biological oceanography in the school of ocean and earth science and technology at the university of...
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Biological Oceanography in the School of Ocean and Earth
Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii
BOD Faculty: Bienfang, Church, Drazen, Huntley, Johnson, Karl, Kemp, Selph, Smith, Steward, Waller, Wang, Weng
Biological Oceanography in SOEST
Biological oceanographers seek to understand how biology influences and responds to the ocean habitat and environmental variability.
Breadth of biological oceanography research and education conducted at UH spans subcellular to ecosystems scales, including everything from viruses to whales.
There is enormous potential for growth in the field, and our proximity to the sea provides SOEST with strategic opportunities.
0.1 m 1.0 m 10 m 100 m 1 mm 1 cm 10 cm 1 m 10 m
Viruses Bacteria Phytoplankton Zooplankton Nekton Fish Whales
Research spanning >9 orders of magnitude…
Mycoplankton
Mesopelagic biology and ecology
Abyssal sediments
Bathypelagic ecology
Across Diverse Ocean Habitats
Epipelagic biology and ecology Corals, sponges, benthic ecology
PD
O a
nd
ME
I in
dic
es
-2
0
2
AL
OH
A S
ST
(oC
)
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Year
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06
AL
OH
A M
LD
an
om
aly
-1
0
1
PDO MEI
89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05
Q1. What are the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems?
Positive phase Negative phase
Q2. What is the biodiversity of the ocean and how is it related to ecosystem function?
Year
95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
# c
om
ple
ted
gen
om
es s
eq
uen
ce
d0
100
200
300
400
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600
TotalMarine
Wealth of information emerging on ecosystem diversity
Oceanographers need to assimilate this information to better understand ecosystem processes such as metabolism, predator-prey interactions, physiological tolerances, etc.
Q3. How are humans affecting marine
ecosystems?88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06
pC
O2
(µatm
)
280
300
320
340
360
380
88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06
pH
(to
tal
scale
, in
sit
u T
)
8.04
8.06
8.08
8.10
8.12
8.14
8.16
Air
Sea
pCO2
pH
Let’s have the ahi. It’ll be extinct soon.
Decline in fish stocks(Myers and Worm; Nature 2003)
Marine pollution and debris
Invasive species in Hawaiian waters
Q4. How do the oceans impact human health?
Ala Wai Sewage Spill
V. vulnificus
Q5. What are the potential applications of aquatic ecosystems and/or
organisms for biotechnolgy?
Green Alga Hydrogen Production
Biological oceanography from molecular to ecosystem
scales