Research

Post-Doctoral Research Project 

As a NOSAMS postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, I am leading the research project, Tracking mixoplanktonic grazing and carbon flow using natural abundance radiocarbon as a source tracer, that was selected through a WHOI internal proposal process.

My objectives within the project

1. To quantify the relative contributions of autotrophy (photosynthesis) and heterotrophy (phagocytosis) to mixoplanktonic growth.

2. To determine whether mixotrophic nutrition enhances nutrient transfer efficiency to higher trophic levels compared to purely autotrophic or heterotrophic nutritional modes.

Doctoral Research Project 

As part of Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) 19: Life and Death of Karenia brevis Blooms in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, my doctoral research focused on nitrogen (N) and temperature effects on metabolism of mixotrophic dinoflagellate Karenia spp. on the West Florida Shelf.

My objectives within the project

1. To determine N uptake rates and photosynthesis-irradiance responses of cultured and natural Karenia populations under different temperature (15, 20, 25, 30°C or 15, 25, 30, 33°C) and N forms (nitrate, ammonium, urea).

2. To establish rates of growth and feeding of cultured and natural K. brevis populations on Synechococcus with different qualities (N:P balanced, N- or P-limited) or under different temperatures (ambient-5°C, ambient, ambient +5°C) as well as associated changes in photophysiology of grazers and prey.

Publications

1. Shining light on photosynthesis in the harmful dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi–Responses to short-term changes in temperature, nitrogen form, and availability. Phycology 2(1):30-44. 

2. Dynamic photo-physiological responses of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis to short-term changes in temperature and nitrogen substrates. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Harmful Algae, 52 pp. 

3. In hot water: Interactions of temperature, nitrogen form and availability and photosynthetic and nitrogen uptake responses in natural Karenia brevis populations. Harmful Algae 129:102519.

4. Temperature-dependent mixotrophy in natural populations of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Water 16: 555.

5. Impact and nutritional history, prey quality and quantity on grazing and photophysiological responses in mixoplanktonic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Limnology and Oceanography

Masters' Research Project

As part of Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS), my master's resarch focused on investigating the biochemical compositions (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids) of particulate organic matter (POM) collected from the euphotic zones in the Laptev and Western East Siberian seas

My objectives within the project

1. To evaluate the main source of POM and the biochemical compositions of POM.

2. To investigate how the biochemical composition of POM was linked to physico-chemical and biological parameters.

Publications

1. The biochemical compositions of phytoplankton in the Laptev and East Siberian seas during the summer of 2013. Polar Biology 42:133-148.

2. Fluvial influence on the biochemical compositions of particulate organic matter in the Laptev and East Siberian seas during 2015. Marine Environmental Research 155:104873.