Aron Stubbins
Professor,
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Professor,
Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Professor,
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Center Member,
The Plastics Center
Contact
- a.stubbins@northeastern.edu
- Mailstop: 102 HT
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Social Media
Office
- 110D MU
- 617.373.5872
Lab
- 107/108 MU
Research Focus
Environmental chemistry; geochemistry; the carbon cycle; freshwater, coastal and ocean biogeochemistry; feedbacks between natural biogeochemical cycles and climate change; permafrost; black carbon; aquatic microplastics
About
I grew up in Wales and received my PhD in Marine Biogeochemistry from Newcastle University (Newcastle, England). After that I did a postdoc at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) before becoming a professor at Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (UGA, Savannah, GA). Finally I moved to Northeastern in 2018. I study the natural carbon cycle, how humans are altering it, and plastics in the environment. I see plastics as a novel component of the carbon cycle as well as potential pollutants.
Education
- PhD, Newcastle University, 2002
Honors & Awards
- Fellow, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
Teaching Interests
Earth’s Changing Cycles (ENVR 2200) provides an introduction to how humans have altered Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, including the carbon cycle, nutrient cycles, climate, and the advent of plastics as a global cycle.
Professional Affiliations
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
American Geophysical Union
American Chemical Society
Research Overview
Environmental chemistry; geochemistry; the carbon cycle; freshwater, coastal and ocean biogeochemistry; feedbacks between natural biogeochemical cycles and climate change; permafrost; black carbon; aquatic microplastics
The global cycles of carbon and plastics.
Research into the cycling of natural carbon focusses upon dissolved organic carbon in natural waters from the depths of the ocean to the Tibetan plateau. I have conducted fieldwork in the open ocean, at hydrothermal vents, on glaciers, on the Amazon River, and in the Siberian Arctic. The diversity of research sites is required to develop a coherent understanding of the global cycles of elements, particularly carbon. The focus upon carbon is due its central role in determining global climate, as the building block of life, and the food that fuels natural ecosystems.
Studying plastics is a natural extension of my work on the carbon cycle. Plastics are also formed predominantly from carbon. They are now also everywhere on Earth, including in the air we breathe. To understand the risk plastics pose, we need to understand where they are in the environment and what types of byproducts are formed when the degrade.
Selected Research Projects
- Nutrient-Mediated Interactions Between Plastic-Derived Dissolved Organic Carbon and the Biological Carbon Pump
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Evaluating Patterns and Controls on Microplastic Accumulation in Floodplains
- – co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- CBET: The Role of Sunlight in Determining the Fate and Microbial Impact of Microplastics in Surface Waters
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation, Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems
- Constraining the Source of Oceanic Dissolved Black Carbon Using Compound-Specific Stable Carbon Isotopes
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- RAPID: Extreme Water use Patterns and their Impact on the Microbial and Chemical Ecology of Drinking Water
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- Full list of publications: Google Scholar
- Kai Ziervogel, Sierra Kehoe, Astrid Zapata De Jesus, Alireza Saidi-Mehrabad, Miriam Robertson, Ariana Patterson, Aron Stubbins, Microbial interactions with microplastics: Insights into the plastic carbon cycle in the ocean, Marine Chemistry, Volume 262, 2024, 104395, ISSN 0304-4203
- Tuttle, Erin, Stubbins, Aron (2023). An optimized acidic digestion for the isolation of microplastics from biota-rich samples and cellulose acetate matrices. Environmental Pollution, 322,121198. 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2023.121198
- , , , , Plastics in the Earth system, Science, 373 (6550), 51-55. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb0354.
- Van Stan, J. T. and Stubbins, A. (2018) Tree‐DOM: Dissolved organic matter in throughfall and stemflow. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 3: 199-214. doi:10.1002/lol2.10059.
- S. Wagner, J. Brandes, R.G. Spencer, K. Ma, S.Z. Rosengard, J.M.S. Moura, A. Stubbins (2019) Isotopic Composition of Oceanic Dissolved Black Carbon Reveals Non-Riverine Source, Nature Communications, 10(1), 1-8. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13111-7.
- Stubbins, A. (2016) A carbon for every nitrogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1612995113.
- Moran, M. A., E. B. Kujawinski, A. Stubbins, R. Fatland and 13 others (2016) Deciphering Ocean Carbon in a Changing World. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1514645113.
- Hawkes, J. A., P. E. Rossel, A. Stubbins, D. Butterfield, D. P. Connelly, E. P. Achterberg, A. Koschinsky, V. Chavagnac, C. Hansen, W. Bach, T. Dittmar (2015) Efficient removal of recalcitrant deep-ocean dissolved organic matter during hydrothermal circulation. Nature Geoscience. doi:10.1038/ngeo2543.
- Jaffé, R., Ding, Y., Niggemann, J., Vähätalo, A.V., Stubbins, A., Spencer, R.G.M., Campbell, J., Dittmar, T. (2013) Global charcoal mobilization from soils via dissolution and riverine transport to the oceans. Science. doi: 1126/science.1231476.
- Stubbins, A., Hood, E., Raymond, P.A., Aiken, G.R., Sleighter, R.L., Hernes, P.J., Butman, D., Hatcher, P.G., Striegl, R.G., Schuster, P., Abdulla, H.A.N., Vermilyea, A.W., Scott, D.T., and Spencer, R.G.M. (2012) Anthropogenic aerosols as a source of ancient dissolved organic matter in glaciers. Nature Geoscience. doi: 10.1038/NGEO1403.
Oct 03, 2025
Fall 2025 PEAK Experiences Awardees for Undergrad Research
Several COE, COS, and Khoury students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the Fall 2025 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Sep 23, 2025
2025 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.
Jun 24, 2025
Newly Founded Plastics Center Strives for Innovative Solutions to Plastic Waste
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins will co-direct the new Plastics Center at Northeastern University. The center’s goal is to bring together plastic researchers and expand knowledge about plastics and public policy.
Jun 16, 2025
Researchers Discover Microplastics at All Ocean Depths
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins was featured on the NSF news story “Researchers discover microplastics at all ocean depths,” over the discovery of microplastics forming a “plastic smog” at all ocean depths, potentially disrupting marine food chains.
May 14, 2025
Think of a Place on Earth, or Even in Your Own Body. ‘We Find Plastics There.’
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins was featured in the WGBH article “Think of a Place on Earth, or Even in Your Own Body. ‘We Find Plastics There.’“
May 12, 2025
Sea of Plastic: Global Study Finds Thousands of Microparticles Even in the Mariana Trench
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins was featured in the EL PAÍS article, “Sea of Plastic: Global Study Finds Thousands of Microparticles Even in the Mariana Trench.”
Apr 02, 2025
Stubbins Leads $1.3M NSF Grant To Investigate Plastics’ Role in Ocean Carbon Cycle
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins, in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire and the Sea Education Association, is leading a $1,319,273 NSF grant for “Nutrient-Mediated Interactions Between Plastic-Derived Dissolved Organic Carbon and the Biological Carbon Pump.”
Feb 07, 2025
Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awardees for Undergrad Research
Several COE, COS, and Khoury students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Jan 31, 2025
2024 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations
The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those who published a paper in 2024 or later.
Jan 14, 2025
Spring 2025 AJC Merit Research Scholars
Several engineering and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s AJC Merit Research Scholarship, which will fund a co-op in the laboratory of a Northeastern University STEM faculty member.