The biogeochemical processes at work in the Southern Ocean underpin large and productive ecosystems, modulate global climate, and influence nutrient distributions throughout the global oceans. These processes are subject to natural variability and long-term change, linked in part to anthropogenic climate change, with consequences for ocean-climate feedbacks at regional and larger scales. In this talk, I will share some examples from my research on the importance of these processes and the changes that they are experiencing for regional ecosystems and ocean-climate feedbacks through air-sea fluxes of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. I will give this talk in the middle of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, in which I am advocating for climate change mitigation, in addition to effective regional conservation and management, to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems and their wide-ranging societal benefits now and into the future. As such, I will also offer a Southern Ocean scientist's perspective of the conference and its negotiations, which are occurring at a critical time for humanity.

Dr. Sian Henley is a Lecturer in Marine Science at the University of Edinburgh, UK. She has been working in the broad field of Southern Ocean biogeochemistry since starting her PhD in 2008 and now has the pleasure of leading research activities, as well as supervising and advising talented students working in related fields. Sian is Vice Chair of the Southern Ocean Observing System and a member of the Southern Ocean Task Force for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Sian is a proud advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion across the sciences and academia, and enjoys promoting and supporting early career researchers and students at any opportunity.

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