Videos

Drawn to the Sea: Florida Women in Marine Science

As part of my L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship, I developed this short documentary about women in Florida pursuing careers in Marine Science. This project was really a lot of fun for me, as I toured the state and interviewed almost a dozen different women. Each had a unique story and each is pursuing marine science in her own way. I hope this video inspires young women to become the future generation of marine scientists.

Dive highlights from Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

A brief biographical sketch of my work in marine microbiology

This biographical sketch was produced as part of my 2015 award from L’Oréal USA For Women in Science.

Microbes involved in coral health and disease

My current work focuses on shifts in coral microbiota associated with Black Band Disease, a disease that affects many different species of reef-building corals. Here is a trailer for the online seminar I gave in November 2014 about my current work and a link to the MicroSeminar: Microbe-microbe interactions and the role of nutrients in coral disease.

Be sure to check out other cutting-edge microbial ecology talks at the MicroSeminar site.

Did you know there is an ocean under the ocean?

The cold, oceanic crustal aquifer is one of the largest ecosystems on Earth, yet little is known about its indigenous microorganisms. Seawater enters the aquifer through porous, exposed basaltic rocks in the upper layers of young oceanic crust, circulates underneath sedimented seafloor and is later discharged in other regions of exposed basaltic crust. During its residence beneath the ocean floor, seawater undergoes both biotic and abiotic transformations that may impact global biogeochemical cycles. Recently installed subseafloor observatories on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge penetrate hundreds of meters into the crust and provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate microbial life in this understudied realm. For the C-DEBI Networked Speaker Seminar, I presented our initial findings from the first microbiological and geochemical characterization of low-temperature basaltic formation fluids, as part of a series of related studies documenting the progression of borehole equilibration. Our results revealed an active and diverse bacterial community in the crustal aquifer engaged in both heterotrophy and autotrophy.

Want to know more about how and where these samples were collected? Check out the award-winning documentary on North Pond (available for free online).

Last but not least, check out the awesome FREE downloadable kids’ (of all ages) book about finding microbes in the deep sub-seafloor: