Email
ecanuel@vims.edu
Office
Chespeake Bay Hall N310, N317
Phone
(804) 684-7134, 7282

Elizabeth A. Canuel

Professor of Marine Science

B.S., 1981, Stonehill College, North Easton, MA, Chemistry.

Ph.D., 1992, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Marine Sciences

Research Interests
Current Projects
Selected Publications
Current Students
Past Students
Courses
Educational Activities
Faculty/Student Awards
Professional Committees
Collaborative Activities

Research Interests

My training and research interests lie in the area of marine organic geochemistry. Using chemical "signatures" present in environmental samples we can obtain information about the sources of organic matter important to freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems. This information can be present in elemental ratios, the presence of specific organic compounds, and the natural isotopic ratios of both biologically-important elements (C, N, S) and organic compounds. Collectively, these geochemical tools are termed "biomarkers". Important characteristics of biomarkers are: (1) their source specificity and (2) the stability of the compounds. Data obtained through these studies can provide insights into the sources and reactivity of organic materials produced within complex marine and freshwater ecosystems. This information can tell us, for example, whether production is primarily supported by phytoplankton, terrigenous or marsh vascular plants, submerged aquatic vegetation (e.g., seagrass), or inputs from the rivers draining into the estuary. The over-arching goal in my use of these geochemical tracers has been to identify key processes important in controlling the composition and cycling of particulate and sedimentary organic matter. [top]

Current Projects

Collaborative Research: Benthic Microalgal Regulation of Carbon and Nitrogen Turnover in Land margin Ecosystems: A Dual Stable Isotope Tracer Approach. Supported by: NSF DEB Ecosystems Program. C. Tobias (PI), J. Vallino, I. Anderson, E. Canuel.
Modeling Atlantic Menhaden in Support of Nutrient and Multispecies Management. R. Latour (PI), M. Brush and E. Canuel. Supported by: US EPA Chesapeake Bay Program.
Collaborative Research: Anthropogenic Impacts on Carbon Cycling in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: Changes in Source, Nature, and Age of Organic Carbon. Supported by: NSF DEB Ecosystems Program, E. Canuel (PI), S. Wakeham and T. Bianchi.
Collaborative Research: How Temporal Changes in River Discharge and Storms Affect the Source and Age Distribution of Sedimentary Organic Carbon Across a River-Dominated Margin. Supported by: NSF Ocean Sciences. T. Bianchi, B. McKee, M. Allison, E. Canuel, and S. Wakeham.

[top]

Selected Publications

Complete publications list available here.

Wakeham, S.G. and E.A. Canuel (2005) Degradation and preservation of organic matter in marine sediments. In: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry. Vol 2 Series: Reactions and Processes: Bio and Chemical Markers in Environmental Chemistry. John Volkman (Ed.), Springer-Verlag.

Pourmand, A., Marcantonio, F., Bianchi, T.S, Canuel, E., Waterson, E. and Schulz, H. (2005) Tracing Climate-Related Changes in Planktonic Community Structure and Deep-Ocean Circulation Patterns in the Arabian Sea. Geophysical Res. Letters. 32, L10610, doi:10.1029/2005GL022612.

Pohlman, J.W., E. A. Canuel, N. R. Chapman, G. D. Spence, M. J. Whiticar, R. B. Coffin (2005) The origin of thermogenic gas hydrates on the northern Cascadia Margin as inferred from isotopic (13C/12C and D/H) and molecular composition of hydrate and vent gas. Org. Geochem. 36: 703-716.

Arzayus, K. and E.A. Canuel (2005) Organic matter degradation in sediments of the York River estuary: effects of biological vs. physical mixing. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 69: 455-463.

Duffy, J.E., J.P. Richardson and E.A. Canuel (2003) Grazer diversity effects on ecosystem functioning in seagrass beds. Ecology Letters 6:637-645.

Zimmerman, A.R. and E.A. Canuel (2002) Historical progression of eutrophication in the mesohaline Chesapeake Bay: A sediment geochemical record. Limnology & Oceanography, 47:1084-1093.

Marcantonio, F., A. Zimmerman, Y. Xu and E. Canuel (2002) A Pb isotope record of mid-Atlantic US atmospheric Pb emissions in Chesapeake Bay sediments. Marine Chemistry, 77: 123- 132.

Cloern, J.E., E.A. Canuel and D. Harris (2002) Stable-isotopes of C and N in aquatic and terrestrical plants of the San Francisco Bay estuarine system. Limnology & Oceanography, 47:713-729.

Canuel, E.A. (2001) Relations between river flow, primary production and fatty acid composition of particulate organic matter in San Francisco and Chesapeake Bays: A multivariate approach. Organic Geochemistry, 32: 563-583.

Zimmerman, A.R. and E.A. Canuel. (2000) A geochemical record of eutrophication and anoxia in Chesapeake Bay sediments: anthropogenic influence on organic matter composition. Marine Chemistry, 69: 117-137.

[top]

Current Students

2002-present John Pohlman (Ph.D. candidate) Co-Advised with J. Bauer. Methane Biogeochemistry and Sulfate Reducing Bacteria Chemotaxonomy at Biogenic and Thermogenic Gas Hydrate Sites on the Northern Cascadia Margin off Vancouver Island.
2002-present Amanda Spivak (Ph.D. candidate) Co-advised with J. Emmett Duffy. The Effect of Trophic Structure and Biodiversity on Sediment Organic Carbon.
2003-present Amber Kozak (M.S.) Co-advised with I. Anderson. Fate of Macroalgal Organic Matter in a Shallow Coastal Lagoon: A Dual Isotope Tracer and Biomarker Approach.

[top]

Past Students

2006 Vicki Pilon (Ph.D.) Sources and Composition of Particulate Organic Matter in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, CA.
2005 Elizabeth Waterson (M.S.) Sources of Sedimentary Organic Matter in the Mississippi River and Adjacent Gulf of Mexico.
Present Position: VIMS Laboratory & Research Specialist.
2005 Christine Conrad (Ph.D.). Co-advised with Michael Kelly. Using Planar Oxides as a Novel Approach to Metal Ion Sorption Studies: From the Lab to the Field.
Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Penn State University.
2002 Krisa Arzayus (Ph.D.) Association and Partitioning of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons With Bound and Extractable Phases of Estuarine Sediments: A Lipid Biomarker Approach.
Present Position: Program Manager, NOAA, Office of Scientific Support, Climate Team.
2000 Andrew Zimmerman (Ph.D.) Organic Matter Composition of Sediments and the History of Eutrophication and Anoxia in the Mesohaline Chesapeake Bay.
Present Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida.
1999 Craig Tobias (Ph.D.) Co-advised with I. Anderson. Nitrate Reduction at the Groundwater Saltmarsh Interface.
Present Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

[top]

Courses Taught or Teaching (selected)

MSCI 501L. Fundamentals of Marine Science Lab, Coordinator and Instructor
MSCI 503. Field and Laboratory Methods in Marine Science, Co-Instructor
MSCI 548. Experimental Design in the Marine Science Laboratory, Co-Instructor
MSCI 524. Principles of Chemical Oceanography (with J. Bauer)
MSCI 627. Marine Organic Geochemistry
MSCI 698. Global Change (with J. Bauer)
MSCI 698. Advanced Readings in Sediment Biogeochemistry (with I. Anderson)
MSCI 698. Biogeochemistry (with I. Anderson, J. Bauer, H. Ducklow)

[top]

Other Educational Activities

Coordinator, Female Initiation into Research, Science and Technology.

[top]

Faculty/Student Awards

2006 Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, College of William and Mary
2004 Dean's Prize for the Advancement of Women in Marine Science, School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
2002 Class of 1964 Endowed Associate Professor of Marine Science
2001 William and Mary Alumni Fellowship Award for teaching
1999 Invited Participant, Chinese-American Frontiers of Science Symposium, Co-Sponsored by U.S. National Academy of Science and Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
1998 Invited Speaker, Gordon Research Conference on Organic Geochemistry
1998 Workshop participant, Future of Chemical Oceanography in the U.S., NSF
1997 Dean's Prize for the Advancement of Women in Marine Science, School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
1997 Best Paper Award in Organic Geochemistry, The Geochemical Society
1996 Member, Future of ASLO Committee
1995 National Science Foundation CAREER Grant Award, Ocean Sciences Division.

[top]

Professional Membership Committees

American Society Limnology & Ocenaography
American Geophysical Union
The Oceanography Society
Geochemical Society
Estuarine Research Federation

[top]

Collaborative Interdisciplinary Activities (with fellow VIMS faculty or others)

Effects of benthic biodiversity and food web structure on the accumulation and composition of organic carbon in eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed sediments. With J.Emmett Duffy (VIMS, Dept. of Biological Sciences)
Sources of organic carbon in Antarctic coastal waters. With Hugh Ducklow (VIMS, Dept. of Biological Sciences). Collaborator on Palmer Station LTER.
Contaminant-Organic Matter Interactions with R.M. Dickhut (Dept. Physical Sciences, VIMS)
Organic Matter-Mineral Interactions with M.J. Kelley (W&M Applied Sciences Dept.)
Benthic Food Web Dynamics with Linda Schaffner (Dept. Biological Sciences, VIMS)
Food Sources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, CA with J.E. Cloern, (USGS Menlo Park, CA)

[top]