Patrick T. Schwing ’06

Assistant Professor of Marine Science

GMSL 119A

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Chemical Oceanography, University of South Florida
  • B.S., Marine Science (Geology), Eckerd College

Courses taught

    • Geological Oceanography
    • Introduction to Oceanography
    • Earth System History
    • Marine Invertebrate Paleontology
    • Chemical and Physical Oceanography
    • Natural History of the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador (Winter Term)
    • Deep Sea Exploration (Winter Term)
    • Marine Pollution
    • Scientist at Sea
    • Marine Research in Tobago (Winter Term)

Research interests

My research program addresses societally relevant and globally significant issues including land-use development impacts, deep sea mining, oil spills, and the distribution and impacts of microplastics on marine systems. I currently have multiple projects in progress with undergraduate student involvement at all stages from proposal to fieldwork, laboratory and publication.  Some selected outreach products can be viewed here:  Why Did ‘Shocking’ Amounts of BP Oil Fall to the Seafloor?, National Geographic, April 18, 2015 and Little Critters that tell a BIG Story: Benthic Foraminifera and the Gulf Oil Spill, Smithsonian, June 2014.

Select publications

  • Schwing, P.T., Chanton, J.C., Bosman, S., Brooks, G.R., Larson, R.A., Romero, I., Diercks, A. (2023).  Radiocarbon derived Holocene sediment accumulation rates in the Gulf of Mexico: Implications for organic matter transport and aging.  Deep Sea Research I, 193, 103959, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103959
  • Murawski, S. A., Schwing, P. T., Patterson, W. F., Sutton, T. T., Montagna, P. A., Milligan, R. J., Joye, S. B., Thomas, L., Kilborn, J. P., Paris, C. B., Faillettaz, R., Portnoy, D. S., & Gilbert, S. (2023). Vulnerability and resilience of living marine resources to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: an overview. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1202250
  • Rani, V., Schwing, P.T., Jayachandran, P.R., Preethy, C.M., Sreelekshmi, S., Joseph, P., Nandan, S.B. (2023).  Carbon stocks and Sequestration Rate in Mangroves and its Major Influencing Factors from Highly Urbanised Port City, Southern India.  Journal of Environmental Management, 335, 117542 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117542.
  • Schwing, P.T., Machain-Castillo, M.L., Brooks, G.R., Larson, R.A., Fillingham*, J.N., Sanchez-Cabeza J.A., Ruiz-Fernández A.C., Hollander, D.J. (2021).  Multi-proxy assessment of recent regional-scale events recorded in Southern Gulf of Mexico sediments.  Marine Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2021.106434.
  • O’Malley, B.J.*, Schwing, P.T., Martinez-Colón, M., Spezzaferri, S., Machain-Castillo, M.L., Larson, R.A., Brooks, G.R., Ruiz-Fernández, C., Hollander, D.J. (2021).  Development of a benthic foraminifera based Marine Biotic Index (Foram-AMBI) for the Gulf of Mexico: a decision support tool. Ecological Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106916.