![]() |
Monica Orellana Research Scientist/Engineer - Principal & Principal Oceanographer morellan@uw.edu Phone 206-685-5422 |
Education
B.S. Biology, Concepcion (Chile), 1980
M.S. Biological Oceanography, University of Washington, 1985
Ph. D. Biological Oceanography, University of Washington, 1990
Videos
![]() |
Extreme Summer Melt: Assessing the Habitability and Physical Structure of Rotting First-year Arctic Sea Ice Sea ice cover in the Arctic during summer is shrinking and thinning. The melt season is lengthening and the prevalence of "rotten" sea ice is increasing. |
More Info |
30 Jul 2015
|
![]() |
|||||
A multidisciplinary team of researchers is making a series of three monthly (May, June, and July) expeditions to Barrow, AK. They are measuring the summertime melt processes that transform the physical properties of sea ice, which in turn transform the biological and chemical properties of the ice habitat. |
Publications |
2000-present and while at APL-UW |
![]() |
Marine polymer-gels' relevance in the atmosphere as aerosols and CCN Orellana, M.V., D.A. Hansell, P.A. Matar, and C. Leck, "Marine polymer-gels' relevance in the atmosphere as aerosols and CCN," Gels, 7, doi:10.3390/gels7040185, 2021. |
More Info |
1 Dec 2021 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
Marine polymer gels play a critical role in regulating ocean basin scale biogeochemical dynamics. This brief review introduces the crucial role of marine gels as a source of aerosol particles and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in cloud formation processes, emphasizing Arctic marine microgels. We review the gel's composition and relation to aerosols, their emergent properties, and physico-chemical processes that explain their change in size spectra, specifically in relation to aerosols and CCN. Understanding organic aerosols and CCN in this context provides clear benefits to quantifying the role of marine nanogel/microgel in microphysical processes leading to cloud formation. This review emphasizes the DOC-marine gel/aerosolized gel-cloud link, critical to developing accurate climate models. |
![]() |
Dissolved organic matter in the global ocean: A primer Hansell, D.A., and M.V. Orellana, "Dissolved organic matter in the global ocean: A primer," Gels, 7, doi:10.3390/gels7030128, 2021. |
More Info |
1 Sep 2021 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) holds similar to 660 billion metric tons of carbon, making it one of Earth's major carbon reservoirs that is exchangeable with the atmosphere on annual to millennial time scales. The global ocean scale dynamics of the pool have become better illuminated over the past few decades, and those are very briefly described here. What is still far from understood is the dynamical control on this pool at the molecular level; in the case of this Special Issue, the role of microgels is poorly known. This manuscript provides the global context of a large pool of marine DOM upon which those missing insights can be built. |
![]() |
Integrating oceanographic research into high school curricula achieving broader impacts through systems education experiences modules Orellana, M.V., L. Claudia, A.W. Thompson, and N.S. Baliga, "Integrating oceanographic research into high school curricula achieving broader impacts through systems education experiences modules," Oceanography, 33, 16-20, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2020.304, 2020. |
More Info |
1 Sep 2020 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
We describe a framework for incorporating cross-disciplinary oceanographic research into high school curriculum modules and discuss how this framework could be adopted broadly by ocean scientists to build cohesive broader impacts programs nested within individual oceanographic research programs. The framework has brought ocean science to over one million students in the form of "curriculum modules," one of which has been adopted as an official high school curriculum by the California State Board of Education. The framework for developing these curricular modules is easy to replicate and could help to scale up education and outreach efforts to advance ocean science in classrooms. |