Climate change work takes Robert across the world

But for Robert Spencer it couldn’t be better. Sampling the spring melt in this major watercourse that flows from Canada into Alaska, can help to answer important questions about the effects of climate change, a subject close to Robert’s heart.

Extracting and analysing the waters helps scientists like Robert, who grew up in Brighouse, to understand how changes in temperature are affecting natural processes.

He is equally happy in the vast lands of Siberia sampling permafrost or carrying out fieldwork in the Congo to assess how agriculture impacts on the environment.

Robert sampling the icy spring melt waters of the Yukon

As Associate Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University, the former Bradford Grammar School pupil travels around the world conducting research on the planet's natural resources, to gauge the effects of climate change.

His research in the field and his many published papers on the subject have led to him being elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

AAAS Fellows are a distinguished band of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognised for their achievements across disciplines including research, teaching, and technology to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.

It is not the first accolade Robert has received. In 2019 hereceived the prestigious Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography for his significant contributions to the understanding of global biogeochemical processes.

Robert, front, and colleague Paul carrying out fieldwork in Siberia

A moored boat showing the scale of permafrost melt in Siberia

Robert’s love of nature and the outdoors goes back to childhood.

“I also always loved spending time outdoors, whether it be in the Yorkshire Dales or further afield, so I became very interested in pursuing a career where I could study the natural world and spend as much time in the outdoors as possible,” he says.

He attended Woodhouse Primary School in Brighouse, going on to study at Bradford Grammar School. “I was fortunate to have great teachers at school who really fostered my interest in the world around us, and in trying to understand it,” he says.

It was there that he developed an interest in earth sciences, going on to study marine biology at Newcastle University.

Staying at Newcastle, he gained a PhD in geoscience - studying the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that shape Earth. “I particularly focused on how impacts on land impacts what is exported into the ocean,” he says.

He then moved to a postdoctoral researcher position at the University of California, Davis, in the USA. It was here that he began working on projects relating to climate change.

A move to Woods Hole Research Centre in Massachusetts came next before, in 2014, he joined Florida State University and its National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

The thawing landscape, Siberia

Robert’s research focuses on understanding the chemical composition of Earth’s major carbon reservoirs - the soils, sediments and dissolved organic matter in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. These reservoirs can act as sinks for carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, or they can be sources of additional carbon dioxide. Robert aims to understand why and how they act in either way.

He has conducted critical research in some of the world’s most isolated areas, from examining organic carbon released by glacial melting and permafrost thaw, to exploring the effects of changes in land use on carbon export in the Amazon and Congo. His work has helped clarify the influence of human activity on these important biogeochemical processes.

“Fundamentally, my research group aims to better understand the global carbon cycle and how human impacts such as climate change and land use change are altering it,” he says.

The biggest impacts of climate change he has witnessed are in the Arctic, where he has been working since 2006, first in Alaska, then Siberia and currently across the pan-Arctic.

“There is over twice as much carbon stored in Arctic permafrost soils as there is in the atmosphere and so understanding what will happen to that carbon as the Arctic warms and how it may feedback into climate projections remains a major research topic,” he says.

“I have very much enjoyed the time I have spent in Siberia, it’s a privilege to spend time in such remote and untouched landscapes. Our research showed that as permafrost thaws the huge amounts of carbon that are liberated are rapidly used in stream and river networks.”

Scientists had looked for signs of permafrost thaw carbon at the mouths of major Arctic rivers. Research showed that it was not getting there as microbes were picking it up beforehand in the river systems.

A glacier in Southeast Alaska

“We showed why this carbon was so attractive to microbes as although it could be greater than 20,000 years old it was energetically very attractive, kind of like putting a cake in the freezer for tens of thousands of years," says Robert, who has written many academic papers on the effects of climate change.

Many discoveries have shocked him. “When I started my research career more than 20 years ago we viewed rivers as passive pipes exporting the waste products of the land to the ocean. In the last 15 years or so we have shown that rivers process, export and store vast amounts of carbon and so understanding different impacts on these systems from climate change to agriculture has fundamentally altered our views on global carbon cycling.”

He loves his role at the university. “I'm very fortunate in that I get to teach hundreds of undergraduates every year through very popular broad environmental science courses. There are also fantastic facilities for conducting the kind of research I do and so having the support of the university is naturally very humbling.

“We have ongoing projects from the Equator to the Arctic examining how humans are impacting the global carbon cycle.”

Robert and his team examining the impact of agriculture on the landscape in the Congo

Being elected as an AAAS Fellow , says Robert, is a great honour. I’m sincerely grateful to all my colleagues and collaborators throughout the world and the support I’ve received in my career. Without that, the research we undertake would not be possible.

“Our research really is fundamental - it allows us to predict what will happen in the coming decades. For decades now we have known how to address climate change - it requires political will to make that happen.”

Robert always looks forward to coming home to West Yorkshire to see his family. “It’s always good to catch up. As a lifelong Huddersfield town fan its always great to take in games when I am home, as despite all the money and show in US sports there is nothing like going to a proper football game.”