the nitrogen cycle, and especially on the processes that return fixed nitrogen in the ocean back to N2. This work is relevant, for instance for understanding the controls on marine productivity and the ocean’s potential for storing carbon. In his short career, Andrew has already made some major contributions to this field, especially with regard to the relative contribution of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and canonical denitrification to the total fixed nitrogen loss in the ocean (e.g., Babbin et al. 2014). He aims to expand his biogeochemical studies by using microfluidic devices to reproduce a variety of chemical conditions simultaneously and finely control the chemistry experienced by microbes.
In addition to opening exciting new lines of research at EAPS—at the interface of physical-, chemical-, and (micro)biological oceanography and climate—his recruitment strengthens partnerships across campus (e.g. with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and beyond (e.g. with the MIT-WHOI Joint Program).
Babbin received a BS degree from Columbia University (2008) and his doctoral degree (2014) from Princeton University. Since November 2014 he has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MIT in Civil and Environmental Engineering with Roman Stocker (now at ETH Zürich) and Otto Cordero learning about microfluidic devices.