Dr. Yvon-Lewis adds to the Department of Oceanography

Dr. Shari Yvon-Lewis came to Texas A&M University a year and a half ago after leaving her post in the Atlantic Oceanographic and Marine Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami, FL.

The Chicopee, Massachusetts native received her B.S. in Chemistry from University of Massachusetts and PhD in Marine and Atmospheric Science from University of Miami (Rosenstial School of Marine and Atmospheric Science).

“I saw that TAMU was expanding (with Vision 2020) and decided that it was an excellent opportunity for me. The Department of Oceanography is well-known, and I thought I could become part of strong growing department,” Dr. Yvon-Lewis said of her decision to move into academics.

Her area of expertise is air-sea exchange biogeochemistry. Dr. Yvon-Lewis said that such studies are significant because these gases can be traced in the form of water masses as they move through the deep ocean and help physical oceanographers studying global ocean circulation and the transport of carbon dioxide into the deep ocean.

“I study primarily gases that exchange between the ocean and atmosphere and the role that the ocean plays in regulating the atmospheric abundance of these gases. Many of the gases I study are halocarbons and are ozone depletors.  Some of these gases, the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs - also known as freons), are produced by man and released into the atmosphere where they equilibrate with the surface ocean and can be transported into the deep ocean through deep ocean circulation,” Dr. Yvon-Lewis said.

She further explained that some of the halocarbons are produced naturally in the ocean and are emitted to the atmosphere.  Phytoplankton and macro-algae release these gases into the surrounding water.  There the gases can be broken down either through chemical reactions or through bacterial degradation.  However, Dr. Yvon-Lewis said that some of the gas leaves the ocean and enters the atmosphere where it can be transported to the stratosphere and contribute to the natural depletion of ozone.

Dr. Yvon-Lewis added that she is interested to know what happens when man-made ozone depletors decrease to the point where the natural ozone production-destruction cycle will control ozone in the stratosphere. “One of the questions that intrigues me about this is: What will happen to that natural cycle of ozone production and destruction if the ocean source of biologically produced natural ozone depeltors is altered through climate change (e.g. sea-surface temperature changes, changes in nutrient availability, etc.)?” she said.

An aspect of the Department of Oceanography that Dr. Yvon-Lewis said she particularly appreciates is her colleagues and the rich academic community that they provide.

“I like the people in the Department the best.  We have an excellent group of scientists here, and I am looking forward to working more closely with many of them,” she said.

She will teach OCNG 251: “Introduction to Oceanography” in the fall. For more information on Dr. Yvon-Lewis, visit

http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Directory/Faculty/Chem/ShariYvonLewis.htm.