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News

(actually a retroactive record, updated whenever I remember it happened.)

8.28.2025 - Xiaotian and Yuxuan passed their PQE and now become PhD candidates!

8.22.2025 - Our paper Lin et al. “Chemoautotrophy Enhances Iron and Phosphorus Recycling From Sediments at Deep-Sea Methane Seeps” is now published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles. We discovered chemoautotrophs at cold seeps don’t just feed the seafloor life–they also help promote the recycling of key nutrients iron and phosphorus. (link)

8.6.2025 - Our paper Gao et al. “Polyphosphate Dynamics in Marine Heterotrophic Bacteria Under Phosphorus and Organic Carbon Limitations” is published in Environmental Microbiology. We found that marine bacteria accumulate varying levels of polyP to adapt to their specific environmental niches, and this variability is linked to distinct polyP functions under carbon and phosphorus limitations.(link)

6.30.2025 - Jiying receives a RGC-GRF Grant to study polyphosphate in sediments (Jan 2026- Dec 2028).

5.22.2025 - Our paper Sun et al. “Superlinear control of phosphorus recycling in coastal sediments by organic matter availability” is accepted and now available online at Water Research. We found that sediment P efflux in coastal oceans around the Pearl River Estuary region responds disproportionately to organic carbon remineralization following a superlinear relationship, providing transformative quantitative constraints critical for modeling regional and global P budget and dynamics. (link)

12.27.2025 - Jing successfully defended her PhD thesis today! Congratulations, Dr. Sun! Jing is now an expert in sediment oxygen dynamics and phosphorus and nitrogen cycling. She will join Prof. He Ding’s lab at HKUST as a postdoctoral researcher to explore organic geochemistry in sediments. So we will still see her around!

12.1.2024 - Our paper Sun et al. “Sediment oxygen uptake and hypoxia in coastal oceans, the Pearl River Estuary region” is published in Water Research. We quantify sediment oxygen uptake in the Pearl River Estuary and surrounding coastal shelves and demonstrate that sediment influence on bottom-water oxygen is strongly regulated by the thickness of the bottom boundary layer. We establish robust relationships that improve upon previous parameterizations used in regional biogeochemical models and introduce a simple model and mass-balance analysis to enhance the mechanistic understanding of hypoxia development timescales, conditions, and cross-system variability.(link)

9.1.2024 - Chuanzhe joined us as a PhD student. Welcome! He was “kidnapped” to join our 25-day (or longer) “wonderful” Pearl River Estuary cruise even before he officially joined us. The brutal seasickness made his trip unforgettable, but it didn’t change his mind about joining us to play with more sediments in the years to come.

8.14.2024 - Rixuan successfully defended her Mphil thesis today! Congratulations to Rixuan. After much trial and error, she pushed forward our knowledge of the multifaceted roles of polyP through her study of polyP dynamics in marine bacteria under carbon and phosphorus limitation. A manuscript is on the way!

7.30.2024 - Our paper Yang et al. “Quantification of Polyphosphate in Environmental Planktonic Samples Using a Novel Fluorescence Dye JC-D7” is published in Environmental Science and Technology. After numerous tests over the past three years, we finally cracked this! For decades, polyP quantification in natural environments has been semiquantitative. Our method, for the first time, offers accurate quantification of polyP in natural planktonic samples. Our piles of samples (from many places and many seasons) will be analyzed using this new method! More stories are to come…(link)

6.30.2025 - Jiying receives a RGC-GRF Grant to study cycling and fluxes of N₂O in sediments (Jan 2025- Dec 2027).

4.16.2024 - Our paper Yang et al. “Polyphosphate phosphorus in the Great Lakes” is published in Limnology and Oceanography Letters. This is the first study of polyP in the World’s largest freshwater ecosystem. Our findings help bridge a critical data gap in global polyP inventories, enabling a synthesis of polyP across systems of varying trophic states and microbial regimes. (link)

9.1.2023 - Xiaotian finished her RA term and will stay with us as a PhD student. She just survived this brutal fieldwork summer and managed to pull her legs out of the mangrove mud before signing on to be our fieldwork buddy for years to come.

6.30.2023 - Yuxuan successfully defended his MPhil thesis today! Congratulations to Yuxuan. He will continue pursuing his PhD in our lab. Glad that we’ll continue to have him around!

10.19.2022 - Samples from Haima methane seeps and Pinping Lagoon are escorted back to Hong Kong! Welcome back Jing and Yuxuan, and a new members Xiaotian Zhou joining us a Research Assistant. Welcome, Xiaotian!

10.14.2022 - Jing and Yuxuan sample water and sediments in Pinqing Lagoon (the largest lagoon in China and second largest in Asia). We are “excited” to see a positive N₂O gradient down core (N₂O fluxes out from sediments into the water column), which is contrary to what we saw in other loacations (e.g., deep sea, coastal sediments arond HK).

9.30.2022 - Jing and Yuxuan are back on land from a research cruise to the South China Sea for sampling sediments from the Haima methane seeps, after nearly two months of hardwork (and covid dramma of crossing the border, quarantining, lockdown anxiety, and others). They have sampled sediments at three seep sites with distinct geochemistry (CH₄ vs H₂S) and benthic biology (deep-sea mussels and clams Archivesica marissinica).

7.1.2022 - Jiying receives a RGC-GRF Grant (Research Grant Council General Research Funding Grant) to study phosphorus cycling and fluxes in the sediments of coastal waters in Hong Kong (Jan 2023- Dec 2025).

5.17.2022 - Xingyu presents our work “Polyphosphate in the plankton of the oligotrophic Great Lakes” at the Joint Aquatic Science Meeting (Grand Rapids, MN, US). Some funs are missing for a virtual meeting (we are staying in HK), but on the bright side it is environmental and introvert friendly…

9.1.2021 - Xingyu finished his RA term and now joins us as a PhD student. We have two new members Yuxuan Lin and Rixuan Gao joining in as Mphil students; Welcome Rixuan, Yuxuan, and Xingyu!

7.1.2021 - Jiying receives her first RGC-ECS Grant (Research Grant Council Early Career Scheme Grant) to study polyphosphate dynamics in coastal oceans (Jan 2022 - Dec 2024).

06.2.2021- 07.10.2021 - We survive the research cruises aboard the R/V Haike 68 in the Pearl River Estuary and along the coastal shelf waters in the Northern South China Sea. We sampled more than 20 stations for both sediments and water. This is the first cruise for Jing, Lei, and Xingyu, and also Jiying’s first cruise in this part of the globe. Cyclones are no fun; sunsets are delightful; feets on the ground (literally) again reminds us of happiness being simple..

1.25.2021 - Our paper Li et al. “Benthic invaders control the phosphorus cycle in the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem” is now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (link). (News Brief)

09.21.2020 - Xingyu Yang Joins us a Research Assistant. Welcome, Xingyu!

09.07.2020 - Jing Sun joins us as a PhD student. Welcome, Jing!

08.02.2020 - Lei Zhou joins us as a Mphil student. Welcome, Lei!

07.02.2020 - Jiying Join the Department of Ocean Sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as an Assistant Professor.

12.17.2019 - Our paper Li et al. “Picoplankton accumulate and recycle polyphosphate to support high primary productivity in coastal Lake Ontario” is now published in Scientific Reports (link)

06.10.2019 -06.14.2019 - Vadym and Jiying presented our work on how invasive quagga mussels impact sediment and water geochemistry of the Great Lakes at the IAGLR 2019 meeting at SUNY Brockport, NY.

06.03.2019 - Jiying’s paper “Sediment geochemistry and contributions to carbon and nutrient cycling in a deep meromictic tropical lake: Lake Malawi (East Africa)” is awarded the Early Career/Young Scientist Most Notable Paper Award given annually by the International Association for Great Lakes Research!

05.21.2019- 06.02.2019 - We successfully completed our research expedition on Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron studying the invasive mussels impacting sediment geochemistry and nutrient exchanges! We sampled 9 primary stations including transects (shallow to deep sites), despite a day of hiding from storms in Houghton, MI (museum, bakery and bars). See this short video about what we are doing!

11.21.2018 – Li and Dittrich manuscript “Dynamic polyphosphate metabolism in cyanobacteria responding to phosphorus availability” is accepted for publication in Environmental Microbiology.

07.31.2018-08.12.2108 – Our research expedition on Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron surveyed the invasive mussels coverage on the lake floor and investigated their impact on sediment geochemistry and benthic-pelagic exchanges.

07.23.2018 – Jiying joined Profs. Sergei Katsev and Prof. Ted Ozersky’s groups as a postdoc researcher at the Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth.

06.20.2018 – Jiying presented at the IAGRL 2018 meeting: Seasonal and spatial variability of polyphosphate in the water column of Hamilton Habour.

02.16.2018 – Li et al paper “Phosphorus recyling in deeply oxygenated sediments in Lake Superior controlled by organic matter mineralization” is published in the Limnology and Oceanography.

01.03.2018 – Li et al paper “Sediment geochemistry and contributions to carbon and nutrient cycling in a deep meromictic tropical lake: Lake Malawi (East Africa)” is published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.

11.29.2017 – It cools to just a few degrees above zero in Toronto, to celebrate the last day of water sampling on Hamilton Harbor, Lake Ontario.

10.23.2017 – Crowe et al paper “Novel anammox bacteria and nitrogen loss from Lake Superior” is published on Scientific Reports.

09.22.2017-09.29.2017 – Jiying sampled sediments from Lake of the Woods by joining the research expedition hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada, to collect sediment samples, investigate sediment geochemistry and quantify internal phosphorus loading.

09.15.2017 – Fakhraee et al paper “Significant role of organic sulfur in supporting sedimentary sulfate reduction in low-sulfate environments” is published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.

07.11.2017 – A sunny day in Toronto welcomes our first water samples collected from Hamilton Harbor, Lake Ontario, with helps of scientists/technicians from Environment and Climate Change Canada. This project investigates seasonal dynamics of polyphosphate

06.12.2017 – Jiying presented the work on polyphosphate in cyanobacteria at the 1st Geobiology meeting at Banff, AB, Canada

03.08.2017 – Li et al paper “Phosphorus availability and turnover in the Chesapeake Bay: Insights from nutrient stoichiometry and phosphate oxygen isotope ratios” is published on Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences.

03.08.2017 – Li et al paper “Water column particulate matter a key contributor to phosphorus regeneration in a coastal eutrophic environment, the Chesapeake Bay” is published on Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences.