A warm Darwin-welcome to Clara Fronda, visiting from France this spring.
Clara, a first-year Master’s degree student in Geosciences at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, is interested in marine biogeochemistry, and the links between carbon cycling and phytoplankton productivity, especially in the context of how biogeochemical cycles are impacted by climate change. She joins the Darwin Group to work with Stephanie Dutkiewicz and Mick Follows on the implications of differential temperature sensitivities in the population growth rates of marine phytoplankton taxonomic groups. By comparing model outputs that resolve these taxonomic differences from those which do not, they will seek to understand the implications for phytoplankton biogeography in the Darwin model, in the global current ocean and also in a future warming ocean.
“I have always wanted to engage in scientific research about environmental issues since I like to address complex questions, and enjoy being in nature/the wild whenever I have free time,” says Clara. “I first studied Environmental Economics at the Ecole Normale but quickly decided to dedicate myself to the geosciences because I wanted to acquire some more scientific knowledge about global warming and I was fascinated by the biological/physical/chemical mechanisms which drive the elements cycling in the Earth system. I became more specifically interested in marine biogeochemistry last year after I participated in a field measurement program with CTD probes in the Mediterranean Sea.”
Clara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematical Economics (2018) from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay.
Story image: In her spare time, Clara enjoys hiking and skiing in the Alps. She says she also loves surfing on the French west coast whenever she has the opportunity to do so. She also enjoys dancing and going to contemporary art exhibitions or theaters.