Dr. Natasha Dimova, associate professor in The University of Alabama Department of Geological Sciences, recently spent three weeks in Qingdao, China, as part of the Frontiers Forum, an international effort to increase collaborative studies of coastal hydrogeochemistry.
Ocean University of China hosted the workshop, which focused on “blue carbon,” the term for carbon captured by Earth’s ocean and coastal ecosystems. According to NOAA, tidal marshes, mangroves and sea grasses along coastal areas provide a natural way of reducing the impact of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere through carbon sequestration. Despite being smaller in size than typical forests, these coastal ecosystems take in carbon at a faster rate.
As part of the Frontiers Forum, Dimova presented three topics to the participants, most notably a new study highlighted in Eos that reveals how microbial life is threatened by human activity in subterranean estuaries. These estuaries are vital zones of coastal ocean ecosystems where terrestrial groundwater and seawater intermix. The remainder of the forum highlighted other researchers discussing critical issues concerning coastal hydrogeochemisty and urged teachers and students to learn more about the carbon cycle and ecological impacts of coastal areas.
The workshop was attended by more than 30 representatives from universities and research institutions across China, as well as an international group of researchers that included Dimova and others from Florida State University; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of Hawaii and University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Their time was spent in daily research talks and discussing opportunities for future funding and collaborations.
Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences director Song Qin emphasized to attendees that coastal zones and their development are part of a national scientific strategy for environmental protection, ecological security and sustainable resources. The National Science Foundation of China funds these international collaborative efforts to promote more in-depth academic cooperation and research between scholars in China and across the world.
The travel grant for the Frontiers Forum on Blue Carbon was awarded to Professor Bo-Chao Xu at OUC. The forum in Yantai and the visit to the Yellow River Delta Ecology Research Station of Coastal Wetland were part of the award.