1. Early life and education

2. Career and research

3. Awards and honors

4. Selected works

5. Public engagement

6. Personal life

7. References

The Early Career Award in Oceanography from the American Geophysical Union (2006)

The National Faculty of the Year Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (2005)

Claudia Benitez-Nelson is an Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Science and professor in the [https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/index.php School of the Earth, Ocean & Environment] at the University of South Carolina. Her research is in chemical oceanography and marine biogeochemistry.

Early life and education

Claudia Benitez-Nelson spent her earliest years in New York City, NY, where she attended college and graduate classes with her mother from a very young age. She and her mother later moved to Seattle, Washington, where she spent most of her remaining childhood. Benitez-Nelson attended the University of Washington, receiving her Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Oceanography in 1992.^[1][2]

Benitez-Nelson found her passion for oceanography after taking an Introduction to Oceanography course at the University of Washington, taught by Roy Carpenter,^[3] and then by conducting research with Jim Murray, who helped guide her towards a career in oceanography. Benitez-Nelson earned her Ph.D. through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program/Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Oceanography in 1999.^[2][1] Her Ph.D. advisor, Ken Buesseler, now a senior scientist in Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, played a pivotal role in Benitez-Nelson's development as a scientist and person. ^[4] Upon graduation, Benitez-Nelson moved to the University of Hawaii as a School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) Young Investigator & National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA)/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Postdoctoral Fellow, where she worked with David Karl, a professor in Oceanography at the University of Hawaii. and member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Career and research

Benitez-Nelson is a Carolina Distinguished Professor in the [https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/index.php School of Earth, Ocean & Environmental Sciences] at the University of South Carolina where she serves as the Associate Dean for Instruction, Community Engagement, and Research.^[1] After finishing her postdoctoral work in Hawaii, Benitez-Nelson joined the then Department of Geology at the University of South Carolina as an Assistant Professor, she became a Full Professor in 2010.^[1]

Benitez-Nelson's research examines the mechanisms of aquatic particle formation, export, and burial and how the composition of these particles changes both temporally and spatially.^[5] Much of this work focuses specifically on phosphorus^[6][7][8] and carbon biogeochemistry,^[9] but includes other elements and compounds ranging from mercury to the neurotoxin, domoic acid. She uses a variety of geochemical techniques in her laboratory, including cosmogenic and uranium series radioisotopes. She participated in the Cariaco Basin project in the Caribbean Sea.^[10]

Awards and honors

Benitez-Nelson has received awards for her research, teaching, and mentoring, such as the Early Career Award in Oceanography ^[11] and the Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring from [https://sites.agu.org/ the American Geophysical Union]. An active researcher, Benitez-Nelson has received numerous grants from [https://www.nsf.gov/ the National Science Foundation] and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Other awards and honors Benitez-Nelson has received include:

• The National Faculty of the Year Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in 2005.^[12]
• The University of South Carolina's Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2006.^[17]
• Fulbright and Marie Curie Fellowships in 2008.
• Benitez-Nelson became a National Academies of Science/Humboldt Foundation Kavli Fellow in 2012.^[13]
• The University of South Carolina named Benitez-Nelson the Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year in 2013 ^[17]
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 2015.^[14]
• The University of South Carolina's Ada B. Thomas Advisor Award in 2016.^[15]
• Served for the [https://www.nsf.gov/geo/advisory.jsp Advisory Committee to the Geoscience Directorate] of the National Science Foundation.^[16]
• Has worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board as well as the National Academy of Science’s Ocean Studies Board.^[17]

Selected works

Benitez-Nelson's major publications include:^[18]

• {{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060733|pmid=27359052|bibcode=2017ARMS....9..173B|title=Fukushima Daiichi-Derived Radionuclides in the Ocean: Transport, Fate, and Impacts|journal=Annual Review of Marine Science|volume=9|pages=173–203|last1=Buesseler|first1=Ken|last2=Dai|first2=Minhan|last3=Aoyama|first3=Michio|last4=Benitez-Nelson|first4=Claudia|last5=Charmasson|first5=Sabine|last6=Higley|first6=Kathryn|last7=Maderich|first7=Vladimir|last8=Masqué|first8=Pere|last9=Morris|first9=Paul J.|last10=Oughton|first10=Deborah|last11=Smith|first11=John N.|year=2017}}^[19]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.05.009|title=Dissolved and particulate phosphorus distributions and elemental stoichiometry throughout the Chukchi Sea|journal=Deep Sea Research Part Ii: Topical Studies in Oceanography|volume=130|pages=76–87|year=2016|last1=Piper|first1=Meryssa M.|last2=Benitez-Nelson|first2=Claudia R.|last3=Frey|first3=Karen E.|last4=Mills|first4=Matthew M.|last5=Pal|first5=Sharmila|url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4684&context=etd}}^[20]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1002/2015GB005134|bibcode=2015GBioC..29.1309P|title=Small phytoplankton drive high summertime carbon and nutrient export in the Gulf of California and Eastern Tropical North Pacific|journal=Global Biogeochemical Cycles|volume=29|issue=8|pages=1309|last1=Puigcorbé|first1=Viena|last2=Benitez-Nelson|first2=Claudia R.|last3=Masqué|first3=Pere|last4=Verdeny|first4=Elisabet|last5=White|first5=Angelicque E.|last6=Popp|first6=Brian N.|last7=Prahl|first7=Fredrick G.|last8=Lam|first8=Phoebe J.|year=2015}}^[21]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1093/plankt/fbv097|pmid=27275035|pmc=4889986|title=The biological pump in the Costa Rica Dome: An open-ocean upwelling system with high new production and low export|journal=Journal of Plankton Research|volume=38|issue=2|pages=348–365|year=2016|last1=Stukel|first1=Michael R.|last2=Benitez-Nelson|first2=Claudia R.|last3=Décima|first3=Moira|last4=Taylor|first4=Andrew G.|last5=Buchwald|first5=Carolyn|last6=Landry|first6=Michael R.}}^[22]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1126/science.aab2801|pmid=25977538|bibcode=2015Sci...348..759B|title=The missing link in oceanic phosphorus cycling?|journal=Science|volume=348|issue=6236|pages=759–760|last1=Benitez-Nelson|first1=Claudia|year=2015}}^[23]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.marchem.2015.07.008|title=Cycling of suspended particulate phosphorus in the redoxcline of the Cariaco Basin|journal=Marine Chemistry|volume=176|pages=64–74|year=2015|last1=McParland|first1=Erin|last2=Benitez-Nelson|first2=Claudia R.|last3=Taylor|first3=Gordon T.|last4=Thunell|first4=Robert|last5=Rollings|first5=Anna|last6=Lorenzoni|first6=Laura}}^[24]
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.dsr.2015.03.004|title=Phytoplankton community structure and depth distribution changes in the Cariaco Basin between 1996 and 2010|journal=Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers|volume=101|pages=27–37|year=2015|last1=Pinckney|first1=James L.|last2=Benitez-Nelson|first2=Claudia R.|last3=Thunell|first3=Robert C.|last4=Muller-Karger|first4=Frank|last5=Lorenzoni|first5=Laura|last6=Troccoli|first6=Luis|last7=Varela|first7=Ramon}}^[25]

Public engagement

Benitez-Nelson is one of the creators of the [https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/apply/scholarships/geoscholar_scholarship_program/index.php GeoScholars Program] at the University of South Carolina, a program designed to aid students of color pursuing undergraduate degrees in the geosciences through financial and academic support. Benitez-Nelson also helped form the Women in GeoSciences Club at the University of South Carolina where she mentors female-identifying students in continuing their careers as scientists.^[26] She also aids in an after school program known as [https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/beyond_classroom/diversity_initiatives/sciencequest/index.php ScienceQuest], where undergraduate and graduate students work with K-7th grades students explore science.

Personal life

Benitez-Nelson is married and has two children and a dog. She is an "avid soccer player."^[1]

References

• The Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa
• The Project (Lindsay Ell album)
• The Project New Zealand
• The Project (New Zealand TV program)
• The Project (New Zealand TV programme)
• The Project (NZ)
• The Project NZ
• The Project of Engineer Prite
• The Project on Government Oversight
• The Project on Government Oversight, Inc.
• The Project (Rishi Rich album)
• The Projects IN Controlled Environments
• The Project (TV program)
• The Project (TV programme)
• The Prologue
• The Prologue (Halsey song)
• The Prologue (song)
• The Promenade In Temecula
• The Promenade Shopping Centre
• The Prom (film)
• The promise
• The Promise (2006 series)
• The Promise (2016 American film)
• The Promise (2016 German film)
• The Promise (2016 Korean Drama)