Upper ocean biogeochemistry
Ecology and Dynamics of Picophytoeukaryotes
Project Manager and Lead Scientist: Alexandra Z. Worden
Alexandra Worden’s very busy lab will continue studies on the factors that regulate the growth and carbon dioxide uptake of very small, single-celled algae in the ocean, and what is the ultimate fate of this biomass. Worden’s group will be using innovative techniques from microbiology to answer fundamental questions about the base of the marine food web. A centerpiece for this research in 2009 will be a research expedition on the Western Flyer to characterize the variability in the community from Monterey Bay to beyond the California Current.