USC.edu

Naomi Levine

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Quantitative and Computational Biology
Naomi Levine
Pronouns She / Her / Hers Email n.levine@usc.edu Office AHF M225 Office Phone (213) 821-0745

Research & Practice Areas

Microbial ecosystem dynamics, Microbial adaptation, Climate-ecosystem interactions, Marine carbon and nutrient cycling, Climate Science

Education

  • Ph.D. Chemical Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program, 2010
  • B.A. Geosciences, Princeton University, 2003
    • Postdoctoral Investigator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2013
    • NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, 2010-2013

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    Naomi Levine’s research focuses on understanding the interactions between climate and marine microbial ecosystem composition and function. She seeks to illuminate the mechanisms through which climate variability influences microbial systems and to identify how microbial systems in turn impact climate. The Levine Lab is developing innovative, interdisciplinary numerical models that allow them to understand how dynamics occurring at the scale of individual microbes impact large-scale ecosystem processes, such as rates of global carbon cycling. The Levine Lab is tackling fundamental challenges in Biological Oceanography related to evolution and cycling of organic carbon – work that will allow them to generate more robust predictions of what our future world will look like.

    Research Keywords

    Microbial ecosystem dynamics, Microbial adaptation, Climate-ecosystem interactions, Marine carbon and nutrient cycling

  • Journal Article

    • McParland, E. L., Lee, M. D., Webb, E., Alexander, H., Levine,McParland, N. M., Lee, M. D., Webb, E., Alexander, H., Levine, N. M. (2021). DMSP synthesis genes distinguish two types of DMSP producer phenotypes.. Environmental microbiology.  PubMed Web Address
    • Walworth, N. G., Zakem, E. J., Dunne, J. P., Collins, S., Levine,Walworth, N. M., Zakem, E. J., Dunne, J. P., Collins, S., Levine, N. M. (2020). Microbial evolutionary strategies in a dynamic ocean.. 11 pp. 5943-5948.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 117 (11),  PubMed Web Address
    • McParland, E. L., Wright, A., Art, K., He, M., Levine,McParland, N. M., Wright, A., Art, K., He, M., Levine, N. M. (2020). Evidence for contrasting roles of dimethylsulfoniopropionate production in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira oceanica.. 2 pp. 396-409.The New phytologist. Vol. 226 (2),  PubMed Web Address
    • Zakem, E. J., Levine, N. M. (2019). Systematic variation in marine dissolved organic matter stoichiometry and remineralization ratios as a function of lability. Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
    • Teel, E. N., Liu, X., Seegers, B. N., Ragan, M. A., Haskell, W. Z., Jones, B. H., Levine, N. M. (2018). Contextualizing time-series data: quantification of short-term regional variability in the San Pedro Channel using high-resolution in situ glider data. 20 pp. 6151-6165.Biogeosciences/Copernicus Publications. Vol. 15 (20),
    • McParland, E. L., Levine, N. M. (2018). The role of differential DMSP production and community composition in predicting variability of global surface DMSP concentrations. pp. 1-17.Limnology and Oceanography. Vol. 9999,
    • Levine, N. M., Zhang, K., Longo, M., Baccini, A., Phillips, O. L., Lewis, S. L., Alvarez-Dávila, E., de Andrade, A. C., Brienen, R. J., Erwin, T. L. (2016). Ecosystem heterogeneity determines the ecological resilience of the Amazon to climate change. 3 pp. 793-797.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 113 (3),
    • Liu, X., Levine, N. M. (2016). Enhancement of phytoplankton chlorophyll by submesoscale frontal dynamics in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Geophysical Research Letters.
    • Levine, N. M., Toole, D. A., Neeley, A., Bates, N. R., Doney, S. C., Dacey, J. W. (2016). Revising upper-ocean sulfur dynamics near Bermuda: new lessons from 3 years of concentration and rate measurements. Environmental Chemistry.
    • Levine,Levine, N. M. (2016). Putting the spotlight on organic sulfur.. 6311 pp. 418-419.Science (New York, N.Y.). Vol. 354 (6311),  PubMed Web Address
    • Levine, N. M., Varaljay, V. A., Toole, D. A., Dacey, J. W., Doney, S. C., Moran, M. A. (2012). Environmental, biochemical and genetic drivers of DMSP degradation and DMS production in the Sargasso Sea. 5 pp. 1210-1223.Environmental Microbiology. Vol. 14 (5),
    • Levine, N. M., Doney, S. C., Lima, I., Wanninkhof, R., Bates, N. R., Feely, R. A. (2011). The impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the uptake and accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 by North Atlantic Ocean mode waters. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Vol. 25,
    • Goodkin, N. F., Levine, N. M., Doney, S. C., Wanninkhof, R. (2011). Impacts of temporal CO2 and climate trends on the detection of ocean anthropogenic CO2 accumulation. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Vol. 25,
    • Levine, N. M., Bender, M. L., Doney, S. C. (2009). The d18O of dissolved O2 as a tracer of mixing and respiration in the mesopelagic ocean. 1 Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Vol. 23 (1),
    • Levine, N. M., Doney, S. C., Wanninkhof, R., Lindsay, K., Fung, I. Y. (2008). Impact of ocean carbon system variability on the detection of temporal increases in anthropogenic CO2. C3 Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans. Vol. 113 (C3),
    • USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2020-2021
    • Simons Foundation Early Career Investigator in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution Awards, 2017/04-2020/03
    • Ocean Science, 2016-2018
    • Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Earth Sciences, 2013-2018