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M. Robert Hamersley

M. Robert Hamersley, PhD

Academic Administration - Undergraduate Program
Faculty - Undergraduate
Headshot of M. Robert Hamersley
Dean of Faculty
Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry
Email
rhamersley@soka.edu
Phone
949-480-4409

As Dean of Faculty, my goal is to ensure that our students receive the education that will enable them to become, as promised by the University’s Mission, “global citizens committed to living a contributive life.” Soka University has a uniquely international student body and a curriculum emphasizing language, interculturality, and global engagement. My job is to support SUA’s talented faculty in developing that curriculum to meet the needs of students and the demands of a rapidly changing world.

Translating SUA’s Mission Into Action: An Interview With Dean of Faculty M. Robert Hamersley

In my research laboratory, highly motivated students can make a contribution to original scientific research studying the production of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from wetlands. Work by my students has resulted in numerous presentations at regional and international conferences, as well as published and in-progress manuscripts in scientific journals.

My teaching interests in environmental studies include climate change, sustainable agriculture, and water resources. In my classes, students combine perspectives from the sciences, environmental policy, and technology to approach solutions to these problems. In class, students often work in teams to solve problems based on real-life case studies. Students learn to conduct scientific research, go on field trips to environmental facilities and natural areas, or learn to grow vegetables on their own plots.

  • PhD Biological Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • MEDes Environmental Science, University of Calgary
  • BSc (Hon.) Biology, University of Victoria
  • Introduction to Climate Change (EOS 302)
  • Modes of Inquiry (INQUIRY 100)
  • Nature and Humanity (BIO 110)
  • Sustainable Agriculture and Gardening (EOS 280)
  • Water Resources (EOS 322)
  • Learning Clusters
    • Agriculture and Gardening
    • Campus Sustainability
    • Garbology
    • Hiking and Camping
    • Modernist Architecture of Los Angeles
  • Aquatic biogeochemistry and environmental microbiology
  • Denitrification
  • Links between the carbon and nitrogen cycles
  • Methanogenesis
  • Wu S, Wan XS, […], Hamersley MR, et al. 2024. Heterogeneity of nitrogen fixation in the mesopelagic zone of the South China Sea. Frontiers in Marine Science 11.
  • Shao Z, Xu Y, Wang H,[…], Hamersley MR, et al. 2023. Global oceanic diazotroph database version 2 and elevated estimate of global oceanic N2 fixation. Earth System Science Data 15:3673-3709.
  • Wu S, Du M, […], Hamersley MR, et al. 2021. Insights into nitrogen fixation below the euphotic zone: trials in an oligotrophic marginal sea and global compilation. Biogeosciences Discussions doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-104:1-31.
  • Noe Dobrea EZ, McAdam AC, Freissinet C, Franz H, Belmahdi I, Hamersley MR, Archer R, Stoker CR, Parker WG, Glavin DP and Calef F. “Mechanisms for preservation of organics in jarosite at the Painted Desert.” Oral presentation and abstract, Astrobiology Science Conference. April 24-28, 2017. Mesa, Arizona, USA.
  • Noe Dobrea, EZ, McAdam AC, Freissinet C, Franz H, Belmahdi I, Hamersley MR, Stoker CR, Parker B, Ja Kim K, Glavin DP, Calef F and AD Aubrey. “Characterizing the mechanisms for the preservation of organics at the Painted Desert: Lessons for MSL, ExoMars, and Mars 2020.” Abstract 2796. Poster and abstract, 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. March 21-25, 2016. The Woodlands, Texas, USA.
  • Noe Dobrea EZ, Aubry AD, Glavin DP, Calef F, Hamersley MR, McAdam AC, Freissinet C, Franz H, Stoker CR and B Parker. “Biologically induced mineralization, site selection, and organic detection in Mars-analog field sites.” Oral presentation and abstract, Astrobiology Science Conference: Habitability, Habitable Worlds, and Life. June 15-19, 2015. Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Hamersley MR, Sohm JA, Burns JA and DG Capone. 2015. “Nitrogen fixation associated with the decomposition of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera.” Aquatic Botany, 125:57-63.
  • Bonnet B, Dekaezemacker J, Turk-Kubo KA, Moutin T, Hamersley MR, Grosso O, Zehr JP and DG Capone. 2013. “Aphotic N2 fixation in the eastern tropical South Pacific Ocean.” S Bonnet et al. Public Library of Science One, 2013 PLOS ONE. 8:e81265.
  • Kawai M, Kishi M, Hamersley MR, Nagao N, Hermana J and T Toda. 2012. “Biodegradability and methane productivity during anaerobic co-digestion of refractory leachate.” International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation. 72:46-51.
  • Hamersley MR, Turk KA, Leinweber A, Gruber N, Zehr JP, Gunderson T and DG Capone. 2011. “Nitrogen fixation within the water column associated with two hypoxic basins in the Southern California Bight.” Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 63:193-205.
  • Hamersley MR, Woebken D, Boehrer B, Schultze M, Lavik G, and MMM Kuypers. 2009 “Water column anammox and denitrification in a temperate permanently-stratified lake (Lake Rassnitzer, Germany).” Systematic and Applied Microbiology. 32:571-582.
  • Hamersley MR, Lavik G, Woebken D, Rattray JE, Lam P, Hopmans EC, Sinninghe Damsté JS, Krüger S, Graco M, Gutiérrez D and MMM Kuypers. 2007. “Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone.” Limnology and Oceanography. 52:923-933.
  • Hamersley MR and BL Howes. 2005. “Coupled nitrification-denitrification measured in situ in vegetated salt marsh sediments using a nitrogen-15 ammonium tracer.” Marine Ecology Progress Series. 299:123-135.
  • Hamersley MR and BL Howes. 2005. “An evaluation of the N2 flux approach for measuring sediment denitrification.” Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science. 62:711-723
  • “Nitrogen fluxes and mitigation strategies in the Audubon Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuary.” M.R. Hamersley and B. L. Howes. Coastal Systems Laboratory, 2004
  • Hamersley MR and BL Howes. 2003. “Contribution of denitrification to nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen cycling in sediments of a New England salt marsh.” Marine Ecology Progress Series. 262:55-69
  • Hamersley MR, Howes BL, and DS White. 2003. “Particulates, not plants, dominate nitrogen processing in a septage-treating wetland system.” Journal of Environmental Quality. 32:1895-1904.
  • Hamersley MR and BL Howes. 2002. “Control of denitrification in a septage-treating artificial wetland: The dual role of particulate organic carbon.” Water Research. 36:4416-4428.
  • Hamersley M.R, Howes BL, White DS, Johnke S, Young D, Peterson SB and JM Teal. 2001. “Nitrogen balance and cycling in an ecologically engineered septage treatment system.” Ecological Engineering. 18:61-75.

Soka University of America:
   Administrative

  • 2023-present, Dean of Faculty
  • 2022-2023, Interim Dean of Faculty
  • 2020-2022, Assistant Dean of Faculty
  • 2015-2022, Director of Laboratories

   Faculty

  • 2021-present, Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry
  • 2014-2021, Associate Professor of Environmental Microbiology
  • 2007-2014, Associate Professor of Environmental Microbiology

Other:

  • 2005-2007, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • 2004-2005, Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
  • 2003, Visiting Lecturer, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Department of Biology, N. Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
  • 2002-2004, Research Associate, School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), University of Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.