Talia Evans

Biography

Talia is a postdoc in the NOISE lab investigating the anoxic degradation of terrestrial biomass as a potential carbon sequestration method. She is interested in evaluating the microbial processes, fate, and byproducts released from this sequestration method, as well as its feasibility, environmental impacts, and climate justice implications. She has a PhD in chemical oceanography from USC, where she researched nitrogen, iron, and iodine cycling in both the Eastern Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone and coastal Oregon waters, and a BS in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College. When not plumbing gas lines, she’s probably playing pickup sports or in the ocean.

Climate Action Project

California requires large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to meet its 2045 carbon neutrality goal. To meet state targets, CDR approaches will need to be highly efficient, low impact, analogous to natural processes, and easily scalable. Large-scale biomass burial in the ocean occurs regularly in the Earth’s history. As a Climate Innovation Fellow, Dr. Evans will be testing novel processes to bury and monitor agricultural waste in ocean anoxic basins - areas in the ocean with low- to no-oxygen. The low- to no-oxygen environment preserves biomass for longer periods and minimizes habitat disturbance to economically vital animals, such as fish and shellfish, that do not inhabit anoxic environments.