Search

Shaily Rahman

Photo of Shaily Rahman

Assistant Professor •
• Isotope biogeochemistry • Chemical oceanography • Global geochemical cycles

Geological Sciences

shaily.rahman@colorado.edu

Bio

I’m a biogeochemist and chemical oceanographer. I work on land, coastal, and open ocean systems like the Greenland Ice Sheet, Iceland, Amazon Delta, Mississippi Delta, French Guiana mobile muds, Gulf of Papua, North Atlantic and East Pacific. I like to develop and use non-traditional proxies to investigate biogeochemical cycles.

Seeking students

I am looking for well-qualified, enthusiastic students to join my research group, Surface Earth and Environmental Processes (SEEP). Lab experience is welcomed but not required. If you have an interest in global biogeochemical cycles, marine and coastal processes, nutrient cycling, submarine groundwater discharge, or contaminant fate and transport, please contact me. I also work with TEIs (trace elements and isotopes) if that is of interest.

Undergraduates interested in research experience or potential senior projects should contact me.

Prospective graduate students should take a look at my current publications to see if our interests align. Feel free to contact me before applying to the department to talk about potential research projects and funding opportunities.

Education

PhD (School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences): Stony Brook University
MS (Earth and Planetary Sciences): McGill University
BS (Chemistry): McGill University

Research

Example field photos

Female researcher with a hat, sunglasses, life jacket and muddy hands kneels down to work a marine sediment core while on the deck of a ship. She is surrounded by four teammates helping process the core.

Aboard the research vessel Pelican, Shaily Rahman and her team process a sediment core collected from the Mississippi Delta seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico. Subsequent studies of this core and other evidence will lead to better understanding of extreme disturbances to the sedimentary silica cycle, specifically Hurricane Ida. Photo by Shelly Sommer, June 2022.

Four researchers in bright orange hard hats and life vests prepare sediment sampling equipment on the deck of a ship in the Gulf of Mexico

Aboard the research vessel Pelican, the team prepares multi-core equipment for collecting sediment from the Mississippi Delta seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico. Subsequent studies of these cores and other evidence will lead to better understanding of extreme disturbances to the sedimentary silica cycle, specifically Hurricane Ida. Photo by Shelly Sommer, June 2022.

Publications

Recent publications

Probing surface Earth reactive silica cycling using stable Si isotopes: Mass balance, fluxes, and deep time implications

CU Boulder Authors: Trower, Lizzy; Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Rahman S; Trower EJ

Published in: Science Advances
Publication Date: 2023-12-08
Type: Journal Article

Dissolved and Particulate Barium Distributions Along the US GEOTRACES North Atlantic and East Pacific Zonal Transects (GA03 and GP16): Global Implications for the Marine Barium Cycle

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors:

Rahman S; Shiller AM; Anderson RF; Charette MA; Hayes CT; Gilbert M; Grissom KR; Lam PJ; Ohnemus DC; Pavia FJ...

Rahman S
Shiller AM
Anderson RF
Charette MA
Hayes CT
Gilbert M
Grissom KR
Lam PJ
Ohnemus DC
Pavia FJ

Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles: an international journal of global change
Publication Date: 2022-06-01
Type: Journal Article

Heterogeneous CO₂ and CH₄ content of glacial meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet and implications for subglacial carbon processes

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Pain AJ; Martin JB; Martin EE; Rennermalm AK; Rahman S

Published in: The Cryosphere
Publication Date: 2021-04-01
Type: Journal Article

Global Ocean Sediment Composition and Burial Flux in the Deep Sea

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors:

Hayes CT; Costa KM; Anderson RF; Calvo E; Chase Z; Demina LL; Dutay J-C; German CR; Heimburger-Boavida L-E; Jaccard SL...

Hayes CT
Costa KM
Anderson RF
Calvo E
Chase Z
Demina LL
Dutay J-C
German CR
Heimburger-Boavida L-E
Jaccard SL

Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles: an international journal of global change
Publication Date: 2021-04-01
Type: Journal Article

Reviews and syntheses: The biogeochemical cycle of silicon in the modern ocean

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors:

Treguer PJ; Sutton JN; Brzezinski M; Charette MA; Devries T; Dutkiewicz S; Ehlert C; Hawkings J; Leynaert A; Liu SM...

Treguer PJ
Sutton JN
Brzezinski M
Charette MA
Devries T
Dutkiewicz S
Ehlert C
Hawkings J
Leynaert A
Liu SM

Published in: Biogeosciences
Publication Date: 2021-02-18
Type: Journal Article

Comparisons of Nutrients Exported From Greenlandic Glacial and Deglaciated Watersheds

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Martin JB; Pain AJ; Martin EE; Rahman S; Ackerman P

Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles: an international journal of global change
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Type: Journal Article

Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Organic Matter Exported From Greenlandic Glacial and Deglaciated Watersheds

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Pain AJ; Martin JB; Martin EE; Rahman S; Ackermann P

Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles: an international journal of global change
Publication Date: 2020-10-01
Type: Journal Article

DSi as a Tracer for Submarine Groundwater Discharge

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Oehler T; Tamborski J; Rahman S; Moosdorf N; Ahrens J; Mori C; Neuholz R; Schnetger B; Beck M

Published in: Frontiers in Marine Science
Publication Date: 2019-09-13
Type: Journal Article

Dissolved silica in the subterranean estuary and the impact of submarine groundwater discharge on the global marine silica budget

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Rahman S; Tamborski JJ; Charette MA; Cochran JK

Published in: Marine Chemistry
Publication Date: 2019-01-20
Type: Journal Article

Reverse Weathering Reactions in Marine Sediments

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Rahman S

Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Type: Chapter

The Missing Silica Sink: Revisiting the Marine Sedimentary Si Cycle Using Cosmogenic ³²Si

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Rahman S; Aller RC; Cochran JK

Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles: an international journal of global change
Publication Date: 2017-10-01
Type: Journal Article

Cosmogenic ³²Si as a tracer of biogenic silica burial and diagenesis: Major deltaic sinks in the silica cycle

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Rahman S; Aller RC; Cochran JK

Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Date: 2016-07-16
Type: Journal Article

Mechanisms of southern Caribbean SST variability over the last two millennia

CU Boulder Authors: Rahman, Shaily

All Authors: Wurtzel JB; Black DE; Thunell RC; Peterson LC; Tappa EJ; Rahman S

Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
Publication Date: 2013-11-28
Type: Journal Article

Pages

Teaching

Courses taught

GEOL 1010: Exploring Earth
GEOL 4380: Stable Isotope Geochemistry

---

Outreach

See a Twitter thread from a research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico in summer 2022. We investigated extreme disturbances to the sedimentary silica cycle, specifically Hurricane Ida. Our group took samples from the Mississippi Delta seafloor and in the Mississippi River from the research vessel Pelican.

---

News

Seedlings sprouting

Lovenduski, Rahman, and Suding garner seed grants from CU Research & Innovation Office

April 18, 2022

Algae in the ocean, water on Mars, and supercharged apple orchards are research topics for three INSTAAR scientists awarded RIO seed grants. The grants are designed to foster new areas of research with high impact and future funding potential.

Colorful satellite image of the Lena River delta flowing into the Arctic ocean

Accounting for the missing silica in the marine sediment cycle (AGU Eos)

Jan. 17, 2018

Shaily Rahman led a study using cosmogenic silicon to estimate the amount of biogenic silica stored in clays along continental margins. The team's findings may explain a longstanding, large discrepancy in the global marine silica budget. Understanding silicon is especially important because of its influence on primary production and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

More Rahman news >

Labs, groups, & programs
Sitemap

Labs & Groups

Programs

Research

People

Diversity

Community

Meet an INSTAAR
Art+Science showcase

News

Events

About INSTAAR

Prospective students

Resources for INSTAARs

Jobs

Support INSTAAR

Return to the top of the page