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Cliff LawContact details

Email cliff.law@niwa.co.nz

Research

Cliff is the Co-Director of the Research Centre for Oceanography, Leader of the NIWA Oceanic Control of Atmospheric Composition Programme, and a Professor in the Department of Marine Chemistry, University of Otago.

Cliff Law NIWA profile

Cliff is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.

Coastal People: Southern Skies

His research focuses on the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere; how biogeochemical cycling in the surface ocean influences atmospheric composition, and how climate variability feedbacks to ocean biogeochemistry. Specific research areas include the production and exchange of trace gases, controls of phytoplankton productivity and biodiversity, and the impact of ocean acidification and climate variability on the structure and functioning of pelagic ecosystems.

He was a member of the International SOLAS Steering Committee for six years, the NZ delegate on the IMO Working Group on Ocean Fertilization for the London Convention, and was awarded the Hutchinson Medal by the Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2013.

Courses

Postgraduate students

  • Wayne Dillon, PhD: Advancing analytical approaches for marine calcium carbonate saturation state characteristics
  • Habibeh Hashimi, PhD: Development of new sensors to measure dimethyl sulfide (DMS) gas in marine surface water

Completed Postgraduate students

  • Alexander Hayward, PhD: Next-generation observation, modelling and forecasting of microbial community composition and function in the Southern Ocean
  • Antonia Cristi, PhD: Phytoplankton diversity and contribution to elemental and trophic cycling in the Southern Ocean
  • Fenella Deans, PhD: The influence of climate change on marine bacterioplankton communities and greenhouse gases in New Zealand waters
  • Alexia Saint-Macary, PhD: Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) dynamics in the surface ocean
  • Jesse Vance, PhD: Examining the drivers of co2 exchange and ocean acidification in coastal and shelf waters around new Zealand

Publications

Publications

Nodder, S. D., Law, C. S., Behrens, E., Bury, S. J., Cristi, A., Collins, C., Currie, K. I., … Zeldis, J. R. (2025). Aotearoa New Zealand's marine carbon cycle in a changing climate: Current understanding and future directions. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2025.2461289 Journal - Research Other

Leduc, D., Rowden, A. A., Seabrook, S., Bowden, D. A., Thurber, A. R., Halliday, J., Law, C. S., … Marriner, A. (2025). Distribution and environmental drivers of macrofaunal nematode communities across gradients of methane seepage at cold seeps on Hikurangi Margin (New Zealand) and potential implications of disturbance from gas hydrate extraction. Frontiers in Marine Science, 11, 1486305. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1486305 Journal - Research Article

Barthelmeß, T., Cristi, A., Deppeler, S., Safi, K., Sellegri, K., Law, C. S., & Engel, A. (2025). Pronounced diel cycling of dissolved carbohydrates and amino acids in the surface ocean and across diverse regimes. Environmental Science & Technology, 59, 419-429. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c00491 Journal - Research Article

Rocco, M., Dunne, E., Salignat, R., Saint-Macary, A., Peltola, M., Barthelmeß, T., … Law, C. S., … Sellegri, K. (2025). Relating dimethyl sulphide and methanethiol fluxes to surface biota in the South-West Pacific using shipboard Air-Sea Interface Tanks. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD041072. doi: 10.1029/2024JD041072 Journal - Research Article

Cook, K. M., Dunn, M. R., Behrens, E., Pinkerton, M. H., Law, C. S., & Cummings, V. J. (2024). The impacts of marine heatwaves on ecosystems and fisheries in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 1-31. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2024.2436661 Journal - Research Article

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