Sara Jean Reinelt

CO₂ Flux, Sea Level Variability, Heat Storage, Global Ocean Circulation, Southern Ocean Dynamics, Polar Oceanography, Climate Change.

I am a Physical Oceanography PhD candidate in Dr. Chambers' research group in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida (USF) St. Petersburg. My research here began with studying global steric sea-level and ocean heat-storage anomalies using Argo float observations, satellite altimetry, and GRACE/GRACE-FO data. More recently, I have been examining how mesoscale eddies in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current influence air-sea carbon fluxes. This research combines satellite altimetry, Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) data, and biogeochemical Argo float observations.

My path to graduate school has been unconventional. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Enology and spent eight years working in the wine and beer production industries. While working in winemaking I frequently “harvest hopped,” completing one harvest season in the Northern Hemisphere (California or Europe) before traveling to Australia for a second harvest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Although this schedule was exhausting, it was also very rewarding and provided me with opportunities I would not otherwise have had. My work in Australia allowed me to scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef and ice climb at Fox Glacier, while my positions in California and Hungary gave me the opportunity to hike the Camino de Santiago across Spain, among many other adventures.

My path toward research has been marked by several twists and turns. Over time, I kept returning to the possibility of a climate-focused career, adding more specificity to the idea with each visit until I realized that a scientific approach to addressing the global climate challenge was right for me. In 2019, I began that transition by studying physics in an intensive postbaccalaureate program and completing 75 STEM units. I then applied to PhD programs in Physical Oceanography and was accepted at USF, beginning my doctoral studies in Fall 2022.

Since beginning my PhD, I have expanded my research from examining steric sea-level and ocean heat-storage anomalies to investigating ocean carbon cycling. During this time, I was awarded a three-year, $150,000 Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant in 2024. My research journey has deepened my commitment to understanding the ocean’s role in the climate system and contributing research that helps us better understand and protect our planet.

While physical oceanography is my primary field, I believe the most effective ocean scientists are multidisciplinary. The ability to draw connections across specialties is essential for understanding complex ocean and climate processes, so I have sought research opportunities across several areas of oceanography, including physical oceanography, paleoceanography, biological oceanography, and chemical oceanography.

In 2020, I attended the Ocean Sciences Meeting and actively sought opportunities to meet with physical oceanographers and learn more about the field. Those conversations helped me better understand how to transition into physical oceanography and inspired me to set a goal of presenting my own research at the next Ocean Sciences Meeting in 2022.

In summer 2021, I joined a chemical paleoceanography research group through the Research Internships for Ocean Sciences program at Rutgers University. I increased the resolution of planktic stable-isotope measurements in a sediment core from the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean, created an age model using stratigraphy and δ¹⁸O data, and analyzed δ¹³C in three cores to help identify circulation changes since the last glacial period. This work culminated in an oral presentation at the 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting, allowing me to achieve the short-term goal I had set two years earlier.

In Fall 2021, I worked in the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, where I used Python to analyze and visualize autonomous underwater vehicle data collected off the coast of California. I examined current structure and biological productivity by identifying chlorophyll hotspots and evaluating their relationship to temperature and salinity. The broader goal of this project was to improve our understanding of juvenile white shark migration patterns.

In summer 2022, I joined Dr. Don Chambers’ research group at the University of South Florida. I developed a Python-based program to match satellite-derived eddy locations, identified using sea-surface height anomalies, with observations from Argo profiling floats. This work provided the foundation for my later research using biogeochemical Argo data to investigate how mesoscale eddies influence carbon cycling in the Southern Ocean.

During the first phase of my PhD, I investigated global and regional steric sea-level and ocean heat-storage anomalies using Argo float observations, satellite altimetry, and GRACE/GRACE-FO gravimetry. I developed a Python program to match Argo profile locations with climatological data and calculate steric sea-level and heat-storage anomalies for individual profiles. This work resulted in a 2025 paper and dataset of steric sea-level and heat-storage anomalies derived from Argo profiles, satellite altimetry, and gravimetry.

Since 2025, my dissertation research has focused on quantifying how mesoscale eddies in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current influence air-sea CO2 exchange. I combine satellite altimetry, Surface Water and Ocean Topography data, and biogeochemical Argo float observations to examine how eddy characteristics affect carbon fluxes in the Southern Ocean. To support this work, I wrote Python-based program to co-locate BGC-Argo profiles with eddy trajectories, classify the associated eddy environments, and calculate air-sea CO2 flux. This research is supported by a three-year, $150,000 NASA FINESST grant, and I defended my dissertation proposal in Fall 2025.

* In addition to my oceanographic research, I led a statistical study of COVID-19 infection and fatality rates in New York City in 2020 and participated in the Saddleback College Robotics Team. As part of the team’s science subteam, I helped develop a Mars rover for the 2021 University Rover Challenge, researching realistic methods and equipment for in situ mineral identification and life detection. Although these projects were outside oceanography, my work with the robotics team sparked my interest in underwater robotics and its potential to expand oceanographic data collection and exploration in remote environments.