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Promoting a mechanistic understanding of the chemical currencies in marine microbial ecosystems in the context of a changing planet and through increased participation in ocean sciences

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Click the picture to learn more about the Ruegeria pomeroyi digital microbe
Attendees of the Labile DOM Workshop received a tour of the facilities in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) in Athens, GA. Click the photo to learn more about the Workshop! Photo credit: Helen Harding
Katie Holloran (MIT/WHOI Joint Program PhD candidate within the Kujawinski lab) samples seawater from Vineyard Sound. Photo credit: Erin McParland, WHOI.
The R/V Atlantic Explorer (AE) typically resides next to BIOS in Ferry Reach, a waterway adjacent to BIOS that leads to the ocean. The AE takes frequent trips out to sea to collect samples for the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series (BATS) program. Image credit: Laura Gray, WHOI.
Gretchen Swarr, a Research Associate in the Kujawinski lab at WHOI, prepares metabolite extracts for liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Photo credit: Krista Longnecker, WHOI.
Co-cultures of model marine phytoplankton and bacteria serve as experimental systems for metabolite exchange. Image credit: Frank Ferrer-González.
A chain of the diatom genus Thalassiosira with a green marker of enzyme activity. The Dyhrman Lab, Columbia University.
The biogeochemistry autonomous underwater vehicle Clio is prepared for launch by Mike Jakuba and Eric Chan who work on the R/V Atlantic Explorer. Image credit: Mak Saito, WHOI.
Extracellular metabolite extracts from surface seawater (contained in vials with blue and white caps) are loaded into the mass spectrometer prior to analysis. Image credit: Laura Gray, WHOI.
Meren (MBL) collects water samples to study surface ocean microbes. Image credit: Evan Barba.

Mission Statement

lab

Jessika Fuessel (right) preparing surface ocean samples using red light to not wake up microbes in night-time samples, Evan Kiefl (left). Photo by Meren, MBL

One-quarter of carbon derived from photosynthesis on Earth cycles rapidly through a pool of seawater metabolites generated by the activities of microbes. These molecules help govern the global carbon cycle, provide life-supporting nutrients, and support the function of marine food webs that ensure a vital and healthy ocean.

The Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP) promotes a deeper understanding of the chemicals and chemical processes that underpin ocean ecosystems and the global carbon cycle by leveraging recent advances in analytical and data sciences, incorporating new ocean sampling technologies, using an open-science framework, and engaging educators and policy-makers.

Broadening Participation

 

Three people collect water from gray Niskin bottles attached to a rosette device while two people stand nearby and look over a sample sheet on a clipboard.

Guided by the water boss (in the teal shirt holding the clipboard), the students and postdocs gather around the rosette to sample water during a 2013 cruise to the South Atlantic Ocean.

C-CoMP is committed to enhancing racial, sexual, and gender representation in the ocean sciences. We are working to increase undergraduate retention and recruitment by establishing C-CoMP undergraduate and graduate research programs that (1) integrate academic, social, and professional development, and (2) provide opportunities to explore research as a career regardless of social identity. C-CoMP programs provide opportunities for underrepresented minority (URM) students to participate in authentic research experiences that address problems of societal relevance (e.g., Earth’s carbon cycle and climate system), leading to increased URM engagement and retention.

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Science and Education Themes

Education

Education & Diversity

Chemical-Currencies

Chemical currencies

Chemical-Network

Chemical-microbial networks

earth

Feedbacks to climate

C-CoMP Institutions are depicted in the map above.

In the News

JANUARY 10, 2023
Bridge-to-PhD program at WHOI opens doors for new scientists
Oceanus

JUNE 9, 2022
WHOI-led projects receive UN endorsement as part of Decade of Ocean Science
WHOI News Release

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
NSF grant will support deeper understanding of ocean ecosystems
Boston College News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
UVA to Play Leading Role in New NSF Center to Study the Ocean, Climate Change
University of Virginia, UVA Today

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
NSF announces new sci-tech center to study ocean chemical-microbe network and climate change
WHOI News Release

Award Information and Disclaimer

 

C-CoMP is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center (Award # 2019589) that is based at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website are those of C-CoMP and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.