Emily Klonicky
PhD Student
Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences
SLICHTER 5877
My research focusses on the microorganisms and biogeochemical processes that control marine methane cycling in both the modern and early Earth system. As a doctoral student at UCLA, I aim to help address the fundamental questions of whether there is life outside of our home planet and what conditions may lead to life forming by utilizing analog environments that resemble Earth’s ancient oceans. For this work we visited Fayetteville Green Lake in New York, a permanently stratified euxinic lake reminiscent of the Proterozoic Ocean. In addition to this project, the primary effort of my graduate research tackles the current global climate crisis on our home planet. I investigate the microorganisms in our oceans that consume methane, a potent greenhouse gas, that is emitted from methane cold seeps. Importantly, as oceans continue to warm, it is projected that methane release may increase making the understanding the marine methane sources and sinks, essential to inform climate projections, policies, and marine ecosystems. Two research cruises off Southern California and in the Gulf of Alaska were completed to compare shallow versus deep methane seeps.