Marine Science

Degrees

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

Courses taught

• Chemical and Physical Oceanography
• Marine Pollution
• Scientist at Sea
• Geological Oceanography
• Deep Sea Exploration
• Earth System History
• Marine Invertebrate Paleontology
• Introduction to Oceanography

Research interests

My research program addresses issues including land-use development impacts, deep sea mining, oil spills, harmful algal blooms (red tide) and the distribution and impacts of microplastics on marine systems. I currently have multiple externally-funded 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, and Little Critters that tell a BIG Story: Benthic Foraminifera and the Gulf Oil Spill, Smithsonian.

Select publications

• Iannotta, I.*, Schwing, P.T., Lam, T.S.*, Baldrighi, E., Riviera- Lemeé, J., Downes, P., O’Malley, B.J. (2026). Spatiotemporal characterization of sedimentary phytopigments in the southeastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone: Baseline time series and effects of a deep-sea mining test. Elementa; 14 (1): 00070. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2024.00070
• M. Díaz-Asencio, J.A. Corcho-Alvarado, O. Díaz-García, J.C. Herguera, S. Röllin, P. T. Schwing, R. Larson, G. R. Brooks, M.A. Huerta-Díaz, L. W. Daessle (2026). Radioactive (Pu, ²¹⁰Pb, ²³⁴Th and ²²⁶Ra) and chemical (Mn, Fe, Al) tracers to evaluate sediment accumulation and biodifusion in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.107980
• Hershey R.N.*, Schwing, P.T., Nandan, S.B. (2026). Tracing carbon sequestration potential and chronology of nitrogen pollution in a large tropical estuary. ACS ES&T Water 6(6) 10.1021/acsestwater.6c00145
• O’Malley, B.J., Schwing, P.T., Chernoch, S.K.* et al. Thorium- 234 as a tracer for deep-sea mining sediment plume deposition. Nature Communications 16, 10633 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65625-y
• Allcock A.L. et al. (2025). Deep-sea ecosystems of the North Atlantic Ocean: discovery, status, function and future challenges. Deep Sea Research I, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2025.104580.
• Martina M. Plafcan*, Patrick T. Schwing, Isabel Romero, Gregg R. Brooks, Rebekka A. Larson, Bryan J. O’Malley, Christopher D. Stallings (2024). Benthic foraminifera in Gulf of Mexico show temporal and spatial dynamics of microplastics. Marine Pollution Bulletin Volume 200, 116090, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116090.