Nicolas Gruber

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»» see also a the research information sheet of the Department .

Education

Dipl. Umweltnaturwissenschafter, ETH Zürich, 1993
Dr. phil. II , University of Bern, 1997

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Research Interests

My research interests are the study of biogeochemical cycles on regional to global scales and on timescales from months to millenia with a particular focus on the interaction of these cycles with Earth's climate system. The goal is to better understand the physical, chemical and biological processes that control these elemental cycles and to be able to make predictions for the future, particularly with regard to the global carbon cycle.

My primary research tools are the interpretation and analysis of observational data coupled with the use of models ranging in complexity from simple box models to general circulation models. My research and that of my group currently focuses on the following aspects:

• determining past, present, and future oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2
• investigating the role of oceanic nitrogen fixation and denitrification for marine biogeochemistry,
• identifying and studying interannual to decadal variability in the marine carbon cycle,
• applying inverse modeling techniques to estimate fluxes of carbon and other tracers, and
• to investigate the role of the coastal oceans for the global carbon cycle.

Please find additional information about my research activities as well as those of my group in the research section.

Publications

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A few representative publications:

• Sarmiento, J. L. and N. Gruber, Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 526pp, 2006. [link]
• Gruber, N. , Z. Lachkar, H. Frenzel, P. Marchesiello, M. Münnich, J. C. McWilliams, T. Nagai, and G.-K. Plattner, Eddy-induced reduction of biological production in eastern boundary upwelling systems, Nature Geoscience, 4, 11, 787-792, doi:10.1038/ngeo1273, 2011.
• Gruber, N. , and J. N. Galloway, An Earth system perspective on the global nitrogen cycle, Nature, 451, 293-296, 2008. [pdf]
• Gruber, N. , M. Gloor, S. E. Mikaloff Fletcher, S. Dutkiewicz, M. Follows, S. C. Doney, M. Gerber, A. R. Jacobson, K. Lindsay, D. Menemenlis, A. Mouchet, S. A. Mueller, J. L. Sarmiento, and T. Takahashi, Oceanic sources and sinks for atmospheric CO2, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23, GB1005, doi:10.1029/2008GB003349, 2009. [pdf]
• Gruber, N. , P. Friedlingstein, C. B. Field, R. Valentini, M. Heimann, J. E. Richey, P. Romero-Lankao, D. Schulze, and C.-T.A. Chen, The vulnerability of the carbon cycle in the 21st century: An assessment of carbon-climate-human interactions, In: The Global Carbon Cycle: Integrating Humans, Climate, and the Natural World, Eds: C. B. Field and M. R. Raupach, Island Press, Washington, D.C., 45-76, 2004. [pdf]
• Sabine. C.S., R. A. Feely, N. Gruber, R. M. Key, K. Lee, J. L. Bullister, R. Wanninkhof, C. S. Wong, D. W. R. Wallace, B. Tillbrook, F. J. Millero, T.-H. Peng, A. Kozyr, T. Ono, and A. F. Rios, The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2, Science, 305, 367-371, 2004. [pdf] [Perspectives]
• Gruber, N. , N.Bates, and C.D. Keeling, Interannual variability in the North Atlantic Ocean carbon sink, Science, 298, 2374-2378, 2002. [pdf]
• Gruber, N. , and J.L. Sarmiento, Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 11, 235-266, 1997. [pdf]
• Gruber, N. , J.L. Sarmiento and T.F. Stocker, An improved method for detecting anthropogenic CO2 in the oceans. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 10, 809-837, 1996. [pdf]

Teaching

I currently teach the following courses at ETH:

• Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Climate ((Master))
• Term paper in Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (joint) (Master)
• Carbon mitigation (Seminar) (joint)(Master)
• Systems Analysis (Bachelor)

Outreach Activities

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