Postdoc Job Announcement

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT! POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITION AT SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UCSD – BIOLOGY SECTION Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO, http://scripps.ucsd.edu) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) invites applications for a full-time Postdoctoral Researcher to work with an interdisciplinary research team focused on the topic of Kelp Forest Ecology, Ecophysiology, Carbon Cycling and Sequestration Potential. The incumbent will … Read More

Smith Lab participates in first-annual (virtual) California Seaweed Festival

Smith Lab will be involved in the first-annual “California Seaweed Festival” taking place virtually from Nov. 16-21, 2020. This is a free event bringing together scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, farmers, and seaweed-enthusiasts alike to celebrate the importance, diversity, and beauty of seaweeds. Professor Jennifer Smith will be a panelist for Seaweed Science; staff member Brant Chlebowski will be presenting on Seaweed as Food, and PhD … Read More

Cow burps & the scientists waging war against them, featured in WIRED

Dr. Jen Smith was recently interviewed and featured in a WIRED article where she discussed how her work learning to cultivate Asparagopsis taxiformis in the lab will help Californian dairy farmers to cut emissions by 2030. The article mentions her work with Elm Innovations and introduces a multitude of scientific methods currently being explored by scientists worldwide to reduce methane emissions by the livestock … Read More

The Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series: Food, Feed, & Climate Change

Dr. Jennifer Smith and lab staff researcher, Brant Chlebowski, presented a joint lecture for the Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series at Birch Aquarium. In their talk entitled, “Food, Feed, & Climate Change: Emerging Opportunities for Shore Based Seaweed Aquaculture,” they discuss the recent innovations in shore-based aquaculture and the great potential it has to change the … Read More

UCSD Research highlight: “Usurp the Burp”

This week Dr. Jen Smith’s research was featured by the UC San Diego News Center, highlighting her recent collaboration with agricultural scientists at UC Davis. Dr. Smith is researching methods of cultivation of Asparagopsis taxiformis, a red seaweed that has been discovered to reduce methane emissions from cow burps in studies conducted at UC Davis. She’s also working with scientists at … Read More

Smith lab and colleagues publish new paper looking at microbes on coral reefs

Global microbialization of coral reefs Abstract: Microbialization refers to the observed shift in ecosystem trophic structure towards higher microbial biomass and energy use. On coral reefs, the proximal causes of microbialization are overfishing and eutrophication, both of which facilitate enhanced growth of fleshy algae, conferring a competitive advantage over calcifying corals and coralline algae. The proposed mechanism for this competitive … Read More

Published Results on Invasive Algae in San Diego

Smith Lab members Niko Kaplanis and Jill Harris recently published the results of their San Diego County non-native algae research project conducted between 2012 and 2014. This work documented patterns of establishment, spread, and persistence for two non-native algal species in San Diego county and analyzed this invasion in the larger geographic context of the entire Pacific Coast of North … Read More

A Tropical Oasis for Global Change Research

Just back from her latest research excursion, PhD student Maggie Johnson talks about her experience at Palmyra Atoll, an amazing research opportunity for any marine biologist. Read more to find out why!

Working with Birch Aquarium to Educate on Algae!

PhD students Emily Kelly & Maggie Johnson spent the afternoon with various aquarists and teachers at the Birch Aquarium for a workshop about local and tropical algal species that can be found at Birch Aquarium.