Home

Hi there! I am a dual-title PhD student at the University of Washington in Oceanography and Astrobiology.

My primary research field is chemical oceanography, meaning I’m interested in how the chemistry of seawater impacts ocean and climate health. Specifically, I study the organic molecules that bind to metals like iron, manganese, and copper in seawater. These metals are vital nutrients for marine life but they have very low concentrations in seawater. The organic molecules bound to metals (called ligands) are what keeps metals dissolved in seawater, so we study ligands to understand the fate of metals in the ocean.

My work on ligands has spanned hydrothermal vents and seamounts, the Southern Ocean, Equatorial Pacific, and even whale poop. From an astrobiological perspective, researching microbe-chemistry interactions in Earth’s ocean will help us understand and evaluate potential life on other ocean worlds like Enceladus.

I try to keep this site updated with current projects and other thoughts and happenings. Feel free to email me at pmonreal 'at' uw.edu