Climate Café Series

Note: Participants on Zoom will not be able to participate in audience Q&A.

Hidden Engineers of the Deep—How Fish Shape the Ocean’s Carbon Cycle

Beneath the ocean’s surface, vast schools of mesopelagic fish—making up nearly 94 percent of global fish biomass—were suspected to play an important role in regulating our planet’s carbon budget. Recent work demonstrates that these deep-dwelling species are indeed critical contributors to marine carbon cycling through the production of ichthyocarbonates, tiny mineral particles excreted as part of their physiology.

Rosenstiel School scientists will share groundbreaking new research on the blackbelly rosefish, a deep-sea species that provided the first direct evidence that mesopelagic fish produce ichthyocarbonate at rates comparable to their shallow-water relatives. These findings fill a key gap in ocean science and will strengthen global models of carbon cycling and open new avenues for understanding how marine life helps regulate Earth’s climate.

Join us for an engaging conversation on how hidden processes in the deep ocean influence global carbon budgets, why these discoveries matter for future climate predictions, and what they reveal about the resilience and complexity of marine ecosystems.

Featured Speakers:

Martin Grosell, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology

Amanda Oehlert, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Geosciences

Rachael Heuer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science