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ROGER
FRANçOIS (2008)
Dr.
François holds a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Earth and
Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia. Dr. François obtained his
PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1987 and spent the
subsequent fifteen years of his career at the Department of Marine
Chemistry and Geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
where he is still an adjunct scientist. He has been actively involved in
large international programs with a biogeochemical focus, such as JGOFS
and GEOTRACES.
Dr.
François’ research is centered at the intersection of physical,
chemical and biological processes and has influenced our understanding of
climate-related changes in ocean circulation and ocean chemistry. His
research has focused partly on the global carbon, nitrogen and silica
cycles (past and present), and more recently on the global biogeochemical
cycling of metals. He has been particularly innovative in applying novel
techniques to address processes that have occurred in the past million
years. Specifically, he has developed the use of light stable isotopes for
understanding algal production and nutrient cycling in the ocean, and for
determining past changes in water column stratification. Additionally, he
has developed tracers that have paved the way for the reconstruction of
past ocean circulation and its impact on global climate and his innovative
techniques for measuring sedimentation processes are being used to explore
the history of sediment burial. Dr. François is internationally renowned
for his deeply insightful research in marine biogeochemistry, his
innovative skill in data acquisition and analysis, and his interpretation
of the complex behaviour of the ocean–atmosphere system over long-term
climatic timescales.
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