The School of Marine Sciences presents
Dr. David Emerson
Bigelow Laboratories
The broad scale use of molecular-based methods to monitor ecosystem processes is opening new insights into marine ecosystem communities and processes and how we study them. In simplest terms, the basis for these approaches focuses on the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) collected directly either from the water column or sediments to interrogate communities and populations from viruses to whales. I will talk about my own work on studying lithotrophic iron-oxidizing bacteria, and how the use of molecular approaches coupled to laboratory studies has helped us elucidate the ‘where’ and ‘who’ questions that are fundamental to understanding the ecology of these unique microbes. I will then shift to the larger context of using eDNA coupled with vital physical and chemical data integrated through big data analytics to potentially develop a new paradigm for how we approach studying ecosystem diversity. This latter work is the focus of the current NSF EPSCoR Track 1 proposal for the State of Maine.
Polycom availability with Darling Marine Center, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Bigelow Laboratories
Host: Heather Leslie
All School of Marine Science seminars are in Room 354, Aubert Hall at 11:00 a.m. on Fridays. Refreshments are available at 10:45 a.m. A voluntary brown bag lunch involving the speaker will follow the seminar to generate interdisciplinary discussions around the presented marine science topic.
For more information, contact Susan Brawley at brawley@maine.edu.