Mukul Sharma
Mukul Sharma is Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College. His work on developing nature-based strategies to remove atmospheric CO2 led to his selection as a Guggenheim Fellow in 2020 for discovering a novel approach to utilize clay minerals to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide in the ocean. His research to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide is currently supported by Schmidt Futures, the Astera Institute, and the Grantham Foundation. Dr. Sharma’s very broad research focus includes such diverse problems as the evolution of early Earth, mixing and homogenization of Solar Nebula, origin of mantle heterogeneities, the relationship between solar magnetic activity and terrestrial climate, osmium budget of the ocean, meteorite impacts, and methane production on Mars. Recent projects include measuring the osmium and iron isotope composition of the solar photosphere, investigating the behavior of platinum metals in the ocean, the cause(s) of Younger Dryas abrupt climate change, and examining water-rock interaction during hydraulic fracturing. He has authored over 60 scientific articles, book chapters and reviews. Dr. Sharma was a post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology and at the Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, after earning a master’s and his doctorate from the University of Rochester. He also earned a master’s from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay where he was awarded the Institute Silver Medal as top student of the graduating class. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Delhi. URL: https://faculty-directory.dartmouth.edu/mukul-sharma.
Diksha Sharma
Diksha Sharma is a postdoctoral researcher working in Dr. Sharma’s lab. She joined Sharma’s lab in mid-December 2022 after completing her doctorate in September 2022 from CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, India. Her research interests revolve around understanding phytoplankton’s physiological changes and community shifts under multiple stressors like atmospheric aerosol enrichment, trace metal, ocean acidification, and temperature.
While pursuing her Ph.D., she used experimental (microcosm) approaches to understand the impacts of multiple stressors (trace metals and ocean acidification) on the physiology of phytoplankton and how these combined stressors lead to the restructuring of the phytoplankton community in coastal as well as the off-shore waters of Arabian Sea. She conducted experimental approaches to explore the combined effects of trace metals and ocean acidification, which have received very little attention globally. Her research highlights the potential restructuring of marine phytoplankton communities due to ocean acidification, which depends primarily on their carbon metabolism, acclimation efficiency, and nutrient availability. Her work sheds light on the future implications of trace metal and atmospheric aerosol enrichment, which may have considerable impacts on the phytoplankton community, trophic transfer, and carbon cycling. During her Ph.D., she gained hands-on experience in seawater inorganic nutrient analysis, HPLC for phytoplankton pigments, carbon chemistry (pH, total alkalinity, and dissolved inorganic carbon), biomass indicators analysis (Chla, carbohydrate, POC), and phytoplankton and zooplankton collection and identification. She actively participated in four oceanographic research cruises (2 during summer and 2 during winter monsoons, Arabian Sea) onboard RV Sindhu Sadhana and RV Sindhu Sankalp. In addition to scientific knowledge, she is a licensed open seawater SCUBA diver and completed several dives in the Gulf of Mannar and Lakshadweep.
Diksha is thrilled to embark on her new role as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Sharma’s lab and is eager to utilize her experience in designing microcosm experiments on phytoplankton to contribute to the project on the interaction between phytoplankton and clay minerals for better understanding of carbon sequestration and carbon export flux in the ocean.
Annie Kandel
Annie was a research assistant/project manager in the Sharma lab from Feb 2023 – June 2024. She graduated from Bates College with a BS in Chemistry (and a minor on Latin) and has an MS in Oceanography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Vignesh Gokuladas Menon
Vignesh was a graduate student and research assistant in the Sharma Lab, focusing on understanding microbial interactions with clay minerals and organic matter in the oceans, and its potential impact on carbon sequestration. He joined the lab in September 2022 after completing his Bachelor of Science in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Constructor (formerly Jacobs) University Bremen, Bremen, Germany and defended his MS thesis in summer 2024.
During his undergraduate studies, Vignesh completed his thesis work in Marine Geochemistry, where he focused on measuring dissolved and particulate Ni in the Rainbow Hydrothermal Vent Field (MAR) using Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping voltammeter. He has had work and research experience in the field of Physical Oceanography and marine biogeochemistry and has participated in three research cruises onboard RV Meteor and RV Heincke, with one of them being a GEOTRACES process study expedition. He has also worked on carbon sequestration in Project Carbdown at Alfred-wegener Institute, Germany, where he gained hands-on experience.
https://vignesh-gokuladasmenon.netlify.app/
Manasi Desai
Manasi is a budding environmentalist with a passion in marine ecology. She worked as a lab technician assisting Dr Mukul Sharma from January 2023 to July 2024. She graduated magna cum laude from the College of Wooster in Ohio with a BS in Environmental Studies and a minor in Chemistry. For her thesis, Manasi was interested in the role of microplastics as a vector for hydrophobic organic contaminants in marine food webs. Her research also included the interdisciplinary study of plastic legislation in India.
Luke Rein
Luke is an MS student in the Sharma lab.