Biological Oceanography

Biological Oceanography (Brand, Cowen, Hitchcock, Ortner, Smith, Sponaugle) focuses on interactions of planktonic organisms with each other and their environment, concentrating on factors regulating population growth and mortality. Research covers phytoplankton and zooplankton through larval and juvenile fishes.  Field and laboratory studies define how organisms respond to environmental variables such as temperature, salinity, and nutrients, and how they function in pelagic food webs. Interdisciplinary collaborative studies investigate dynamics of toxic phytoplankton blooms, growth and survival of copepods and larval fishes, bio-physical dynamics of transport, and the processes underlying the ecological connectivity of marine populations, as well as responses to climate change and ocean acidification.