Marine microorganisms are the keepers of the biosphere, playing critical roles in carbon and nutrient cycles, marine food webs, and global climate regulation.

The Department of Marine Sciences has research emphases in:

> Phylogenetic and genetic diversity of marine bacteria (Hodson, Hollibaugh, Moran)

> Linking structure and function in microbial communities (Hodson, Hollibaugh, Joye, Moran, Yager, Zhang)

> Ecological genomics; genome sequencing of coastal bacterium Silicibacter pomeroyi and other marine bacterioplankton (Moran, Hollibaugh)

> Ecological interactions among marine viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton, and protozoa (Binder, Hodson, Yager)

> Marine nitrogen cycling (Hollibaugh, Joye)

> in situ microbial growth rate measurements (Binder)