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Darren J. Pilcher

  • Research Scientist

Research interests

I’m interested in marine and aquatic carbon cycling and the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. In particular, I’m interested in the effects of ocean acidification on marine species and am currently developing ocean acidification indices to help inform marine fisheries. I primarily use computational regional ocean models and Earth System Models for this work. Most of my work is in the Bering Sea and California Current System, though I’ve also worked in the Gulf of Alaska and U.S. Great Lakes.

Selected publications

Pilcher, D.J., Cross, J.N., Monacci, N., Mu, L., Kearney, K.A., Hermann, A.J., & Cheng, W. (2025). Amplified bottom water acidification rates simulated on the Bering Sea shelf from 1970-2022. Biogeosciences, 22, 3103-3125. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3103-2025

Wang, H., Pilcher, D.J., Kearney, K.A., Cross, J.N., Shugart, O.M., Eisaman, M.D., and Carter, B.R. (2023). Simulated impact of ocean alkalinity enhancement on atmospheric CO2 removal in the Bering Sea. Earth’s Future, 11, e2022EF002816. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002816

Pilcher, D.J., Cross, J.N., Hermann, A., Kearney, K., Cheng, W., and Mathis, J.T. (2022). Dynamically downscaled projections of ocean acidification for the Bering Sea. Deep-Sea Res. II, 198, 105055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2022.105055

Siedlecki, S.A., Pilcher, D.J., Howard, E.M., Deutsch, C., MacCready, P.M., Norton, E.L., Frenzel, H., Newton, J., Feely, R.A., Alin, S.R., and Klinger, T., (2021). Coastal processes modify projections of some climate-driven stressors in the California Current System. Biogeosciences,18, 2871-2890. https://doi:10.5194/bg-18-2871-2021

Pilcher, D.J., Naiman, D.M., Cross, J.A., Hermann, A.J., Siedlecki, S.A., Gibson, G.A., and Mathis, J.T. (2019). Modeled effect of coastal biogeochemical processes, climate variability, and ocean acidification on aragonite saturation state in the Bering Sea. Front. Mar. Sci., 5:508. https://doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00508

Pilcher, D.J., Siedlecki, S.A., Hermann, A., Coyle, K.O., Mathis, J.T., and Evans, W. (2018). Simulated impact of glacial runoff on CO2 uptake in the Gulf of Alaska. Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 880-890. https://doi:10.1002/2017GL075910

Siedlecki, S.A., Pilcher, D.J., Hermann, A., Coyle, K., and Mathis, J.T. (2017). The importance of freshwater to spatial variability of aragonite saturation state in the Gulf of Alaska. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 122. https://doi:10.1002/2017JC012791

Pilcher, D.J., McKinley, G.A., Kralj, J., Bootsma, H., and Reavie, E. (2017). Modeled sensitivity of Lake Michigan productivity and zooplankton to changing nutrient concentrations and quagga mussels. J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., 122. https://doi:10.1002/2017JG003818

McKinley, G.A., Pilcher, D.J., Fay, A.R., Lindsay, K., Long, M.C., and Lovenduski, N. (2016). Timescales for detection of trends in the ocean carbon sink, Nature, 530, 469-472. https://doi:10.1038/nature16958

Pilcher, D.J., Brody, S., Johnson, L., and Bronselaer, B. (2015). Assessing the Abilities of CMIP5 Models to Represent the Seasonal Cycle of Surface Ocean pCO2, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 120. https://doi:10.1002/2015JC010759

Pilcher, D.J., McKinley, G.A., Bootsma, H., and Bennington, V. (2015). Physical and Biogeochemical Mechanisms of Internal Carbon Cycling in Lake Michigan. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 120. https://doi:10.1002/2014JC010594