Hello

I am an observational Physical Oceanographer with a particular interest in the interactions between the physical environment and biogeochemical processes. In my current (PhD) project I am investigating the physical mechanisms which supply micronutrients to the annual phytoplankton bloom downstream of the island of South Georgia (south Atlantic). I am very motivated by uncovering how physical processes shape and control the environments which support productivity in the diverse ecosystems of the ocean.

Primarily I am an observational oceanographer and prefer to work with real world data. I have picked up a lot of time at sea over the last few years and have experience working with a number of observational techniques. Have a look at an overview of my at-sea experience below.

I have began to complement observational techniques with modelling techniques and I am particularly interested in Lagrangian particle tracking experiments. These techniques are rewarding and can highlight interesting sub-grid dynamics in model data. I am currently running experiments to determine the potential pathways of sediment-carrying shelf water at depth in the South Georgia region. I have really enjoyed taking the time to design meaningful experiments and learning how to optimise code and handle huge amounts of data.

This website is very much a work in progress at this stage. Over time I intend to showcase my most interesting results and visualisations so do come back later!

Contact

For now, please find my contact details over on my AWI webpage.

Qualifications and Experience

Formal

• 2026 (in completion): PhD in Physical Oceanography. Alfred Wegener Institute / Universität Bremen
• 2022: MSc Ocean and Climate Physics. Universität Hamburg
• 2009: MPhys and BSc Physics. University of Leeds

Papers

• Mole, R., von Appen, W. J., Becker, H., Haumann, F. A., Kanzow, T., Piñango, A., et al. (2025). Wind-driven iron supply by Ekman buoyancy flux enhances phytoplankton bloom in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 130, e2025JC022530. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JC022530

Collaborations

• Oetjens, A., von Appen, W. J., Anselin, J., Ebner, B., et al. (in review). Physical transport processes in the fjords of South Georgia.
• Pakhomov, E.A., Mole, R., Bahl, A.A. et al. Early spring population dynamics of Salpa thompsoni linked to physical oceanography in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 48, 13 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-024-03342-w

At-Sea

Techniques

• Triaxis undulating profiler
• CTD, underway-CTD, water sampling
• Shipboard and deployed ADCP
• Microstructure Profiling
• Drifter deployment
• Some experience with glider and mooring deployment

Cruises

• Meteor M166 Sep 2020: Denmark Strait and Iceland-Faroe Ridge
• Meteor M180 Feb-March 2022: Walvis Ridge
• Polarstern PS133.1 Oct-Nov 2022: South Georgia
• Heincke: a number of short training cruises in the North Sea. Introducing masters students to a range of oceanographic techniques (physical, biological) for two days before allowing them to design their own 1-day observational campaign around Helgoland in the German Bight.