Does air pollution-derived nitrogen improve our oceans’ ability to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere – or does it create an even worse situation?

Finding out this vitally important, but as yet unknown, component in the global response to climate change will be the mission of Dr Katye Altieri, winner of the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust’s New Frontiers Research Award for 2025.

Altieri, an Associate Professor in Oceanography at the University of Cape Town (UCT), was announced as the second ever winner of the five-year, R7.5-million award at a function in Johannesburg on 12 May 2025. Her proposal pipped 175 other entries, which included such disciplines as astrophysics, visual arts, food security, ecology, paediatric immune diseases and neuroscience, to the award.