Biographies

William Balch
Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Contact Information
Phone: 207-315-2567, ext 301
Email:

Biography:
William Balch researches factors that affect the distribution of phytoplankton in space and time. His work has focused on phytoplankton known as coccolithophores, one of the main sources of calcium carbonate on the globe. His laboratory has been involved in documenting and studying the world's largest region of enhanced coccolithophore abundance, the "Great Calcite Belt", a region which covers 16% of the global ocean. His lab group oversees the NASA MODIS algorithm for particulate inorganic carbon (calcium carbonate). They have also implemented the PIC algorithm for the VIIRS sensor. Balch maintains a NASA-centric ocean color validation site and coastal time series across the Gulf of Maine known as GNATS (the Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series). His lab group also researches ocean acidification and its effects on coccolithophores.