We have a new lab member - Emily Kracht! Emily graduated from UF in Spring 2021 with degrees in Chemistry & Anthropology. During her undergraduate research at the Florida Museum, she used mass spec tools to analyze ceramics from Caribbean regions. We are thrilled for her to apply her MS knowledge and chemistry background to the world of marine metabolites! Welcome!

Two marine metabolomics manuscripts led by UW colleagues Angie Boysen and Katherine Heal were published in mSystems this month! Boysen et al., show diel oscillations in particulate metabolites consistent with day-night photosynthetic and redox cycles. Heal et al., show how changes in phytoplankton taxonomy shape particulate metabolites along a latitudinal gradient in the North Pacific.  

Ashley has received a 2021 University Scholars Award. Her research project is titled "Determining Preferential Conditions for Phytoplankton Photosynthetic Cycles" where she'll be looking into the relationship between nitrogen metabolism and photochemistry in marine phytoplankton. Congrats!

Graduating senior Mardeliz Martinez has been accepted to Florida State University's Biology graduate program. Starting in August, she’ll be working in their Ecology and Evolution Group with Dr. Scott Burgess on coral biology. Congrats!

Does this image of the timsTOF fleX mass spec excite you!? Keep reading... we are looking for a Research Technician who has interests/experience in LC-MS metabolomics. The technician will operate instruments such as this one and help carry out projects focused on microbial interactions and metabolism. More details about the position can be found here. 

Coesel & collaborators through the Simons Foundation SCOPE-Aloha Program have published a new study in PNAS on light sensing in microbial eukaryotes. Using transcriptomes from microbial cultures and metatranscriptomes from the North Pacific surface ocean, Coesel et al. unveil the diversity of light-sensing elements and photoreceptors used by eukaryotic plankton in the open ocean. Ultimately, these receptors synchronize and stabilize plankton patterns of growth, division, metabolism, and mortality within the dynamic ocean environment.

Over the past month, we have made a slow and staged return back into the lab. Much of our time has been spent working with colleagues in ICBR to get the new LC-MS system installed and up-and-running through remote instruction and training. Check out the story by UF Research.

​During the #ShutDownAcademia #ShutDownSTEM #Strike4BlackLives and #Academics4BlackLives movements, we spent time confronting and reflecting on the historical and systemic racism faced by Black people in our world and in our in educational system. To make the beliefs of our lab group explicit for current and future members, we have written a statement on our diversity, equity, and inclusion values and our commitment to continuous ally-ship.