MIT EAPS Directory

Shuhei Ono’s research concerns the application of multiple-sulfur isotope systems to study reaction pathways in sulfur biogeochemical cycles. He applies this unique technique in the study of deep biosphere, and seafloor hydrothermal systems as well as to deep time earth history. A particular focus of his research has been to understand the origin of mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation as a unique record of early Earth’s atmospheric chemistry and microbial evolution.

Ono’s research combines fieldwork and analysis of natural samples with laboratory experiment. Recent research includes laboratory calibrations of sulfur isotope effects during photochemistry and microbial sulfate reduction.

In a collaboration with Ron Prinn, Ono has begun exploring the atmospheric chemistry of nitrous oxide, a class of reactions that present a significant societal problem due to their detrimental effect on the environment. The various sources and sinks of nitrous oxide carry unique isotopic fingerprints valuable in constraining the tropospheric budget of nitrous oxide. Ono and co-workers apply state-of-the-art mid-infrared spectroscopy to perform high-frequency isotope ratio measurements.

Ono holds a B.Sc. in Geology from Waseda University, Tokyo, and a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from Pennsylvania State University (2001). After postdoctoral research at the Geophysical Laboratory of Carnegie Institution of Washington. He joined the MIT faculty in 2007.