Dr. Thomas Bianchi

Bio

Dr. Bianchi's general areas of expertise are organic geochemistry, biogeochemical dynamics of aquatic food chains, carbon cycling in estuarine and coastal ecosystems, and biochemical markers of colloidal and particulate organic carbon.

He has worked in estuarine systems around the world with particular emphasis on the Mississippi River/Louisiana shelf system over the past six years. Some of this work has focused on the fate and transport of organic carbon source inputs to the Louisiana shelf using chemical biomarkers as source indicators, in addition to recent work on the paleo-reconstruction of hypoxia events on the shelf and relationship between carbon cycling in the Mississippi River plume and hypoxia.

A recipient of two Fullbright Awards, Bianchi has published over 90 articles in refereed journals and was lead co-editor (Bianchi, Pennock and Twilley) of a 1999 book entitled "Biogeochemistry of Gulf of Mexico Estuaries." He also has a new sole-authored book entitled, "Biogeochemistry of Estuaries" published in 2007 by Oxford University Press.

Research Interests

• Organic Geochemistry
• Biogeochemical Dynamics in Aquatic Food Chains
• Carbon Cycling in Riverine, Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems
• Biochemical Markers of Colloidal and Particulate Organic Carbon

Projects

• How temporal changes in river discharge and storms affect the source and age distribution of sedimentary organic carbon across a river-dominated margin
• Millennial variations in Arabic sediment proxies: the connection to North Atlantic Climate
• Anthropogenic impacts on carbon cycling in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta: changes in sources, nature and age of organic carbon
• Comparison between organic carbon cycling in large and small river systems

Experience

• Professor, Dept. of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 2006-present
• Adjunct Professor, Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, 2005-present
• Professor, Dept.of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2002-2005
• Associate Professor, Dept.of E.E. Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Acting Director of the Institute for Earth and Ecosystem Sciences (IEES), 1998-2002
• Assistant Professor, Dept. of E.E. Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1994-1998
• Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, 1990-1994
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, 1988-1990

Awards

• 11th International Symposium on the Interactions between Sediments and Water Esperance, Australia (invited Keynote Speaker), 2008
• William Evans Fellowship, Research Scholar, Otago University, New Zealand, 2007
• Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden (invited Plenary Speaker), 2003
• Fulbright Research Scholarship, U.S./Sweden, 2000
• Mortar Board Excellence in Teaching at Tulane University, 1988
• Lamar University Excellence in Research Award, 1994
• Lamar University Excellence in Teaching Award, 1994
• Visiting Scientist Award, Stockholm University, Sweden, 1994
• Fulbright Research Scholarship, U.S/Cyprus, 1993
• TARP Award, to attend the Gordon Conference on Chemical Oceanography, Meriden, New Hampshire, 1991
• Sterrer Fellowship, Bermuda Biological Research Station, 1990
• Sterrer Fellowship, Bermuda Biological Research Station1989
• Theodore Roosevelt Fellowship, American Museum of Natural History, 1989
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Milbrook, N.Y., 1988-1990
• Lerner-Gray Fund Award for Marine Research, The American Museum of Natural History, 1986
• Predoctoral Research Award, The Society of Sigma Xi, 1986

Selected Publications

• Wetzel, R.G., Hatcher,P.G., and Bianchi, T.S. 1995. Natural photolysis by ultraviolet irradiance of recalcitrant dissolved organic matter to simple substrates for rapid bacterial metabolism. Limnol. Oceanogr., 40: 1369-1380.
• Bianchi, T.S., Westman, P., Rolff, C., Engelhaupt, E., Andren, T., and Elmgren, R. 2000. Cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea: Natural or Human-Induced? Limnol. Oceanogr., 45(3):716-726. (Selected as Featured Article in L&O).
• Mitra, S., Bianchi, T.S., Guo. L., and Santschi, P.H. 2000. Sources and transport of terrestrially-derived orgamic matter in the Chesapeake Bay and Middle Atlantic Bight. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64: 3547-3557.
• Engelhaupt, E.D and Bianchi, T.S. 2001. Temporal variability in the sources and composition of high-molecular-weight dissolved organic carbon in a tidal stream in southern Louisiana (Bayou Trepagnier). Limnol. Oceanog. 46: 917-926.
• Bianchi, T.S., Engelhaupt, E., McKee, B., Miles, S.,  Elmgren, R., Hajdu, S., Savage, C., and Baskaran, M. 2002. Do sediments from coastal sites accurately reflect time trends in water column phytoplankton? A test from Himmerfjarden Bay (Baltic Sea proper). Limnol. Oceanog. 47: 1537-1544.
• Chen, N., Bianchi, T.S., and Bland, J.M.. 2003. Novel decomposition products of chlorophyll-a in continental shelf (Louisiana shelf) sediments: Formation and transformation of carotenol chlorin esters. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67: 2027-2042.
• Bianchi, T.S., Filley, T., Dria, K., and Hatcher, P. 2004. Temporal variability in sources of dissolved organic carbon in the lower Mississippi River. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 68: 959-967.
• Chen, N., Bianchi, T.S., McKee, B.A., and Bland, J.M. 2005. Early diagenesis of chlorophyll-a in the lower Mississippi River and Louisiana shelf: Implications for carbon cycling in a river-dominated margin. Mar. Chem. 93: 159-177.
• Bianchi, T.S., Sampere, T., Allison, M., Canuel, E.A., McKee, B.A., Wakeham, S., and Waterson, B. 2006. Rapid Export of Organic Matter to the Mississippi Canyon. EOS 87 (50): 565, 572-573.
• Bianchi, T.S., Wysocki, L.A., Stewart, M., Filley, T.R., and McKee, B.A. 2007. Temporal variability in terrestrially-derived sources of particulate organic carbon in the lower Mississippi River. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 71: 4425-4437.

Affiliations

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
• Estuarine Research Federation
• American Chemical Society
• American Geophysical Union
• European Association of Organic Geochemists