Steven Emerson approaches his research and teaching with a “chemical perspective” of oceanography. He uses the distributions of chemical concentrations and isotope ratios to understand biogeochemical processes and the role of the ocean in the global fluxes of oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. As the science of oceanography becomes more interdisciplinary, he studies the ocean using both traditional sampling methods from ships, and remotely, by using a variety of sensors on moorings, profiling floats and gliders. For his long and distinguished record of research, he has been elected a Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the American Geochemical Society.