Kate E. Larkin

I am a final year PhD student in the DEEPSEAS benthic biology group of the George Deacon Division (now the Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems research group) at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. My thesis title is ‘Foraminiferal community and trophic responses to oxygen gradients and organic enrichment’ and my interests focus on understanding the role of individual species of living Foraminifera in benthic carbon cycling. My research is contributing to the NERC funded interdisciplinary project ‘Benthic ecology and biogeochemistry of the Pakistan Margin’. This area is characterised by a mid-water Oxygen Minimum Zone (200-1000m) which impinges on the seafloor lowering bottom water oxygen concentrations to < 0.5 ml/L.

Current reseach interests

• Biology and ecology of extant Foraminifera
• The role of individual species of Foraminifera in benthic carbon cycling in response to varying oxygen concentrations and levels of organic enrichment
• Fatty acid biochemistry. Exploring trophic responses of Foraminifera using fatty acids as biomarkers
• Sensitivity of Foraminifera to environmental variables
• Exploring the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Education

• PhD in Deep Sea biology (final year)
• BSc (Hons) in Natural Sciences (Biology and Geology majors), The University of Birmingham (2002)

Skills and relevant experience

• Experienced (and enthusiastic!) seagoer, including three research cruises on RRS Charles Darwin to the Pakistan Margin, 2003. Small boat work on Loch Etive, 2003 and 2004.
• Expertise of stable isotope feeding experiments conducted both in situ and in laboratory experiments, both on deep-sea sediments (Pakistan Margin) and in shallow-water environments (Loch Etive, UK, Warsash, UK and Nojima, Japan).
• Three month scientific exchange to JAMSTEC, Japan in 2004. International collaboration with Professor Kitazato and Dr. Nomaki, conducting stable isotope feeding experiments on Ammonia beccarii.
• Expertise in lipid biochemistry and Bulk 13C analyses.
• Expertise in benthic Foraminiferal faunal analysis (taxonomy)
• Good computing skills including statistical analysis
• Good written and spoken German
  

Publications

1. Larkin, K. E and Gooday A.J. Soft-shelled monothalamous foraminifera at an intertidal site on the south coast of England. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 23: 135-137. 2004.
   
2. Larkin, K. E. Foraminifera, the backstage crew of the seafloor ecosystem. Article in OceanZone. 2005. (PDF version - full issue 2.3 MB; article only 0.5 MB)

Presentations

1. Larkin, K.E., Gooday, A.J., Pond, D.W., Bett, B.J. Fatty acid analysis unravels the role of benthic foraminifera in carbon cycling within the Pakistan margin oxygen minimum zone. Abstract (talk) for The Micropalaeontological Society's Foraminifera and Nannofossil Groups Joint Spring Meeting, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. June, 2005.
   
2. Schumacher, S., Jorissen, F.J., Dissard, D., Gooday, A.J., Larkin, K.E. Benthic Foraminifera from the oxygen minimum zone of the Pakistan continental margin – a proxy of bottom water oxygenation. Abstract (talk) for The Micropalaeontological Society's Foraminifera and Nannofossil Groups Joint Spring Meeting, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. June, 2005.
   
3. Larkin, K.E., Gooday, A.J., Pond, D.W & Bett, B.J. Dinner with a protist: fatty acid anlaysis unravels the trophic responses of deep-sea benthic Foraminifera. Abstract (talk) for Postgraduate Research in Marine and Earth Sciences, National Ocenaography Centre, Southampton, UK. March, 2005.
   
4. Larkin, K.E., Gooday, A.J., Pond, D.W., Bett, B.J. Rapid Uptake of Labile Carbon and selective feeding by Foraminiferan species from the Pakistan Margin Oxygen Minimum Zone-evidence from fatty acid analysis. Abstract (poster) for ASLO, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. February, 2005.
   
5. Woulds, C., Levin, L.A., Jeffreys, R.M., Larkin, K.E., Andersson, J.H., Cowie, G.L., Schwartz, M.C The role of Benthic Fauna in sediment organic matter cycling; Results of Pulse-Chase carbon tracer studies across the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) Abstract (talk) for ASLO, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. February 2005.
   
6. Schumacher, S., Dissard, D., Jorissen, F.J., Gooday, A.J., Larkin, K.E. Live Benthic Foraminifera faunas from the Oxygen Minimum Zone of the Pakistan Continental Margin. Abstract (poster) for ICP8, Biarritz, France. August, 2004.
   
7. Larkin, K.E., Gooday, A.J., Pond, D.W & Bett, B.J. Benthic Foraminiferal community and trophic responses to oxygen gradients and organic enrichment. Abstract (talk) as invited speaker at Ocean Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan. August, 2004.
   
8. Larkin, K.E., Gooday, A.J., Pond, D.W & Bett, B.J. Benthic Foraminiferal community and trophic responses to oxygen gradients and organic enrichment. Abstract (talk) as invited speaker at JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. July, 2004.
   
9. Cowie, G., A. Anestis, J.H. Andersson, B.J. Bett, D.S.M. Billet, T.D. Brand, E. Breuer, M. Danish, A. da Silva, T. Edwards, J.D. Gage, A.J. Gooday, M. Harvey, R.M Jeffreys, H. Johnstone, P.A. Lamont, K.E. Larkin, L.A. Levin, S. McKinley, A. Miller, O. Peppe, T. Sawyer, M. Schwatrz, D. Teare, W. Thompson and C. Woulds. Interactions of Benthic Communities and Sediment Geochemistry across the Pakistan Margin (Arabian Sea) Oxygen Mnimum Zone. Abstract (poster) for 10th deep-Sea Biology Symposium, Coos Bay, Oregon. August, 2003