Marine Science

Degrees

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

Courses taught

• Geological Oceanography (MS101N)
• Introduction to Oceanography (NA200N)
• Earth System History (MS243)
• Marine Invertebrate Paleontology (MS304)
• Chemical and Physical Oceanography (MS342)
• Natural History of the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador (WTI 6E-001)
• Deep Sea Exploration (WTI)

Research Interests

My research program addresses societally relevant and globally significant issues concerning the assessment of diverse anthropogenic activities including land-use and watershed development impacts on aquatic environments, the consequences of marine mineral and energy extraction, and the benthic distribution and impacts of marine debris (microplastics). I utilize sedimentological, radiochemical, micropaleontological, and biogeochemical tools to assess high-resolution sedimentary sequences that document the changing structure and function of benthic and planktic ecosystems.

Outreach

• Why Did ‘Shocking’ Amounts of BP Oil Fall to the Seafloor?, National Geographic, April 18, 2015
• Little Critters that tell a BIG Story: Benthic Foraminifera and the Gulf Oil Spill, Smithsonian, June 2014

Select publications

• Schwing, P.T., Montagna, P.A., Joye, S.B., Paris, C.B., Cordes, E.E., McClain, C.R., Kilborn, J.P., Murawski, S.A. (2020). Deep Benthic Ecosystem Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Assembling the Record of Species and Community Change. Frontiers in Marine Science. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.560012.
• Schwing PT, Montagna PA, Machain-Castillo ML, Escobar-Briones E, Rohal M (2020) Benthic faunal baselines in the Gulf of Mexico: a precursor to evaluate future impacts (Chap. 6). In: Murawski SA, Ainsworth C, Gilbert S, Hollander D, Paris CB, Schlüter M, Wetzel D (eds) Scenarios and responses to future deep oil spills – fighting the next war. Springer, Cham
• Schwing PT, Hollander DJ, Brooks GR, Larson RA, Hastings DW, Chanton JP, Lincoln SA, Radović JR, Langenhoff A (2020) The sedimentary record of MOSSFA events in the Gulf of Mexico: a comparison of the Deepwater Horizon (2010) and Ixtoc 1 (1979) oil spills (Chap.13). In: Murawski SA, Ainsworth C, Gilbert S, Hollander D, Paris CB, Schlüter M, Wetzel D (eds) Deep oil spills: facts, fate, effects. Springer, Cham
• Schwing PT, Machain-Castillo ML (2020) Impact and resilience of benthic foraminifera in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1 oil spills (Chap. 23). In: Murawski SA, Ainsworth C, Gilbert S, Hollander D, Paris CB, Schlüter M, Wetzel D (eds) Deep oil spills: facts, fate, effects. Springer, Cham
• 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. (2020).  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
• Schwing, P.T., Chanton, J.P., Hollander, D.J., Goddard, E.A., Romero, I.C., Brooks, G.R., Larson, R.A. (2018). Tracing the Incorporation of Petroleum Carbon into Benthic Foraminiferal Calcite Following the Deepwater Horizon Event. Environmental Pollution 237:424-429. DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.066
• Schwing, P.T., O’Malley, B.J.*, Hollander, D.J. (2018).  Resilience of Benthic Foraminifera in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Following the Deepwater Horizon Event (2011-2015).  Ecological Indicators 84, 753-764, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.09.044.
• Schwing, P.T., Brooks, G.R., Larson, R.A.*, O’Malley, B.J., Hollander, D.J. (2017).  Constraining the spatial extent of the Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Accumulation (MOSSFA) following the DWH event using a 210Pbxs inventory approach. Environmental Science & Technology, 51, 5962−5968.  DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b00450
• Schwing, P.T., O’Malley, B.J., Romero, I.C., Martínez-Colón, M., Hastings, D.W., Glabach, M.A.*, Hladky, E.M.*, Greco, A., Hollander, D.J. (2017).  Characterizing the variability of benthic foraminifera in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon event (2010-2012).  Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24, 3, 2754-2769, DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-7996-z.
• Schwing, P.T., Romero, I.C., Larson, R.A.*, O’Malley, B.J., Fridrik, E.E.*, Goddard, E.A., Brooks, G.R., Hastings, D.W., Rosenheim, B.E., Hollander, D.J., Grant, G., Mulhollan, J. (2016). Sediment Core Extrusion Method at Millimeter Resolution Using a Calibrated, Threaded-rod. J. Vis. Exp. (114), e54363, doi:10.3791/54363.
• Schwing, P.T., Romero, I.C., Brooks, G.R., Hastings, D.W. Larson, R.A.*, Hollander, D.J., (2015).  A Decline in Deep-Sea Benthic Foraminifera Following the Deepwater Horizon Event in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico.  PLOSone, 10(3): e0120565. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120565.