Enrique Montes

Enrique Montes is a Research Associate in biological oceanography at the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida. He studies physical and biological drivers of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen cycling in the ocean, and how these cycles affect marine ecosystems across time and space. Montes investigates these processes using measurements of sinking particulate matter with moored and free-drifting sediment traps, dissolved nutrients and gases, stable isotope ratios, and composition and abundance of phytoplankton. His research relies on satellite observations to scale in situ measurements to broader temporal and spatial domains. Montes is involved in the development of a pilot Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) co-sponsored by NASA and NOAA-IOOS. His current research seeks to understand how natural processes, climate cycles, and human activities drive changes in the biodiversity of coastal and open ocean habitats using dynamic biogeographic seascapes derived from satellite data, bio-optical measurements and genomics. Montes is leading the development of the MBON Pole-to-Pole of the Americas, a collaborative regional effort aimed at implementing a framework for detecting and understanding biodiversity change across marine habitats of the Americas, from the Arctic to Antarctica. He currently serves as President of the International Association for Biological Oceanography (IABO) and Ex-Officio Executive Committee member of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR).