Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Phone number
+31 (0)222 36 9316
Location
Texel
Department
Ocean Systems (OCS)
Function
Postdoc

Dr. Michèlle van der Does

Postdoc

My research focuses on transport of mineral dust from the Earth’s deserts, its subsequent deposition over the world’s oceans, and the interaction between dust, the carbon cycle and climate, on timescales varying from several days to millions of years. More specifically, I focus on dust characteristics such as deposition fluxes, transport pathways, particle size and shape, geochemical composition, effects on ocean fertilisation, and its relation to terrestrial biomarkers.

I'm currently working on the NWO Veni-funded project SANDCAT: SahAraN Dust and its role in a Changing climATe at NIOZ - Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. In this project I analyse mineral dust from the Sahara Desert blown over the Atlantic Ocean and investigate how it impacts climate and vice versa, especially under current climate change conditions.

External websites

Linked blogs

Wednesday 04 July 2018
Saharan dust at the source
In their new paper, Michèlle van der Does and colleagues show how the so-called radiogenic isotopes of Sr, Nd, and Hf, as well as a suite of rare-earth elements can be used to demonstrate the Saharan origin of sediments collected while sinking…
Thursday 01 March 2018
Dust storm on Texel
The extreme weather conditions (prolonged lack of rain and continuous gale-force winds) cause the top soils of pastures to be blown off. Even on Texel we have dust storms!
Friday 20 October 2017
Saharan dust and Amazon freshwaters cause algal blooms
New findings suggest that both Saharan dust and freshwater from the Amazon may have led to algal blooms in the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Those are the conclusions of a new paper published by Catarina Guerreiro and colleagues in the…
Tuesday 17 October 2017
Dust (and smoke) is in the air!
Cyclone Ophelia draws Sahara dust and Iberian smoke to northern Europe
Sunday 10 September 2017
New dust paper published by Carmen Friese
The manuscript by Carmen Friese (MARUM) has now been published as "full" paper in the open-access journal Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics. The paper is entitled: "Seasonal provenance changes in present-day Saharan dust collected in and off…
Monday 03 July 2017
Haboobs
Dust outbreaks are most often impressive events. One of the most spectacular dust storms is the so-called "haboob". Although initially described in Sudan, Africa, they have also been observed in other dry areas. Last week, a spectacular haboob in…
Thursday 22 June 2017
Australian dust cycle
The Australian dust cycle is a "natural laboratory" for the production of mineral dust. Nowhere else on the planet is the process so clearly visible and chances are that in a few months, huge dust outbreaks will happen again!
Tuesday 13 June 2017
Saharan dust outbreak
A huge dust outbreak occurred off NW Africa, which was registered by our buoys!
Tuesday 30 May 2017
New dust paper published by Laura Korte
Laura Korte published her very first paper in the open-access journal Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics