About Me

Degrees: B.Sc. (hon) Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, University of British Columbia; Sc.D. in Marine Chemistry, MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography.

Research path to Berkeley: Columbia University, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory; and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, both in New York; University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division.

Research at Berkeley: Our research focus is on understanding, and thus gaining predictive capability, of how biological processes operate to transform and transport carbon in the sea. The carbon flows in the ocean are substantial and there are open questions regarding the stability of these flows due to human induced warming and acidification of the ocean.

I love to go to sea and have logged about 1.6 years at sea during 35 oceanographic expeditions. But ships can't follow fast biological processes year round in stormy seas. To bridge the gap, our group has launched a dozen new robotic "Carbon Explorers" since 2001. The Explorers have given us unparalleled insight into biological processes of far flung ocean regions, including the waters surrounding Antarctica. They have already logged 7 years of observations.

In June 2007, we successfully tested the Carbon Flux Explorer to 800 m depths near San Diego, CA. The newest Explorer is designed to observe ocean carbon sedimentation changes on a day to day basis for seasons to years, data are sent to shore in real time. We expect to have this vehicle at sea for longer missions starting in 2010.

We still go to sea on ships, and in June 2008 and May 2009 we were at sea with the Multiple Unit Large Volume in-situ Filtrration System in Atlantic and Pacific oceans as part of the spin-up of the international program called  GEOTRACES, a study of trace metals in the global ocean.  Getting trace metal clean samples of particles from metal ships is not that easy a task.

The ocean biogeochemical processes laboratory and field facilities that we use are located in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Earth Sciences Division. LBNL is a 15 minute walk (or bus ride) from McCone Hall.

Courses I enjoy teaching in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science include EPS103/203 "Introduction to Marine Geochemistry", EPS/IB C82 "Introduction to the Oceans", EPS024 "Oceans in the News". I also am the undergraduate adviser for students enrolled in marine science in EPS.

What I like most about oceanography is that I need to draw on all my undergraduate basics (math, physics, chemistry, biology, computers, engineering...) to answer the difficult questions about where carbon goes in the ocean. There are always new things to discover and we've just only begun.

I really enjoy bicycling in the Berkeley Hills.

Bishop at sea aboard R/V Knorr - May 2009 - North Pacific Gyre 30°N 140°W