Research Fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences (College of Science)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Otago, New Zealand, 1998

Bachelor of Science (Hons), University of Otago, New Zealand, 1993

 

Professional Background

Michael Ellwood is a Research Fellow with Research School of Earth Sciences at the ANU.  Michael completed his PhD in 1998 at the University of Otago, NZ and then went on to complete Postdoctoral positions at the University of Liverpool, UK, and the University of Canberra. In 2001 Michael was awarded a NZ Science & Technology Postdoctoral Fellowship to undertake research at the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) in New Zealand. From 2004 to 2006 Michael worked as a Research Scientist at NIWA before coming to the ANU in 2006.

 

Research and Teaching Interests

Michael’s research interests are in the fields of chemical oceanography and palaeoceanography. Specifically, he interested in understanding metal and phytoplankton interacts in the upper ocean and the use of trace elements within marine organisms to reconstruct ocean chemistry over millennia. Current projects: 1) understanding nutrient cycling in the Southern Ocean nutrients and their links to climate change; 2) determining Southern Ocean's role in determining atmospheric CO₂ levels during the past using palaeo-pH proxies and; 3) understanding the links between iron and marine primary production.

My current teaching interests are in the area in marine chemistry. I currently contribute to the following courses: 1^st year The Blue Planet EMSC1006, 2^nd year Chemistry of the Earth Oceans EMSC2015, Analytical Chemistry CHEM2207 and 3^rd year Marine Biogeochemistry EMSC3023, Special Topics EMSC3050.

Notable publications

Ellwood, M. J., P. W. Boyd, and P. Sutton (2008), Winter-time dissolved iron and nutrient distributions in the Subantarctic Zone from 40-52S; 155-160E, Geophysical Research Letters, 35(L11604), doi:10.1029/2008GL033699.

Ellwood, M. J., M. Kelly, W. A. Maher, and P. De Deckker (2006), Germanium incorporation into sponge spicules: Development of a proxy for reconstructing inorganic germanium and silicon concentrations in seawater, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 243(3-4), 749-759.

Ellwood, M. J., M. Kelly, S. D. Nodder, and L. Carter (2004), Zinc/silicon ratios of sponges: A proxy for carbon export to the seafloor, Geophysical Research Letters, 31(L12308), doi:10.1029/2004GL019648.

Ellwood, M. J., and C. M. G. van den Berg (2000), Zinc speciation in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Marine Chemistry, 68(4), 295-306.

Ellwood, M. J., and K. A. Hunter (2000), Variations in the Zn/Si record over the last interglacial glacial transition, Paleoceanography, 15(5), 506-514.