Area of Expertise:
Dr. Kohfeld is interested in understanding natural variability and biogeochemical linkages within the ocean and climate system, in order to better assess earth system responses to anthropogenic perturbations. Her research focuses on natural and anthropogenic changes in the ocean carbon cycle, the influence of climate and land surface conditions on atmospheric dust, and assessing and adapting to extreme weather conditions in British Columbia.
Projects related to this research have involved:
- Changes in physical and biological ocean conditions over the last 140,000 years
- Modelling the fate of anthropogenic CO2 that is injected in the deep ocean
- Frequency, intensity, and impacts of extreme weather events in British Columbia
- Climate-induced changes in extreme winds and their effects on the Dust Bowl
- Air quality impacts of climate change in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia
- Changes in marine productivity in the North Pacific Ocean over the last 140,000 years
Many of these projects involve the development of environmental databases, computational data mining, analysis and manipulation of existing data, and collaboration with geologists, marine biologists, sedimentologists, geochemists, and ocean, atmosphere, and biogeochemical modelers.
Select Presentation(s) / Publication(s):
Peters, Willem; Robinson, Cliff; Kohfeld, Karen; Pellatt, Marlow; and Bertram, Douglas, “Extent of microplastics in Pacific Sand Lance burying habitat in the Salish Sea” (2018). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 422.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/422
Simpson, Eleanor; Ianson, Debby; Kohfeld, Karen; Cooley, Sarah; Rutherford, Murray; Mahaux, Patrick; Silver, Jennifer; Perreault, Yves; Comeau, Andre; Dryden, Andrew; Habren, Nathan; Reid, Keith; “Investigating the vulnerability of nearshore coastal communities in British Columbia to ocean acidification” (2018). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 185.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/185/
Simpson, Eleanor; Ianson, Debby; Kohfeld, Karen; Scozzafava, Kenny; Covert, Paul; Perreault, Yves; Comeau, Andre; “Nearshore Carbonate Chemistry at Shellfish Aquaculture Sites in the Northern Salish Sea” (2016). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 28.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2016ssec/climate_change_ocean_acidification/28/
Savo, V., D Lepofsky, J Brenner, KE Kohfeld, J Bailey, and K Lertzman, Observations of climate change among subsistence-oriented communities around the world, Accepted, Nature Climate Change, 15 January 2016.
Spry, C., KE Kohfeld, D. Allen, K. Lertzman, D. Dunkley, Characterising Pineapple Express Storms in British Columbia using meteorologic, streamflow, and isotope data, Canadian Water Resource Journal, DOI:10.1080/07011784.2014.942574, 2014.
