Newcastle University

Introduction

I am a marine biogeochemist with wider interests in the cycling of climatically active trace gases, organic matter geochemistry and aquatic photochemical processes. My early studies at the former Water Technology Dept., Karlsruhe (now KIT) stimulated my interest in aquatic systems. My research in marine biogeochemistry started with studies of marine sulphur gas cycling at the Max Planck Inst for Chemistry. In Newcastle, I expanded my work into areas of dissolved organic matter cycling and marine photochemistry, largely with funding from NERC, and also developed interests in greenhouse gas cycling and nitrogen biogeochemistry. I am currently a member of  NERC MethaneNet and EU COST action 735: Tools for Assessing Global Air Sea Fluxes of Climate and Air Pollution Relevant Gases, have served on the NERC Peer Review College 2008-2012 and on the Editorial Board of Marine Science since 2011.

Roles and Responsibilities

Lecturer in Marine Biogeochemistry
School Safety Officer

Qualifications

PhD Marine Biogeochemistry, Gutenberg Univ. & Max Planck Inst for Chemistry, Mainz, DE, 1994
Dipl. Chem. Physical & Aquatic Chemistry, Univ. Karlsruhe, DE, 1988

Certificate for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (CLTHE), Newcastle University, 2002 

Previous Positions

since 2001 Teaching and Research Officer (MAST)
1998-2001 Senior Research Associate (MAST)
1996-1998 Postdoctoral Research Associate (MAST)
1994-1996 Postdoctoral Research Associate (Max Planck Inst f Chemistry)
1990-1994 Research Associate (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry)

Memberships

American Geophysical Union, Life Member
European Geophysical Union
Challenger Society for Marine Science, UK
International Humic Substances Society
Fellow of The Higher Education Academy

Research Interests

Marine Biogeochemistry, Marine Trace Gas Emissions, Organic Matter Cycling, Aquatic Photochemistry

My research in Marine Biogeochemistry centres on issues of Global Change and its interactions with the coastal and open ocean. Research activities include:

- biogeochemical cycling of marine sulphur gases such as dimethyl sulphide and carbonyl sulphide
- coastal greenhouse gas emissions
- role of dissolved organic carbon inputs and transformations in the global carbon cycle
- photochemical production of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur species
- characterisation and photochemical degradation of dissolved organic matter
- impact of dissolved organic nitrogen transformations on the marine nutrient budget

Current Work

Recent and ongoing projects:

Photobleaching rates of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (UNESCO Keizo Obuchi fellowship to Dr. Shalini Akella, 2004)

Postgraduate Supervision

Completed PhD supervisions:
- Paul Mann (2010) Ammonium photoproduction and CDOM biogeochemistry
- Clare Swift (2009) Environmental impact of seawater scrubbing
- Anastasios Anestis (2008) Estuarine nitrogen cycling
- Louise Tizzard (2008) Coastal methane from geological sources
- Emma Suddick (2007) UHI / Aberdeen University,
Ammonium photoproduction in peatland ecosystems
(co-supervised with Stuart Gibb, ERI, Thurso, UHI)
- Julian Pillans (2006) Dimethyl sulphide photo-oxidation
- Grant Forster (2006) Methane & nitrous oxide
- Robert Spencer (2005) Biogeochemistry of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nitrogen in two N.E. UK estuaries
- Vas Kitidis (2002) CDOM dynamics and photoammonification in the marine environment
- Aron P. Stubbins (2001) Aspects of aquatic CO photoproduction from CDOM

Esteem Indicators

Editorial Board member, Marine Science, Scientific & Academic Publishing since 2011.

Member of the NERC Peer Review College since 2008.

Invited member of the EU network COST (European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research), Action 735, "Tools for Assessing Global Air–Sea Fluxes of Climate and Air Pollution Relevant Gases", 2006-2011.

Marine Sciences Core Member of the NERC Network on Fluorescence for the Water Sciences, lead by A. Baker & J. Lead (U. Birmingham) 2006-9.

EGU General Assemblies 2006-2009: Session Convener "Biogeochemistry of dissolved organic matter".
For the latest session programme please see EGU 2009 session BG 1.5.

Invited member of the CARBOEUROPE-GHG initiative on greenhouse gas emissions from the European Coastal Zone (2002-5). CARBOEUROPE Web Site.

Host to MARE Science Prize winner Dr. Hermann W. Bange 1999, IfM-Geomar, Kiel, Germany. Project results published in Chemosphere, 58(2), 177-183, 2005.

Projects

• Nitrification, denitrification and nitrous oxide in Indian mangrove ecosystems
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Rob Upstill-Goddard, Dr Guenther Uher
• Origins, transformations and biological uptake of organic nitrogen in river-sea systems
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Rob Upstill-Goddard, Dr Guenther Uher
• The Atlantic Meridional Transect programme: sub-projects nitrous oxide cycling & coloured dissolved organic matter photochemistry
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Rob Upstill-Goddard, Dr Guenther Uher
• The contribution of atmospheric methane from coastal marine sources
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Rob Upstill-Goddard, Dr Guenther Uher
• The impact of dissolved organic matter photochemistry on the marine nitrogen cycle
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Rob Upstill-Goddard, Dr Guenther Uher

Undergraduate Teaching

MST1003/13/14 Field and Laboratory Techniques
MST1007 Introductory Oceanography, Module Leader
MST1012 Research Skills
MST2005 Biological Oceanography, Module Leader
MST2011 Marine Practical Skills
MST3011/15/16 Advanced Marine Biology/Zoology/Oceanography, Module Leader
MST3017 Global Marine Science
MST3018 Marine Ecosystem Modelling, Module Leader
MST3021 North Sea Marine Science
MST3019 Research Projects Overseas
MST3095/96/99 Research Projects

Postgraduate Teaching

MST8011 Critical Appraisal of Coastal Production Systems

• Stubbins A, Law CS, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC. Carbon monoxide apparent quantum yields and photoproduction in the Tyne estuary. Biogeosciences 2011, 8(3), 703-713.
• Bange HW, Bell TG, Cornejo M, Freing A, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC, Zhang G. MEMENTO: a proposal to develop a database of marine nitrous oxide and methane measurements. Environmental Chemistry 2009, 6(3), 195-197.
• Forster GL, Upstill-Goddard RC, Gist N, Robinson R, Uher G, Woodward EMS. Nitrous oxide and methane in the Atlantic Ocean between 50˚N and 52˚S: latitudinal distribution and sea-to-air flux. Deep Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2009, 56(15), 964-976.
• Ahad J, Barth J, Ganeshram R, Spencer R, Uher G. Controls on carbon cycling in two contrasting temperate zone estuaries: The Tyne and Tweed, UK. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2008, 78(4), 685-693.
• Kitidis V, Uher G, Woodward EMS, Owens NJP, Upstill-Goddard RC. Photochemical production and consumption of ammonium in a temperate river-sea system. Marine Chemistry 2008, 112(1-2), 118-127.
• Kitidis V, Uher G. Photochemical Mineralisation of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen. In: Mertens, LP, ed. Biological Oceanography Research Trends. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2008, pp.131-156.
• Stubbins A, Hubbard V, Uher G, Law CS, Upstill-Goddard RC, Aiken GR, Mopper K. Relating carbon monoxide photoproduction to dissolved organic matter functionality. Environmental Science and Technology 2008, 42(9), 3271-3276.
• Spencer RGM, Baker A, Ahad JME, Cowie GL, Ganeshram R, Upstill-Goddard RC, Uher G. Discriminatory classification of natural and anthropogenic waters in two U.K. estuaries. Science of the Total Environment 2007, 373(1), 305-323.
• Barnes J, Purvaja R, Ramesh R, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC. Nitrous oxide fluxes in Indian Mangroves; tidal production mechanisms, fluxes and global significance. In: Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Balances in Mangrove Coastal Ecosytems. 2007, Kanagawa, Japan: Gendai Tosho.
• Kitidis V, Tizzard L, Uher G, Judd A, Upstill-Goddard RC, Head IM, Gray ND, Taylor G, Duran R, Diez R, Iglesias J, Garcia-Gil S. The biogeochemical cycling of methane in Ria de Vigo, NW Spain: Sediment processing and sea-air exchange. Journal of Marine Systems 2007, 66(1-4), 258-271.
• Spencer RGM, Ahad JME, Baker A, Cowie GL, Ganeshram R, Upstill-Goddard RC, Uher G. The estuarine mixing behaviour of peatland derived dissolved organic carbon and its relationship to chromophoric dissolved organic matter in two North Sea estuaries (U.K.). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2007, 74(1-2), 131-144.
• Uher G. Distribution and air-sea exchange of reduced sulphur gases in European coastal waters. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2006, 70(3), 338-360.
• Ahad JME, Ganeshram RS, Spencer RGM, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC, Cowie GL. Evaluating the sources and fate of anthropogenic dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in two contrasting North Sea estuaries. Science of the Total Environment 2006, 372(1), 317-333.
• Ahad JME, Ganeshram RS, Spencer RGM, Uher G, Gulliver P, Bryant CL. Evidence for anthropogenic 14C-enrichment in estuarine waters adjacent to the North Sea. Geophysical Research Letters 2006, 33(8), L08608.
• Kitidis V, Stubbins AP, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC, Law CS, Woodward EMS. Variability of chromophoric organic matter in surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2006, 53(14-16), 1666-1684.
• Stubbins A, Uher G, Law CS, Mopper K, Robinson C, Upstill-Goddard RC. Open-ocean carbon monoxide photoproduction. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 2006, 53(14-16), 1695-1705.
• Stubbins AP, Uher G, Kitidis V, Law CS, Upstill-Goddard RC, Woodward EMS. The Open Ocean Source of Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide. Deep-Sea Research II 2006, 53(14-16), 1685-1694.
• Kitidis V, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC, Mantoura RFC, Spyres G, Woodward EMS. Photochemical production of ammonium in the oligotrophic Cyprus Gyre (Eastern Mediterranean). Biogeosciences 2006, 3(4), 439-449.
• Barnes J, Ramesh R, Purvaja R, Rajkumar AN, Kumar BS, Krithika K, Ravichandran K, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard R. Tidal dynamics and rainfall control N2O and CH4 emissions from a pristine mangrove creek. Geophysical Research Letters 2006, 33(15), L15405.
• Bange HW, Uher G. Photochemical production of methane in natural waters: implications for its present and past oceanic source. Chemosphere 2005, 58(2), 177-183.
• Pacyna, J. M., H. W. Bange, A. Borges, M. Frankignoulle, O. Hov, S. Mano, G. Uher, R. C. Upstill-Goddard. Carbo Europe - GHG. Paper on coastal ecosystem greenhouse gas budget. 2004. European Commission DG Research - V th Framework programme, 118.
• Uher G, Hughes C, Henry G, Upstill-Goddard RC. Non-conservative mixing behavior of colored dissolved organic matter in a humic-rich, turbid estuary. Geophysical Research Letters 2001, 28(17), 3309-3312.
• Uher G, Schebeske G, Barlow RG, Cummings DG, Mantoura RFC, Rapsomanikis SR, Andreae MO. Distribution and air-sea gas exchange of dimethyl sulphide at the European western continental margin. Marine Chemistry 2000, 69(3-4), 277-300.
• Kettle AJ, Andreae MO, Amouroux D, Andreae TW, Bates TS, Berresheim H, Bingemer H, Boniforti R, Curran MAJ, DiTullio GR, Helas G, Jones GB, Keller MD, Kiene RP, Leck C, Levasseur M, Malin G, Maspero M, Matrai P, McTaggart AR, Mihalopoulos N, Nguyen BC, Novo A, Putaud JP, Rapsomanikis S, Roberts G, Schebeske G, Sharma S, Simo R, Staubes R, Turner S, Uher G. A global database of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS) measurements and a procedure to predict sea surface DMS as a function of latitude, longitude, and month. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 1999, 13(2), 399-444.
• Uher G. Determination of dissolved dimethyl sulphide in seawater. In: Grasshoff, K., Kremling, K., Ehrhardt, M, ed. Methods of Seawater Analysis. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 1999, pp.521-532.
• Uher G, Andreae M O . The diel cycle of carbonyl sulfide in marine surface waters: field study results and a simple model. . Aquatic Geochemistry, 2(4), 313-344 1997.
• G. Uher and M.O. Andreae. Photochemical production of carbonyl sulfide in North Sea water: A process study. Limnol. Oceanogr. 42, 432-442 1997.
• V.S. Ulshöfer, O.R. Flöck, G. Uher and M.O. Andreae. Photochemical production and air-sea exchange of carbonyl sulfide in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Chem. 53, 25-39 1996.
• V.S. Ulshöfer, G. Uher and M.O. Andreae. Evidence for a winter sink of atmospheric carbonyl sulfide in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Geophys. Res. Lett. 22, 2601-2604 1995.
• G. Uher, E. Gilbert and S.H. Eberle. Determination of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of organic peroxides. Vom Wasser 76, 225-234 1991.
• Spencer RGM, Anestis AK, Baker A, Cowie GL, Uher G, Upstill-Goddard RC. [Poster Presentation] Dissolved Organic Matter Cycling in the Tyne Estuary, U.K. In: Challenger Centenary Conference. 2002, Plymouth.