Principal investigator
Kathy Barbeau (she/her)
Kathy is a marine chemist with research interests in the area of trace metal chemistry in marine systems. She is particularly drawn to questions at the interface between chemistry and biology in trace metal cycling, such as how biota influence the chemical speciation of trace metals in seawater. In this 99 second video, Kathy shares what it's like to live the life of a marine trace metal scientist.
Current graduate students
Max Fenton (he/him)
Max is a PhD candidate who grew up on the oceans outside of Boston, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Chemistry. He is interested in the electrochemistry of iron, and the dynamics and kinetics of its speciation in seawater. Currently, he is working on developing novel technologies for the detection of various forms of iron in natural seawater. Max loves surfing, spikeball, and playing music. They say on moonless summer nights, if you look out to sea and listen very closely, you may hear his voice on the breeze.
Minerva Padilla-Villa (she/her)
Minerva is a PhD candidate who grew up in between the coastal towns of Baja California and Southern California. After earning a B.Sc. in Oceanography from UABC, she came to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to study the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements in coastal environments. Minerva uses chemiluminescence and mass spectrometry to analyze trace elements in seawater, and she is working to constrain different sources of iron to upwelling sites in the California Current Ecosystem via stable isotope geochemistry. Minerva loves cooking at home and exploring the outdoors.
Marley Weiss (he/him)
Marley has been a Barbeau Lab member since he was an Environmental Systems senior at UC San Diego. As a PhD Student, he is interested in understanding the relationship between iron limitation of diatoms and carbon export in productive marine systems. Marley is passionate about communicating climate science to the general public, and he has been running a YouTube channel, Planet Zero, since 2020. Check it out!
Zach Brown (he/him)
Zach is a PhD student who grew up in Cleveland, OH. He earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Haverford College. At Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Zach is studying receptor-mediated iron acquisition by marine heterotrophic bacteria. In his free time, Zach loves watching and practicing sports. He has two cats named Terra and Coral. Ask him about them!
Current undergraduate students
Abigail Severance (she/her)
Abi is a Chemistry student at UC San Diego. She arrived to the Barbeau Lab as a CCE-LTER REU student in 2024. Her project involved characterizing the iron-binding ligand pool in samples from the PUPCYCLE II oceanographic research cruise off the coast of Cape Blanco, Oregon, using competitive ligand exchange/adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry. Since then, Abi has become a Barbeau Lab technician and continued her iron speciation work.
Diego Garcia (he/him)
Diego is an Environmental Systems student at UC San Diego. He joined the Barbeau Lab in the Fall of 2024 to work on his integrative senior project. Through this project, Diego seeks to understand how iron limitation impacts the ability of marine bacteria to access carbon from different types of plastic polymers. Recently, Diego went out to sea for the first time with the lab onboard the RV Robert Gordon Sproul!
Past members
Posdoctoral scholars
- Dr. Kiefer Forsch, now a posdoctoral scholar at University of Southern California
- Dr. Adit Chaudhary, now a Research Bioengineer at Rush University Medical Center
- Dr. Kristen Buck, now a professor at Oregon State University
Graduate students
- Kiefer Forsch (PhD, 2021), now a posdoctoral scholar at the University of Southern California
- Lauren Manck (PhD, 2020), now a posdoctoral scholar at the Flathead Lake Biological Station
- Kayleen Fulton (MSc, 2019), now an oceanographic analyst for CalCOFI, University of California San Diego
- Angel Ruacho (PhD, 2019), now a posdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington
- Shane Hogle (PhD, 2016), now a docent at the University of Turku
- Randie Bundy (PhD, 2014), now an assistant professor at the University of Washington
- Kelly Roe (PhD, 2012), now a lecturer at the State University of New York College Brockport
- Andrew King (PhD, 2008), now a research scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research
- Chris Dupont (PhD, 2008), now an assistant professor at the J. Craig Venter Institute
- Brian Hopkinson (PhD, 2007), now an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia