Our Group

Postdoctoral Scholar

buckwies@usc.edu

My research focuses on marine carbon cycling and the question: Why does some carbon become sequestered in the ocean? With a background in ecology and microbiology, I seek to understand the molecular properties that render certain compounds inaccessible to marine bacteria. In particular, my reserach focuses on carbohydrates, which span from simple glucose to long and complex polysaccharides such as fucoidan. During my PhD, I have used and developed analytical tools for identifying and quantitying environmental carbohydrates. At USC, I am developing models of marine carbohydrate degradation to understand the ecological reasons for carbohydrate persistence and their potential to capture carbon in the ocean.

Postdoctoral Scholar

cjames80@usc.edu

At the base of the marine food web, microbes represent a critical link between the physical environment and higher trophic levels. This complex, highly diverse set of organisms are responsible for a wide variety of key ecological functions that play out at local to global scales affecting the climate, food production, and overall ocean health. My research focuses on the connections between marine microbes and their dynamic physical environment. Using a variety of tools and data, from metaomics to modeling, I aim to characterize the relationships between key driving variables and marine microbiome structure, diversity, and function.

Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

leles@usc.edu

I am an oceanographer with a background in microbial ecology. I am interested in the diverse lifestyles of marine microbes, their distribution, and their impact on ecosystem functioning. In particular, I use models and data to better understand the ecological niches of protists, their biogeography, and their impact on nutrient cycling at both regional and global scales. My current research aims to address both ecological and evolutionary responses of microbial communities to a rapidly changing ocean.

Graduate Student

meaganhe@usc.edu

Marine microorganisms are important drivers of biogeochemical cycling and exhibit tremendous genetic and metabolic diversity. My research combines culture work with modeling to examine microbial metabolic strategies in the ocean and the implications they have for community composition and dynamics. In particular, I am interested in responses to nutrient change and how these findings might help us predict the ocean’s future biological landscape.

Graduate Student

Graduate Student

zaissbow@usc.edu

Phytoplankton are responsible for nearly half of all photosynthesis on the planet and as such play a vital role in the global carbon cycle. Rising global temperatures will certainly influence phytoplankton primary productivity as previously investigated in steady state laboratory experiments and poorly parameterized, global climate models. However, only a few studies have investigated how spatiotemporal temperature variability, not just mean state, affects productivity. For my research I will incorporate data from lab experiments and remote sensing to develop a better model for primary productivity that includes the effect of temperature variability, as well as changes in the mean state.

Undergraduate Student Researcher

I am interested in applying computational models to ecological problems to investigate the impact of the changing ocean on microbial communities and its global implications. My current project is to explore the effects of multiple interactions such as nutrient and light limitations on microbial communities in the heating ocean. My past research throughout my undergraduate career at Duke University has focused on polymer physics and phylogenetics.

Visiting Scientist

Faculty of Integrate Science Fulbright University, Vietnam

trangn@usc.edu

My research interests lie in understanding the microbial drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling in a wide range of ecosystems by combining biochemical, molecular, and modelling approaches. My previous research focused on understanding the degradation of organic nitrogen in soil by diverse microbial communities. My current research integrates an understanding of microbial metabolic potential and dynamic marine environments in order to study how particulate organic carbon is cycled.

Trang’s website

VP of Science Strategy, Vesta

Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies, USC

Postdoctoral Scholar, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Noele’s website

Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at WHOI

Assistant Professor, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography UGA

Sara’s website