Marine microbiologist awarded prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship

For scientists at the start of their careers, certain awards are common harbingers of future success. The Sloan Research Fellowship, bestowed upon promising early-career scientists by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has helped launch many high achievers since its inception in 1955.

Now, Julia Schwartzman, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, joins the ranks of Sloan Research Fellows – a prestigious group that includes some of the brightest minds in science.

Schwartzman, who studies how marine microbes behave, interact and shape the ecological dynamics of their environments, was among 126 rising stars of science recently announced as 2025 Sloan Research Fellows.

“I’m honored to be part of this year’s cohort,” says Schwartzman, who joined USC Dornsife in spring 2023. “My research group is just starting out, and this recognition shines a spotlight on the exciting work carried out by my trainees,” she adds, acknowledging the contributions of her lab members, which include Postdoctoral Fellow Thomas Day, four PhD students and two undergraduate researchers.

Schwartzman’s  team studies how marine microbes communicate at a microscopic level and how these interactions shape larger ecological processes in the ocean. In particular, they study combined behaviors of communities of microbes involved in the decomposition of organic matter and the development of kelp.

“I hope that my research will reveal how microbes act together, as collectives, to shape biological cycles in our oceans,” Schwartzman says.

Jed Furhman, McCulloch-Crosby Chair in Marine Biology and professor of biological sciences, nominated Schwartzman for the Sloan Fellowship. He wrote, “She is at the forefront of the next generation of marine and Earth Systems scientists who will … be dealing with rising environmental challenges. I think she has what it takes to make a string of significant contributions.”

Furhman may be prescient — dozens of Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to earn prestigious professional accolades. Among them, 58 won Nobel Prizes, including USC Dornsife’s Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Quantitative and Computational Biology and Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry; the late Murray Gell-Mann, USC Dornsife physicist; and  F. Duncan Haldane, one-time USC Dornsife physics professor.

Schwartzman sees the fellowship as an opportunity to bring attention to an important and expanding field of study.

“This fellowship helps to highlight the theme of my group’s research, and what I hope is a growing focus on the field of Earth Systems Science: linking the microscale to the macroscale to understand the dynamics of ocean biology.”