A view across South Cheshire, UK taken from The Pheasant in Burwardsley
About me
Exploring the Dorset coast
Photo credit: K. Oakes 
Looking across the valley near Big Water, Utah
Photo credit: S. Karduck 
Looking at pteropods collected from the Southern Ocean
Photo credit: J. Freer |
My name is Rosie Oakes and I'm a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University working alongside Dr. Jocelyn Sessa. Broadly, I'm interested in how changes in ocean chemistry impact marine organisms, specifically calcareous plankton. The bulk of my research has focused on the impact of ocean acidification on a group of calcareous plankton called the pteropods, tiny swimming snails which live in the surface oceans (more on my research page).
I did my PhD in Geology at Penn State University working with Dr. Tim Bralower. My research was focused on understanding how predicted future changes in ocean chemistry may impact pteropods. I developed methods to quantitatively assess pteropod shells using micro-CT scanning alongside collaborators from General Electric in Lewistown, PA and conducted shipboard experiments with collaborators at the British Antarctic Survey. My geology education originally started back at the University of Edinburgh where I studied Geology and Physical Geography and explored a broad range of interests from macrogeomorphology to micropaleontology. I then moved to the University of Toronto to work on my MSc under the supervision of Dr. Ulrich Wortmann. This is where I became fascinated by global element cycling. My thesis work focused on Phosphorus cycling in the Early Aptian exploring the role of phosphorus around OAE1a. Enjoy the website and let me know if you have any questions or comments. 
Checking out an ice berg in the Scotia Sea
Photo credit: R. Dejardin |
From left to right: looking at outcrops in Whitefish Falls, ON, Canada; undergraduate field trip to Cyprus; backhoeing a section in the Kaiparowits Plateau, UT, USA; at the beginning of Hadrians Wall, Wallsend, UK.
