Oceanography Magazine Special Issue on Seamounts Features the Work of the Laboratory’s Geomicrobiologist Dr. David Emerson Iron-oxide structures at Loihi Seamount, 3,600 feet below the ocean’s surface. Photo by Terry Kerby, Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
The latest issue of Oceanography (Vol. 23, No. 1), “Mountains in the Sea,”
focuses on the biology and geology of the ocean’s seamounts, the massive underwater mountains that are part of the hydrothermal system of the
ocean’s underwater world. The issue includes an article by Senior Research Scientist Dr. David Emerson and Western Washington University’s Dr. Craig Moyer,
titled “Microbiology of Seamounts, Common Patterns Observed in Community Structure.” Highly specialized seamount microbial communities are sources of
previously unknown genetic diversity and provide insight into ancient metabolic pathways that use iron and sulfur as sources of energy. Dr. Emerson
is also the editor of a special issue on seamount microbiology in the Geomicrobiology Journal (Volume 26, Number 8),
published in December 2009, which includes an article he authored on “Potential for Iron-reduction and Iron-cycling in Iron Oxyhydroxide-rich
Microbial Mats at Loihi Seamount.” (Loihi is a young underwater volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the site of the Iron-Oxidizing Microbial
Observatory Project.) Read more...
Planet Earth Highlights Laboratory’s Phytoplankton Research
Bigelow marine virologist Dr. Willie Wilson’s work with Dr. Mike Allen, molecular biologist and virologist at
Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK is featured in the March issue of Planet Earth, the magazine of the Natural
Environment Research Council. Read about Wilson and Allen’s research in “Survival of the Fattest,” describing
the critical role that marine viruses have in the planet’s global biogeochemical cycles and the relationship
between viruses and the vast blooms of microscopic single celled algae called coccolithophores at the base of
the ocean’s food chain.
True color satellite image of a milky E. huxleyi coccolithophore bloom in the English Channel.
Photo courtesy of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory Remote Sensing Group.
Meet Dylan the Diatom…
As part of its Arctic Ocean Primary Production Project,
Dr. Paty Matrai’s research team recently worked with Anna Czoski, an undergraduate
student in from the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington to create The
Important Little Life of Dylan the Diatom, a seven-minute educational cartoon for middle school
children that’s fun and informative for all ages. The story follows the ups and downs (literally)
of a centric diatom in its Arctic Ocean habitat. Along the way, viewers learn about the role of
phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean and the effects of warming water on microscopic life under the
ice. The Laboratory provided a Research Education for Undergraduates (REU) stipend for Czoski’s
work on this video.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences ...exploring the world’s oceans, from microbes to global ecosystems
More Announcements
Laboratory’s Biofuel Research Highlighted in Portland Press Herald Algal biofuel research at the Laboratory is a front-page story in the
March 17, 2010 Portland Press Herald. The article discusses the goals of the National Science
Foundation (NSF) grant to Bigelow Laboratory and Boston-based Bodega Algae, LLC to develop
methods for growing the large quantities of algae needed for biofuel production.
Library Improvement Project Funded by Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation We are very pleased to announce that the Laboratory has received a $10,000 grant from
the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation to initiate a web-based integrated system for the Bigelow Laboratory
Library and Information Center. The library is open to the public and cooperatively serves the scientists and
staff of the Laboratory and the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The collection includes over 10,000
volumes and 200 subscriptions. More information is available on the library’s webpage.
Transect Volume 2, Number 1 Available Online The Winter 2010 issue of Transect, Bigelow Laboratory’s newsletter,
is now available online.
Articles in the current issue include plans for the Laboratory’s new Blue Biotechnology Center, highlights from the
first National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, and an “Ocean Science
Spotlight” on singe cell genomics research at the Laboratory.
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