Arunima Sen is a deep sea ecologist specializing in chemosynthesis based ecosystems such as hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps, with a focus in recent years on the Arctic. Her main area of expertise is linking biogeochemical factors to determine distributions of species and community composition. She uses a variety of approaches, ranging from imagery and GIS to molecular techniques as well as incorporating different disciplines such as geology, geophysics, chemistry and oceanography. Her research on spatio-temporal dynamics of southern Pacific hydrothermal vent ecosystems targeted for deep-sea mining was some of the first and most thorough to investigate such systems within the context of potential responses and resilience to expected mining activities.