Andrew P. Rees

Andy Rees is a senior research scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, leader of the UK Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) project and the coordinator for PML impact activities related to the promotion of “Cleaner Seas for Nature and Society”. My leadership of ground-breaking science programmes (9 funded over ten year period at ~6.3M€) and research teams has included PML’s contribution to the UK Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry Programme. Outputs from this team include the first mechanistic model of N2O for the European shelf (Lessin et al 2020) and a significant insight to the control of ocean CO2 uptake (Kitidis et al 2019). Since 2007 I have provided scientific and organisational leadership of the long-term AMT. The AMT is a unique ocean-basin wide monitoring program that has been in existence since 1995. AMT has delivered innovative research covering a wide range of topics, including the air-sea exchange of trace gases, the biodiversity of microbial communities and the role nutrients and trace elements in the support of biological productivity. In the last ten years there have been 138 peer reviewed AMT publications with a combined H-index of 35. During this period I have developed a data management policy to ensure rapid deposition and availability of datasets; a training programme for early career researchers from developing nations; created easy access to expedition berths (289 individuals from 77 institutes in 29 countries have taken part in AMT cruises) which has included the support of NASA and ESA funded initiatives to calibrate and validate the current fleet of ocean viewing satellites. Myself and colleagues are currently investigating microbial biodiversity (AtlantECO), the impact of ocean acidification, warming and sea-ice retreat on greenhouse gases in Polar waters (PETRA) and the transport of carbon and nutrients between the UK land-mass and our coastal seas (LOCATE). My work on the Carbon and Nitrogen cycle has been delivered through a combination of laboratory and field expeditions. Since 2011 I have taken part in six research cruises (43 since 1988) and have led two of these expeditions as chief scientist coordinating multinational teams of researchers from multiple institutes. I have been guest editor of two special issues of Progress in Oceanography (2017 and 2019) and one currently in preparation with Frontiers in Marine Science (2022). Over my career I have published 82 peer reviewed research papers (h-index 33, average citations 44.2, Web of Science) and in the last 10 years have published 41 papers (h-index 14, average citations 41.6). I am ranked 3rd in the world on nutrient biogeochemistry by Google Scholar topic listings.