Audrey Limoges

Teaching

• ESCI1012 Environmental Earth Sciences
• ESCI2703 Field school: Principles of stratigraphy and geological mapping
• ESCI3292 Climate and Environmental change through the Earth’s history
• ESCI3271/BIOL3371 Palaeontology
• ESCI3282 Introduction to Oceanography and Paleoceanography
• ESCI4900 Thesis Project

Research interests

My research focuses on climate-driven changes in marine primary production, the foundation of marine food webs. These changes have far-reaching consequences for carbon cycles, species diversity, and the ecosystem services that oceans provide.

Specifically, I study phytoplankton and biogenic tracers in moored sediment traps and seafloor sediment to document changes in the production and composition of phytoplankton assemblages that occur on seasonal to millennial timescales.

The insights gained from this research can help communities and policymakers adapt to the cascading effects of altered primary production.

Selected research topics of interest:

• Interactions between climate, sea ice and primary production
• Response of marine protists to environmental changes
• Harmful algal blooms, from the tropics to the high latitudes
• Human settlement and migration in relation with climate fluctuations

Current students

• Jennifer Eamer, PhD candidate (co-supervisor: Dr. Alexandre Normandeau), based at UNB
• Brayden Harker, MSc candidate (co-supervisor: Dr. Allison Enright), based at UNB
• Florian Jacques, PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. Montero-Serrano, UQAR), based at Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski
• Kelsey Koerner, PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. André Rochon, UQAR), based at Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski
• Joshua R. Evans, PhD candidate (co-supervised with Dr. Gary Saunders, UNB), based at UNB
• Tazeen Ajmeri, MSc candidate (co-supervisor: Dr. Alexandre Normandeau, GSC and Rémi Amiraux, ULaval), based at UNB

Professional associations

Geotop, Collaborator
Refuge Arctic

• ArcticNet project: "Rapidly changing ecosystem dynamics in the Arctic Ocean's Last Ice Area (RED-AO)"
• Past Global Changes (PAGES) EXCOM Working Group: "Marine Arctic Diatoms (MARDI)"
• RQM-MEOPAR project: Monitoring natural hazards during coastal to offshore sediment remobilization and its impacts on primary productivity dynamics in the Lower St.Lawrence Estuary

Selected publications

Articles accepted or published in peer-reviewed journals

Normandeau A, Eamer J, Way R, Harrison E, Cyr F, Algar C, Eamer J, Geizer H, Haddock J, Kurylyk B, Van Nieuwenhove N, Pijogge L, Philibert G, Robert K, Saunders M, Tamborski J, Limoges A. Evidence for subsea permafrost in subarctic Canada linked to submarine groundwater discharge. Nature Geoscience

Atkinson M, Normandeau A, Van Nieuwenhove N, de Vernal A, Saunders M, Woollett J, Limoges A. Labrador Coastal Current and productivity variations offshore Nain (Nunatsiavut) during the Late Holocene. Quaternary Science Review 337, 108790

Defang Y, Stein R, Fahl K, Limoges A, Schefuß E. (2024) Interaction between ice sheet dynamics and sea-surface characteristics in the Labrador Sea during the last 50 ka. Earth and Planetary Science Letter 629, 118596

Harðardóttir S, Haile J, Ray JL, Limoges A, Van Nieuwenhove N, Lalande C, Grondin PL, Jackson R, Sandnes Skaar K, Heikkilä M Berge J, Lundholm N, Massé G, Rysgaard S, Seidenkrantz M-S, De Schepper S, Lorenzen ED, Lovejoy C, Ribeiro S. (2024) Millennial-scale variations in Arctic sea ice are recorded in sedimentary ancient DNA of the microalga Polarella glacialis. Communications Earth & Environment 5 (25).

Sharpe H, Gosselin M, Lalande C, Normandeau A, Baccara K, Montero-Serrano J-C, Bourgault D, Sherwood O, Limoges A. (2023) Influence of a submarine canyon on biogenic matter export flux in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary, Eastern Canada. Biogeosciences 20 (24), 4981-5001.

Limoges A, Ribeiro S, Van Nieuwenhove N, Jackson R, Juggins S, Crosta X, Weckström K. (2023) Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem. Global Change Biology 29(33), 6503-6516.

Amiraux R, Mundy CJ, Pierrejean M, Niemi A, Hedges KJ, Brown TA, Ehn J, Elliott KH, Ferguson SH, Fisk AT, Gilchrist G, Harris LN, Iken K, Jacobs K, Johnson KF, Konar BH, Kuzyk ZZ, Limoges A, Loewen TN, Love OP, Matthews CJD, Ogloff WR, Papakyriakou T, Rosenberg B, Søreide J, Watt CA, Yurkowski DJ. (2023) Tracing carbon flow and trophic structure of a coastal Arctic marine food web using highly branched isoprenoids and carbon, nitrogen and sulfur stable isotopes. Ecological Indicators 147, 109938.

Normandeau A, Eamer J, Bernatchez P, Didier D, Lajeunesse P, Limoges A, Montero-Serrano J-C (2022) Sediment density flow distribution on wave-influenced deltas. Sedimentology.

Hansen KE, Giraudeau J, Limoges A, Massé G, Rudra A, Wacker L, Sanei H, Pearce C, Seidenkrantz M-S. (2021) Characterization of organic matter in marine sediments to estimate age offset of bulk radiocarbon dating. Quaternary Geochronology 67, 101242.

Koerner K, Limoges A, Van Nieuwenhove N, Richerol T, Massé G, Ribeiro S. (2021) Late Holocene sea-surface changes in the North Water polynya reveal freshening of northern Baffin Bay in the 21st century. Global and Planetary Change 206 (2) 103642.

Ribeiro, S., Limoges, A., Massé, G. et al. Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change. Nature Communications 12, 4475 (2021).

Jackson R, Bang AK, Limoges A, Georgiadis G, Olsen SM, Tallberg P, Andersen TJ, Mikkelsen N, Giraudeau J, Massé G, Wacker L, Ribeiro S. (2021) Holocene polynya dynamics and their interaction with oceanic heat transport in northernmost Baffin Bay. Scientific Reports 11,10095.

Van Nieuwenhove N, Limoges A, Nørgaard-Pedersen N, Seidenkrantz M-S, Ribeiro S. (2020) Episodic Atlantic water inflow into the Independence Fjord system (eastern North Greenland) during the Holocene and Last Glacial period. Frontiers in Earth Science 8:565670.

Limoges A, Weckström K, Ribeiro S, Georgiadis E, Hansen KE, Martinez P, Seidenkrantz M-S, Giraudeau J, Crosta X, Massé G. (2020) Learning from the past: impact of the Arctic Oscillation on sea ice and marine productivity off northwest Greenland over the last 9000 years. Global Change Biology 00:1-20.

Weckström K., Redmond-Roche B., Miettinen A., Krawczyk D., Limoges A., Juggins S., Ribeiro S., Heikkilä M. (2020) Improving the paleoceanographic proxy tool kit – on the biogeography and ecology of the sea ice-associated species Fragilariopsis oceanica, Fragilariopsis reginae-jahniae and Fossula arctica in the northern North Atlantic. Marine Micropaleontology 157, 101860.

Georgiadis E., Giraudeau J, Jennings A, Limoges A, Jackson R, Ribeiro S, Massé G. (2020) Local and regional controls on Holocene sea ice dynamics and oceanography in Nares Strait, Northwest Greenland. Marine Geology 422, 106115.

Limoges, A., Van Nieuwenhove, N., Mertens, K.N., Head, M.J., Pospelova, V., Rochon, A., A review of rare or not well known extant marine organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst taxa of the orders Gonyaulacales and Suessiales from the Northern Hemisphere. In Press Marine Micropaleontology (2020), Special Issue.

de Vernal A, Radi T, Zaragosi S, Van Nieuwenhove N, Rochon A, Allan E, De Schepper S, Eynaud F, Head M, Limoges A, Londeix L, Marret F, Matthiessen J, Penaud A, Pospelova V, Price A, Richerol T. Distribution of common modern dinocyst taxa in surface sediment of the Northern Hemisphere in relation to environmental parameters: the updated n=1968 database. In Press Marine Micropaleontology (2020), Special Issue.

Van Nieuwenhove, N., Head, M., Limoges, A., Pospelova, V., Mertens, K., Matthiessen, J., De Schepper, S., de Vernal, A., Eynaud, F., Londeix, L., Marret-Davies, F., Penaud, A., Radi, T., Rochon, A. A review of common marine organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst taxa from surface sediments of the Northern Hemisphere. Accepted to Marine Micropaleontology (2020), Special Issue.

Limoges, A., Massé, G., Weckström, K., Poulin, M., Ellegaard, M., Heikkilä, M., Geilfus, N.X., Sejr, M., Rysgaard, S., Ribeiro, S., 2018.  Spring succession and vertical export of diatoms and IP25 in a seasonally ice-covered High Arctic fjord.  Frontiers in Earth Sciences 6: 226. link 

Limoges, A., Londeix, L., Mertens, K.N., Rochon, A., Pospelova, V., del Carmen Cuéllar, T., de Vernal, A., 2018.  Identification key for Pliocene and Quaternary Spiniferites taxa bearing intergonal processes based on observations from estuarine and coastal environments.  Palynology 42: sup 1, 72-88.  link

de Vernal, A., Eynaud, F., Henry, M., Limoges, A., Londeix, L., Matthiessen, J., Marret, F., Pospelova, V., Radi, T., Rochon, A., Van Nieuwenhove, N., Zaragosi, S., 2018.  Distribution and (paleo)ecological affinities of the main Spiniferites taxa in the mid-high latitudes of the northern hemisphere.  Palynology, 42: sup1, 182-202. link  

Mertens, K.M., Van Nieuwenhove, N., Gurdebeke, P.R., Aydin, H., Bogus, K., Bringué, M., Dale, B., De Schepper, S., de Vernal, A., Ellegaard, M., Grothe, A., Gu, H., Head, M.J., Heikkilä, M., Limoges, A., Londeix, L., Louwye, S., Marret, F., Masure, E., Matsuoka, K., Mudie, P.J., Penaud, A., Pospelova, V., Price, A.M., Ribeiro, S., Rochon, A., Sangiorgi, F., Schreck, M., Torres-Torres, V., Uzar, S., Versteegh, G.J.M., Warny, S., Zonneveld, K., 2018.  The dinoflagellate cyst genera Achomosphaera Evitt 1963 and Spiniferites Mantell 1850 in Pliocene to modern sediments: a summary of round table discussions.  Palynology, 42: sup 1, 10-44. link 

Limoges, A., Ribeiro, S., Weckström, K., Heikkilä, M., Zamelczyk, K., Andersen, T.J., Tallberg, P., Massé, G., Rysgaard, S., Norgaard-Pedersen, N., Seidenkrantz, M.-S., 2018. Linking the modern distribution of biogenic proxies in High Arctic Greenland shelf sediments of sea ice, primary production and Arctic-Atlantic inflow. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 123.

Cuellar-Martinez, T., Alonso-Rodrígez, R., Ruiz-Fernández, A.C., de Vernal, A., Morquecho, L., Limoges, A., Henry, M., Sanchez-Cabeza, J.-A., 2018. Environmental forcing on the flux of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in recent sediments from a subtropical lagoon in the Gulf of California. Science of the Total Environment 621, 548.

Ribeiro, S., Serj, M.K., Limoges, A., Heikkilä, M., Andersen, T.J., Tallberg, P., Weckström, K., Husum, K., Forwick, M., Dalsgaard, T., Massé, G., Seidenkrantz, M.-S., Rysgaard, S., 2017.  Sea ice and primary production proxies in surface sediments from a High Arctic Greenland fjord: Spatial distribution and implications for palaeoenvironmental studies. Ambio 46, S106-S118.

Norgaard-Pedersen, N., Ribeiro, S., Mikkelsen, N., Limoges, A., Sedenkrantz, M-S, 2016. Past climate and sea ice variability studies in the fjord area by Station Nord, Northeastern Greenland.  Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 35,67-70.

Limoges, A., de Vernal, A., Ruiz-Fernández, A.-C., 2015. Investigating the impact of land use changes and potential for harmful algal blooms in a tropical coastal lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico.  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 167, 549-559.

Ruíz-Fernández, A.-C., Maanan, M., Sanchez-Cabeza, J.A., Pérez Bernal, L.H., Mendoza, P.L., Limoges, A., 2015. Chronology of recent sedimentation and geochemical characteristics of sediments in Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz (Southwestern Gulf of Mexico). Ciencias Marinas 40(4), 291-303.

Limoges, A., Mertens, K., Ruíz-Fernández, A.-C., de Vernal, A., 2015. First report of sub-recent fossilized cysts produced by the benthic Bysmatrum subsalsum (Dinophyceae) from a shallow Mexican lagoon in the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Phycology 51, 211-215.

Mertens, K., Wolny, J., Carbonell-Moore, C., Bogus, K., Ellegaard, M., Limoges, A., de Vernal, A., Gurdebeke, P., Omura, T., Al-Muftah, A., Matsuoka, K., 2015. Taxonomic re-examination of the toxic armored dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense Plate 1906: Can morphology or LSU sequencing separate P. bahamense var. compressum from var. bahamense? Harmful Algae 41, 1-24.

Limoges, A., de Vernal, A., Van Nieuwenhove,  2014. Long-term hydrological changes in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (ODP-625B) during the Holocene and late Pleistocene inferred from organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 414, 178-191.

Thibodeau, B., de Vernal, A., Limoges, A., 2013. Low oxygen events in the Laurentian Channel during the Holocene. Marine Geology 346, 183-191.

Limoges, A., Londeix, L., de Vernal, A., 2013. Organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst distribution in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Micropaleontology 102, 51-68.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Versteegh, G.J.M., Bonnet, S., Bouimetarhan, I., Crouch, E., de Vernal, A., Elshanawany, R., Edwards, L., Esper, O., Forke, S., Grosfjeld, K., Henry, M., Holzwarth, U., Kielt, J.-F., Kim, S.-Y., Ladouceur, S., Ledu, D., Chen, L., Limoges, A., Londeix, L., Lu, S.-H., Mahmoud, M.S., Marino, G., Matsuoka, K., Matthiessen, J., Mildenhal, D.C., Mudie, P., Neil, H.L., Pospelova, V., Qi, Y., Radi, T., Richerol, T., Rochon, A., Sangiorgi, F., Solignac S., Turon, J.-L., Verleye, T., Wang, Y., Wang, Z., Young, M., 2013. Atlas of modern dinoflagellate cyst distribution based on 2405 datapoints. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 191, 1-197.

Limoges, A., Kielt, J-F., Radi, T., Ruíz-Fernandez, A.-C., de Vernal, A., 2010. Dinoflagellate cyst distribution in surface sediments along the southwestern Mexican coast (14.76° N to 24.75° N). Marine Micropaleontology 76 (10), 104-123.