Richard Coffin

Isotope geochemistry methods have been developed and applied to develop better understanding of pertinent Earth ecosystem cycles. Work has focused on soil groundwater systems, estuaries, coastal and deep ocean water column and sediment. Field work has been global with priorities from applied research on Navy harbors through the US to basic research in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans and coastal regions off Chile, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Japan and the US. Field platforms include ships, autonomous and manned aircraft as well as manned and unmanned submarines. Contributions have been through working as leader or co-leader of planning, execution, data collection and interpretation. Work has addressed environmental assessment, energy exploration and field technology development. Examples of success include providing a 25 million dollar cost savings plan for harbor remediation in Liepaja Latvia and focusing methane hydrate energy exploration sites off the coasts New Zealand, Alaska, Texas and Chile providing 10 – 30 million dollar savings at each potential drill site. Current efforts include lead PI on integration of geochemistry and seismic data in the Ross Sea off the coast of Antarctica to address climate change and conduct oil and gas exploration, and coPI on Phase 2 level planning of IODP drilling on the Chatham Rise off the eastern coast of New Zealand with a focus on deep sediment CO2 contribution to climate paleo-interpretation and future predictions.