Degree: Ph.D., Biological and Environmental Sciences

Advisor: Bethany Jenkins

Research: I study diatoms — microscopic algae that are responsible for every fourth breath we take.  Like green land plants that we need to live and grow, diatoms are an important source of nutrients for marine organisms like whales and fish.  I am using molecular methods to describe two things that affect their role at the base of the ocean food web — how they cope with nutrient stress and how they respond to rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.