During my PhD, I studied the link between plankton diversity and the biogeochemical export fluxes in the Southern Ocean. My post-doc at LOV is part of the SOCLIM project and aims at coupling bio-optical signals from bio-Argo floats to classical taxonomy (identification of species under a microscope) to derive an index of plankton community composition from the floats data.
Anecdote ...
I intended to be a teacher of biology and geology. During the master, I discovered the multidisciplinary science that is oceanography and was quickly hooked by the diversity of tools and concepts (physics, chemistry, biology) used to study the pelagic ecosystem. Oceanographic cruises and sunrises at 4 am at 55°S ultimately convinced me.
Motivation ...
Science is often considered by the public as a black box full of complex laws. It seems important to be to open the box and present the fundamentals concepts of oceanography that are often simple although essential for the Earth’s system functioning (e.g. CO2 sequestration, oxygen production). It is also an obligation in response to the public mission given to researchers.