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People
Alex Low Yik Jin
Undergraduate Researcher 2002-2004
Project: Comparative genomics of Prochlorococcus
B.S. Applied and Computational Mathematical Sciences, 2004
Presently working for Weimar Trading, Singapore
Hannah Hook
Undergraduate Researcher 2002-2004
Project: Diversity of Synechococcus in Puget Sound
B.S. Biology (Physiology), 2006
Biswajit Paul
Undergraduate Researcher 2004-2005
Awarded Mary Gates Research Scholarship
Project: Phosphorus stress in Prochlorococcus
B.S. Biology (Molecular, Cellular, and Development), 2007
Karen Peterson
Undergraduate Researcher 2004-2005
Project: Diversity of Synechococcus in the Salish Sea
B.S. Microbiology, 2005
Presently in graduate school at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Ben Johnson
Undergraduate Researcher 2005-2006 (Awarded Oceans and Human Health REU fellowship)
Project: Viruses infecting the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia
B.S. Oceanography, 2006
Presently research scientist, UW Pathology
Cheryl Williams
I am a technician in Gabrielle’s lab. In addition to ordering supplies and doing other lab manager type tasks, I also get to do some research.
Over the past two years I have coordinated and participated in 11 2-5 day cruises and many other one day trips in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. Our goal is to better understand the bacterial communities, both heterotrophic and photosynthetic, in order to lend insight into the low dissolved oxygen problem in Hood Canal. We took samples to measure the dissolved nutrients, bacterial abundance, dissolved oxygen, bacterial respiration, and bacterial production. We also took filters to use the molecular techniques ARISA to look at bacterial diversity and QPCR to look at Synechococcus diversity. Currently I am working on troubleshooting and processing the ARISA samples.
Cedar McKay
I am a technician here in the lab, and a bit of a jack of all trades. My responsibilities are broken into three main areas.
Laboratory Research:
My project is to get the tRFLP technique working on oceanic cyanobacteria, using the ITS as a target. The goal is to be able to quickly and cheaply determine the presences/absence of particular cyanobacterial clades. This work ties in with the Distribution of Ecotypes work. I also occasionaly get to go on a cruise!
Bioinformatics:
Much of our work depends on analyzing sequence data using various computational techniques. I work with Gabrielle to link various pieces of software and computations together in a way that yeilds results that are relevent and accurate. I also write software as needed for our analysis using the python programming language.
Systems Administration:
I keep MMBL's computers running smoothly, our systems backed up, and hackers out of our hair. I am also responsible for designing the website which you are viewing right now!
Michele Wrabel
Education
- B.A. Smith College magna cum laude with Highest Honors in Biological Sciences, 1997.
- Member of Sea Education Association's SEA Semester, 1996.
- Graduate student in Biological Oceanography at the University of Washington, 2004-present.
- AmeriCorps member, Perry Point, MD, and Greenfield, MA, 1997-1999. Community service projects, primarily tutoring and mentoring middle and high school youth.
- Independent middle and high school tutor, Eugene, OR, 1999-2001.
- Trace metals chemist, Brooks Rand, Seattle, WA, 2002-2004.
My research contributes to the Pacific Northwest Center for Human Health and Ocean Studies, a multidisciplinary collaboration that began at the University of Washington in 2004. A group of oceanographers, public health researchers, and other scientists, we seek to understand one type of harmful algal bloom that occurs in Washington State waters and worldwide. Marine diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid, a neurotoxin that is biomagnified by shellfish that feed on these phytoplankton; in humans who consume these shellfish, the toxin can produce Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). Biomagnification of domoic acid occurs throughout the food web, causing neurological disorders in birds and sea lions. Domoic acid outbreaks have been documented along the Pacific Coast of Washington since the early 1990s, and more recently in Puget Sound in 2003 and 2005.
Within the Center, I am a member of the Toxic Algae Project, which examines environmental, genetic, and physiological mechanisms controlling domoic acid toxicity of Pseudo-nitzschia. I am investigating the bacteria associated with these diatoms. Previous laboratory research has found enhanced toxicity of Pseudo-nitzschia in the presence of bacteria, but the nature of this interaction is not well characterized. I am using Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) to assess bacterial diversity and identify bacterial ecotypes associated with laboratory Pseudo-nitzschia cultures and field samples from Puget Sound. More broadly, I am interested in interactions that have evolved between marine phytoplankton and their attached bacteria.
Outside of my own schooling, I volunteer with the Seattle Girls' School, a middle school that emphasizes science, math, and technology through an integrated curriculum.
Publications
Wrabel, M.L. and Peckol, P. 2000. Effects of bioremediation on toxicity and chemical composition of No. 2 fuel oil: growth responses of the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40(2): 135-139.
Nathan Ahlgren
Graduate Student 2001-2008
Presently: Postdoctoral Researcher Dept. of Microbiology, UW
Education:
B.S. Biology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA (1999)
M.S. Biological Oceanography. University of Washington. Seattle, WA (2003)
Ph.D. Biological Oceanography. University of Washington. Seattle, WA (2008)
Research interests: Ecology and evolution of marine Synechococcus
Marine Synechococcus provide an excellent model to explore the mechanisms of differentiation in marine bacteria. This abundant group of cyanobacteria is found throughout the world's oceans, in both oligotrophic and coastal regimes and ranging from tropical to polar regions. Their ability to inhabit a wide range of habitats is attributed to the fact that this genus is comprised of several (at least 16) ecotypes--separate populations which which are genetically and physiologically distinct from each other. I am interested in understanding what physiological differences make these ecotypes distinct and the mechanisms that generate and maintain their coexistence.
More specific research interests:
- the importance of light physiology and nitrogen utilization in differentiation of marine Synechococcus ecotypes
- the role of periodic selective sweeps in the differentiation of marine Synechococcus ecotypes
- the distribution of ecotypes in various environments (with depth through the water column and across oligotrophic and coastal regimes)
Publications
Ahlgren, N. A. and G. Rocap. 2006. Culture isolation and culture-independent clone libraries reveal new marine Synechococcus ecotypes with distinctive light and N physiologies. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72: 7193-7204. PDF file (752 kb)
Ahlgren, N. A., G. Rocap, and S. W. Chisholm. 2005. Measurement of Prochlorococcus ecotypes using real-time polymerase chain reaction reveals different abundances of genotypes with similar light physiologies Environmental Microbiology 8: 441-454 PDF file (257 kb)
Rocap, G., F. W. Larimer, J. Lamerdin, S. Malfatti, P. Chain, N. A. Ahlgren, A. Arellano, M. Coleman, L. Hauser, W. R. Hess, Z. I. Johnson, M. Land, D. Lindell, A. F. Post, W. Regala, M. Shah, S. L. Shaw, C. Steglich, M. B. Sullivan, C. S. Ting, A. Tolonen, E. A. Webb, E. R. Zinser and S. W. Chisholm. 2003. Genome divergence in two Prochlorococcus ecotypes reflects oceanic niche differentiation. Nature 424: 1042-1047. PDF file (430 kb)
Supplementary Information (418 kb)
Mann, E. L., N. Ahlgren , Moffett, J. W., Chisholm, S. W. (2002) Copper toxicity and cyanobacteria ecology in the Sargasso Sea. Limnology and Oceanography 47(4): 976-988. PDF file (300 kb)
