Laboratory for Microbial Oceanography:
General Information
The Laboratory for Microbial Oceanography is a research unit within
the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University
of Hawaii at Manoa. Professor David M. Karl
currently serves as unit Head and co-ordinates all activities in the
Laboratory. He also holds an appointment in the Department of
Oceanography where he performs his academic duties including teaching
and graduate student advising and an appointment in the SOEST Division
of Oceanic Biology where he currently serves in the capacity of
research oceanographer. Professor Karl has recently been appointed an
Affiliate Faculty member of the Bermuda Biological Station for
Research, Inc. A brief summary of the relevant organizational units and
a description of the research activities of the Laboratory for
Microbial Oceanography are presented below.
The University of Hawaii
The University of
Hawaii is a multi-campus system of post-secondary educational
institutions serving the State of
Hawaii. The University of Hawaii at Manoa, on the island of
Oahu, is the major comprehensive research campus with more than
24,000 students and is commonly referred to as UH-Manoa.
UH-Manoa, the founding campus of the system, began in 1907 as a
land-grant college of agriculture and mechanic arts called the
College of Hawaii. In 1912, the school moved to its permanent
location in Manoa Valley and with the addition of a College of Arts
and Sciences in 1920, it became the University of Hawaii. The
campus took its present name in 1972, to distinguish it from the
other units in the growing Statewide university system. Currently,
UH- Manoa is one of the few Universities in the country to have
been designated, Land-Grant, Sea- Grant and Space-Grant status.
Throughout its history, UH-Manoa has emphasized studies related
to the distinctive geographical and cultural setting of Hawaii. The
geographical location generates interest in oceanography, Asian and
Pacific studies and interdisciplinary studies of tropical
environments and resources. The physical characteristics of Hawaii
focus academic attention in such areas as tsunami research,
volcanology, astronomy and marine sciences. The State's
multi-racial culture and close ties to Asia create a favorable
environment for the study of various aspects of diverse cultural
systems, including but not limited to linguistics, genetics,
philosophy and interrace relations.
Currently more than 200 of the University's activities have an
international dimension. In addition, UH-Manoa ranks among the
leading American institutions of higher education in terms of
numbers of foreign scholars on its staff and foreign students
enrolled in its numerous colleges. In all, the University offers
course work leading to bachelor's degrees in 89 fields of study,
master's in 77, doctorates in 41, first professional degrees in law
and medicine, and a number of certificates.
The UH-Manoa campus is located on 300 acres of land in Manoa
Valley, a residential section close to the heart of metropolitan
Honolulu, the State capital. Easy access to the center of the
commercial, cultural and political life of Hawaii is an extra
benefit for students and staff.
The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
The University of Hawaii's
SOEST was founded in 1988 as an interdisciplinary academic unit
focusing on education and research in the earth and ocean sciences.
SOEST currently has about 170 faculty, 500 staff and an annual
operating budget of $48 million. Approximately one-third of these
funds are derived from the State of Hawaii. The University of
Hawaii is firmly committed to establish SOEST as one of the world's
leading academic institutions in multi-disciplinary research and
education on the oceans, the atmosphere and the solid earth. SOEST
is composed of faculty, staff and students from the Departments of
Oceanography, Meteorology
and Ocean Engineering and
the Joint Institute
of Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
(HIMB) and Hawaii Institute
of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP).
In line with the philosophy that education, especially graduate
education, and research are inseparable in University programs,
most SOEST faculty are also affiliated with one or more academic
Departments. In addition to traditional classroom instruction, a
large part of our students' education takes place in laboratories
and in the field. Approximately 200 graduate students and 40
undergraduate majors are currently enrolled in degree programs in
SOEST.
Current facilities within SOEST complement the previously
described, broad spectrum of research and educational programs. Of
relevance to this present proposal are the NASA Pacific Regional Satellite
Center and the excellent ocean design/engineering and ocean
support facilities that include modern machine shops and the
University's Marine
Expeditionary Center located in Honolulu Harbor. Marine
operations personnel, shops, laboratories, research vessel berthing
and shore support operations are all located on this 16.2-acre
State facility. The University of Hawaii currently operates three
ocean-going research vessels one of which, the R/V Kilo Moana, also
has UNOLS designation.
SOEST is strongly positioned to provide unique educational
opportunities to students interested in ocean sciences and the
effects of the ocean on global climate. Many of the SOEST faculty
are involved in large scale ocean programs such as WOCE, JGOFS, as
well as many multi-investigator atmospheric chemistry and tropical
meteorology programs.
The Department of Oceanography
The Oceanography
Department occupies most of the six-story Marine Science
Building on the UH-Manoa campus. This building, designed with input
from the faculty, represents a significant asset in the form of
laboratories and scientific facilities available to support our
educational programs. Marine scientists and students enjoy the
advantages of a mild tropical climate year-round, with easy access
to both shallow coral reefs and to deep ocean habitats. At the same
time they have available the technological and intellectual support
found in a large research university. In addition, our students
also interact with marine scientists and other personnel in the
Departments of Geology and Geophysics, Zoology, Botany,
Microbiology, and Ocean Engineering, in the Joint Institute for
Marine and Atmospheric Research and in the Hawaii Undersea Research
Laboratory.
In addition to the two ocean-going research vessels (R/V Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa and R/V
Kilo Moana), nearshore vessels are operated by the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics
& Planetology and the Hawaii Institute of Marine
Biology. A research submersible, Pisces V
with a 2000 m depth capability, operated under the aegis of HURL (Hawaii Undersea
Research Laboratory) is also available to all University of Hawaii
researchers on a proposal competitive basis. The submersible is
deployed from a dedicated tender, the 220 foot R/V Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa.
The Biological Oceanography Division of SOEST
The
Biological Oceanography Division is one of several major
research units of the Department of Oceanography. The Division
includes the following individuals and respective research
specialties:
- R. Bidigare, Division Head (phytoplankton ecology)
- J. Drazen (physiological ecology of deep-sea fishes, energetic
strategies, trophodynamics)
- R. Grigg (coral reef ecology, paleoecology, fisheries management)
- Z. Johnson (marine microbial ecology, molecular ecology of
phototrophs, microbial contributions to biogeochemical cycles)
- D. Karl (microbiological oceanography, microbial ecology,
biogeochemical cycles)
- C. Smith (benthic ecology)
- G. Steward (marine microbial ecology, molecular ecology of
viruses and bacteria, microbial contributions to biogeochemical
cycles)
- G. Wang (Marine fungal diversity and systematics, sponge
microbial diversity and ecology, reef microbial chemical ecology,
applied microbiological oceanography, marine biotechnology)
- R. Young (biology of cephalopods)
Funding for the Division is provided, in part, by the State of
Hawaii and by federally-funded research grants (primarily from the
Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, University of Hawaii Sea
Grant Program) awarded on a proposal competitive basis to
individual Division scientists.
The Laboratory for Microbial Oceanography
The Laboratory for Microbial Oceanography conducts basic
research on microbial inhabitants of the sea, including bacteria,
protozoans and unicellular algae. These studies range in scope from
the development of novel techniques to assess in situ microbial
biomass, activity and growth, to comprehensive field studies
designed to elucidate the mechanisms and rates of microbiological
cycling of C, N and P. The laboratory was founded by Dr. David M.
Karl in 1978 and has grown significantly in size and has
diversified in scope over the intervening years. In the past
two decades, the major field research foci have been: the investigation
of microbial processes at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, studies of
open ocean productivity and particle flux, studies of nutrient
dynamics and interdisciplinary investigations of Antarctica coastal
habitats. At present, our research efforts are supported by two
major NSF grants: (1) the Hawaii Ocean
Time-series (HOT) and (2) the Center for Microbial Oceanography:
Research and Education (C-MORE).
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