Marine Microbial Ecology

Our research focuses on the genetic basis of bacterial carbon and sulfur cycling in the ocean, with the goal of understanding the role of marine bacteria in the productivity of the ocean and the formation and flux of climatically active gases. Tools from molecular microbial ecology and ecological genomics are used to explore bacterial processes and their regulation in seawater.

Current projects are investigating phytoplankton-derived metabolites that support bacterial formation in the surface ocean; factors affecting the efficiency of labile organic carbon processing by heterotrophic bacteria; and the ecological interactions of bacteria that inhabit the ‘phycosphere’, the nutrient-enriched area surrounding living phytoplankton cells.

Mary Ann Moran stands with a group of eight additional lab members outside of the Marine Sciences building at UGA Athens campus. The group is gathered around a black sign with white lettering that reads “Marine Sciences, 1030, Department of Marine Sciences, Marine Institute, 325 Sanford Drive”. There are green plants growing at the base of the sign, and there is a tree with green leaves in the background.