Marine Biology

Researchers

	Name	Title	Fields of interest
	Andrew Juhl	Lamont Associate Research Professor	Plankton ecology, Phytoplankton growth and physiology, Zooplankton grazing, Harmful algae, Dinoflagellate blooms, Physical/biological interactions, Nutrient/microbial pollution of coastal waters, Sea-ice algae

Fueled by Melting Glaciers, Algae Bloom Off Greenland

July 05, 2017

Iron particles catching a ride on glacial meltwater washed out to sea are likely fueling a recently discovered summer algal bloom off the southern coast of Greenland, according to a new study.

Microalgae, also known as phytoplankton, are plant-like marine microorganisms that form the base of the food web in many parts of the ocean. “Phytoplankton serve as food for all of the fish and animals that live there. Everything that eats is eating them ultimately,” said Kevin Arrigo, a biological oceanographer at Stanford University and lead author of the study.
Study Finds Microbes Thriving Above Natural Oil Seeps in Gulf of Mexico

January 25, 2016

In the water above natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil and gas bubbles rise almost a mile to break at the surface, scientists have discovered something unusual: phytoplankton, tiny microbes at the base of the marine food chain, are thriving. The oil itself does not appear to help the phytoplankton, but the low concentration of oil found above natural seeps isn’t killing them, and turbulence from the rising oil and gas bubbles is bringing up deep-water nutrients that phytoplankton need to grow, according to a new study appearing in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience.