From 1973 to 1994, Morel was a faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,[1][3] and, from 1994 to 2018, he was a professor in Princeton University's Department of Geosciences.[2][3][6] His research and that of his students and postdoctoral researchers dealt the interactions between the chemical composition of natural waters and aquatic microorganisms.[7] The development of computational methods to quantify the reactions among the many chemical species in aquatic systems provided the means to study quantitatively the interactions between microbes and chemical elements and compounds present in natural waters, with a focus on essential metals that are required for the growth of phytoplankton.[2] This work encompassed the cycling and methylation of mercury,[8] the contributions of metals to the nitrogen cycle,[9] the use of cadmium by marine microalgae,[10] the uptake mechanisms of iron and zinc by plankton,[11] and the effects of ocean acidification on microorganisms.[1][2][4][12][13]
REDEQL
As a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Engineering Sciences from 1971-1973, Morel collaborated with James (Jim) J. Morgan to produce the computer program REDEQL (where RED stands for "redox" and EQL stands for "equilibrium"), which computed complex chemical equilibria in natural waters and man-made chemical systems.[1][14][7] Morel and Morgan's creation of REDEQL was supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was widely adopted and built upon.[14][7]
Ocean acidification
In 2009, Morel chaired the Committee on the Development of an Integrated Science Strategy for Ocean Acidification Monitoring, Research, and Impacts Assessment.[15][16] This committee published the report Ocean Acidification: A National Strategy to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Ocean, which detailed the unprecedented acidifying of the ocean's pH due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, the potential adverse impacts on marine organisms dependent on calcium carbonate, and the need for more information and international cooperation.[13][15][16]
Xu Y., L.Feng, P.D. Jeffrey, Y.G. Shi and F. M. M Morel, Structure and metal exchange in the cadmium carbonic anhydrase of marine diatoms. Nature, 452: 56–61 (2008). 10.1038/nature06636
Hopkinson, B.M., C.L. Dupont, A.E. Allen and F. M. M. Morel. Efficiency of the CO2 concentrating mechanism of diatoms. PNAS, 108 (10) 3830–3837. (2011)
Shaked, Y., A.B. Kustka and F. M. M. Morel. A general kinetic model for iron acquisition by eukaryotic phytoplankton. Limnology & Oceanography, 50(3): 872–882 (2005).
Schaefer, J.K., and F. M. M. Morel. High methylation rates of mercury bound to cysteine by Geobacter sulfurreducens. Nature Geoscience. (2009)
Shi, D., Y. Xu, B.M. Hopkinson, and F. M. M. Morel. Effect of ocean acidification on iron availability to marine phytoplankton. Science 327: 676–679 (2010)
Price, N.M., B.A. Ahner and F. M. M. Morel. The Equatorial Pacific Ocean: grazer-controlled phytoplankton populations in an iron-limited ecosystem. Limnology & Oceanography, 39: 520–534 (1994).
Farley, K.J., D.A. Dzombak and F. M. M. Morel. A surface precipitation model for the sorption of cations on metal oxides. J. Coll. Inter. Sci. 106:1 (1985).
Waite, T.D. and F. M. M. Morel. Photoreductive dissolution of colloidal iron oxide: Effect of citrate. J. Coll. Inter. Sci. 102:1 (1984).
Kraepiel, A.M.L., K. Keller, and F. M. M. Morel. A model for metal adsorption on clays. J.Colloid and Interface Science, 210: 43–54 (1999).
Price, N.M., B.A. Ahner and F. M. M. Morel. The Equatorial Pacific Ocean: grazer-controlled phytoplankton populations in an iron-limited ecosystem. Limnology & Oceanography, 39: 520–534 (1994).
References
^ abcdefgh"François M. M. Morel". Princeton University: Office of the Dean of the Faculty. Archived from the original on 2018-09-16. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
^p, Mason; w. f., Fitzgerald; Morel, François M M.; Morel, François M M.; Morel, François M M.; Park, Haewon; b., Ward; Morel, François M M. (1994). "Mercury Cycling and Methylation". Environmental Science & Technology. 58 (15). Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^m, Price; Morel, François M M.; Morel, François M M.; m., Sherrell; c., Prince; Morel, François M M. (1990). "The Biological Role of Cadmium". Nature. 344 (6267). Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Anderson, Michael A.; Morel, François M M.; Morel, François M M.; Morel, François M M. (1982). "Metal Uptake by Phytoplankton". Limnology and Oceanography. 27 (1). Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^ abOCEAN ACIDIFICATION: A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF A CHANGING OCEAN. Washington, DC: THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS. 2010. ISBN978-0-309-15359-1.