By Emily Cyr Humans use lots of fertilizers in order to stimulate agricultural growth, but a lot of these fertilizers make their way into rivers, streams, and eventually to the ocean, where they pollute the environment with excess nitrogen. This
By Zaie Nursey This fall, I have had the opportunity to work in Senior Research Scientist Doug Rasher’s lab on developing a qPCR assay to detect green sea urchins in the water. The Gulf of Maine is a rich fishing
By Michael Staiger This fall, I worked with Research Scientist Nicole Poulton to investigate how the species of phytoplankton in water is changing. What are phytoplankton? In the ocean, phytoplankton are made up of lots of different tiny organisms that
By Manasi Desai Our blue beautiful ocean provides numerous benefits to our planet and all the organisms that live here. But it faces many environmental threats created by humans. Oil spills caused by oil rigs and tankers is one of
By Jennifer Gladstone Deep in the ocean off the coast of Oregon, there is an underwater mountain range called the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The rock of this ridge is the home of a newly discovered microbial phylum called Aminicenantes.
By Hannah McGrath Some species of phytoplankton produce harmful toxins that have consequences for the environment and ecosystems. One example of a phytoplankton that produces harmful toxins is a species called Karenia mikimotoi. When this species grows a lot it
By Eliza Goodell Climate change is rapidly warming our oceans and our atmosphere. One of the fastest warming places on the planet is the Arctic Ocean. In the Arctic Ocean, mini plants called phytoplankton are making their living from carbon
By Charis Li Imagine having a seaweed living inside a womb. This is the case in the fascinating symbiosis between green algae and spotted salamander, where the green algae not only exists in the egg capsule fluid but also in
By Ben Gustafson Phytoplankton are tiny organisms that are important to everything living in our oceans, including here in the Gulf of Maine. They get their energy from photosynthesis, provide oxygen for the oceans, and become food for many other
By Angela Biron Although it might not look like it, ocean water is full of tiny marine microorganisms! While most of these microbes are harmless, some can infect humans. One species of infectious, or pathogenic, marine bacteria found in the