Biological Oceanography
Margaret Mars Brisbin
Margaret Mars Brisbin
Assistant Professor
Biological Oceanography
Ph.D. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Japan)
Office Phone: 727.553.1106
Email: mmarsbrisbin@usf.edu
CV: View PDF
Research: Interactions between marine microbes, microbial symbioses, phytoplankton
community dynamics in coastal and open ocean systems, harmful algal blooms, extreme
events
Specialties: Microbiology, Phytoplankton ecology, Meta 'omics, Bioinformatics
My research takes advantage of high-throughput RNA and DNA sequencing as well as high-throughput
imaging and high-resolution microscopy to study how marine microbes interact with
each other and respond to different environmental conditions. I am especially interested
in how interactions between the smallest organisms in the ocean influence large-scale
ecosystem processes like primary production, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration.
Current work focuses on how specific relationships between bacterial communities and
different phytoplankton species influence phytoplankton bloom dynamics. For example,
how does terrestrial nutrient loading interact with nutrient production by phytoplankton
microbiome communities to determine which phytoplankton species is able to bloom?
Moreover, how will climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme
events (e.g., hurricanes and heat waves) alter phytoplankton microbiomes and phytoplankton
community dynamics? I aim to investigate these topics and questions in primarily coastal
systems from pole to pole, including locally in Florida ecosystems. Other research
interests include endosymbiosis, kleptoplasty, and plastid evolution.