Dr. Adina Paytan is a Research Scientist at the
University of California, Santa Cruz.
The
Paytan Biogeochemistry Lab is a part
of the
Institute of Marine Science and the Departments of
Earth and Planetary Sciences and
Ocean Sciences. Her group's primary research interests
lie in the fields of biogeochemistry, chemical oceanography and paleoceanography, with a particular interest
in phosphorus sources and cycling. Using chemical and isotopic tracers in diverse environmental samples, such
as water, sediments, aerosol, and vegetation, they study present and past biogeochemical processes on a wide
range of temporal and spatial scales. An over-arching goal is to link the observed trends to global changes in
climate and tectonics, with an emphasis on human impacts.
Much of Adina's research happens through her efforts to mentor young scientists. While she continually
supervises their work, letting students take ownership of their research frames and expands her research
efforts. Adina and her students are currently participating in numerous projects all over the world, taking
place on several continents. Closer to home, Adina has been using Monterey Bay and
Elkhorn Slough as field sites for the past
eight years, sites where her lab can conduct research on ways of transport of materials from land to
ocean – via river discharge, groundwater, and atmospheric deposition.
"I'm curious to know and understand how the Earth around me operates and how people impact it," says Adina.
"I’m mostly interested in the big picture, how different components of the planet – the air, the ocean, the
earth, the organisms, the physics, the chemistry, everything together- the interactions and what are the
feedbacks between these components."
Adina's Research
