TITLE: Director of Environmental Virology
ACADEMIC INSTITUTION: The J. Craig Venter Institute

 

What is your role in Extreme 2008? 
I am a Co-Investigator, along with Craig Cary and Eric Wommack (Principal Investigator) on the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded grant titled “Metagenomic Exploration of Virus-Host Interactions in Deep-Sea Diffuse-Flow Hydrothermal Vents.”  I will be participating in Extreme 2008 from dry land, eagerly awaiting the outcomes of our collection activities and experiments from the viral research team on board the Atlantis and providing feedback and suggestions as the cruise progresses.  Lisa Zeigler and Doug Fadrosh, two research associates that are a part of my group at JCVI, will be active components of the viral research team on board Atlantis.

What questions are you trying to answer and why?
We have been fortunate to be funded by NSF to study viruses in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.  Microbes form the biological foundation of hydrothermal vent ecosystems, and viruses are known to be top predators of microbes in practically every aquatic environment examined.  Viruses also shuttle genes between microbial host cells (known as horizontal gene transfer) and can significantly impact the cycling of nutrients in an environment.   

We know very little about the diversity of hydrothermal vent viruses or how these viruses influence the ecology, evolution, and adaptation of the hosts (primarily microbes) they infect.  Specifically, we will use metagenomic approaches to assess the diversity of hydrothermal vent viruses and microbes and examine the collective gene inventory of vent viral populations.  Additionally, our metagenomic approaches will also allow us to assess patterns of microbial host preference among viruses with different replication strategies (who infects who?).

Why is this research important?  What are the benefits?
Microbial research has been conducted on hydrothermal vents since their discovery in the late 1970s.  We have learned a tremendous amount about vent microbial diversity, metabolism, and symbiotic potential through these research efforts.  However, viruses are the “missing link” to gaining a more comprehensive understanding of vent ecosystem structure and function.  Viruses’ genomes are also rich with novel genes, genes that share no similarity with those that have been previously characterized.  We have reasons to believe that vent viral genomes significantly contribute to the largest pool of unexplored novel genes on our planet.      

What’s your background, and what lured you into marine science/education?
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to work in the field of marine science.  I think it has something to do with all of the summer days that my sister and I spent with my grandparents at the Jersey shore, either deep-sea fishing on their small boat or spending countless hours on the beach swimming and bodysurfing the waves. 

Following graduation from high school in 1993, I attended the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and received my bachelor of science degree in marine biology in 1996.  I participated in undergraduate research activities studying dolphin signature whistles, but it was microbiology that really caught my attention.  Following graduation from college, I took a break from my studies before returning to graduate school at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, in 1999. 

Under the direction of my adviser, John Paul, I was adopted into the small, yet rapidly growing field of marine virology and my fascination (and slight obsession) with marine viruses blossomed almost instantaneously.  I graduated from USF with a Ph.D. in marine science, focusing on biological oceanography, in 2003.  I immediately joined Eric Wommack’s lab as a postdoctoral research fellow and began studying viruses in deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems, which has been truly fascinating! 

I joined the J. Craig Venter Institute in 2005 as an investigator and the director of environmental virology where I continue to pursue deep-sea viral research (among other viral-related efforts).  I have participated in three Atlantis cruises to date and look forward to more in the future!