Marchetti Lab

Volume 20 Issue 1 | The ISME Journal | Oxford Academic

Congratulations to Margarita and Morgan Pavelsky who’s image of the diatom Corethron isolated from the Galápagos Islands is the new face of the ISME journal.

academic.oup.com/ismej/issue/...

UNC researchers set sail for the Galapagos | UNC-Chapel Hill Thanks to the National Science Foundation and the Galapagos Science Center, Professors Adrian Marchetti and Harvey Seim led colleagues and students on a research trip to study the Galapagos marine eco...

A bit of a write-up about our research cruise in the Galapagos last summer.

www.unc.edu/posts/2026/0...

Congrats to Margarita who successfully defended her MSc thesis today! Margarita investigated growth and nutrient kinetics in a variety of phytoplankton species she isolated from the Galapagos Archipelago. Turns out size really does matter…in phytoplankton I mean.

Meredith's new paper in Journal of Phycology explores how the small chlorophyte Micromonas from the Northeast Pacific Ocean can contribute to carbon export and it's response to iron limitation.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

www.instagram.com/reel/DOhVW6I...

Drivers of Marine Phytoplankton Diversity and Connectivity in the Galápagos Archipelago Spanning an ENSO Cycle To investigate phytoplankton community responses to ENSO cycles, correlation network analysis was used to identify clusters of co-occurring protists and link them to environmental variables. Resultin....

Prisca’s paper examines how different environmental conditions in the waters of Galapagos Archipelago across ENSO cycles shape phytoplankton communities.

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Phytoplankton Exhibit Diverse Responses to Different Phases of Upwelling in the California Current System Through a combination of environmental, molecular and physiological measurements, this study characterised divergent responses of phytoplankton assemblages between early and late upwelling stages. Im....

Johnson’s paper examines the molecular and physiological responses of phytoplankton in different phases of upwelling in the California Current System.

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Distinct iron acquisition strategies in oceanic and coastal variants of the mixotrophic dinoflagellate Karlodinium Abstract. The availability of the micronutrient iron is important in regulating phytoplankton growth across much of the world’s oceans, particularly in the

Se Hyeon’s paper examines iron acquisition strategies in coastal and oceanic isolates of the dinoflagellate Karlodinium.

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

In the past few months we have published three papers from the lab, which I will subsequently describe. Congrats to Se Hyeon, Johnson and Prisca for getting these papers across the finish line. I’m super lucky to have had the opportunity to work with these great scientists!

Looking forward to our research cruise starting on July 30 on the R/V Marcus Langseth related to our NSF-funded project. Mobilization in San Diego was a success. Ship is now en route to the Equatorial Pacific!

It was great to catch up with Raquel and Jason in Victoria, BC. The Marchetti Lab will miss you Raquel! Safe travels.

Nature: US senators poised to reject Trump’s proposed massive science cuts Committee gives first hint that policymakers might preserve, rather than slash, funding for US National Science Foundation and other agencies.

DO NOT GIVE UP!

Our advocacy is working.

A key Senate committee has indicated that it will reject Trump’s proposed cuts to science agencies including NASA and the NSF.

Keep speaking up and calling your electeds 🗣️🗣️🗣️

We call this Margarita cubed. Margarita eating a Margherita pizza while drinking a Margarita. A toast to Raquel who will be moving on from the Marchetti Lab very shortly. We wish her all the best!

Check out Margarita’s chemostat setup to examine shifts in nutrient quotas in Galapagos diatoms throughout diel cycles. She will be sampling every three hours over the next two days!! 🥱

We had an amazing group of undergraduates in the Marchetti Lab this year. Their research spanned the globe from the Southern Ocean to the Galapagos. Thanks a bunch to Cammie, Abby1, Abby2 and Ankit. They all put in a ton of hours in the lab and are now moving on to bigger and better places!

Congrats to undergraduate researcher Cammie Zehner who presented her research conducted with Emily Speciale on phytoplankton dynamics in the California Current upwelling zone at the EMES symposium!

Does US science have a future in Antarctica? Trump cuts threaten to cancel fieldwork and more Funding for the National Science Foundation, which finances research at US bases on the icy continent, has already been reduced, and the agency faces steeper cuts soon.

The US has three bases in Antarctica. Besides the important science done there, they're a proxy for geopolitical power. China just built its fifth base in Antarctica, so if the US pulls back, guess who will take over?

NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.

This cut is “a heartbreaker”, says Rob Denton, a biologist at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, who has previously reviewed applications for the fellowship.

https://go.nature.com/3Yp58Sh

Congrats to Emily who successfully defended her MSc thesis on the effects of iron on mixotrophy in the California Upwelling Zone!

Had a great time at #ASLO25 with @unc-emes.bsky.social & @marchettilab.bsky.social talking all things marine 🌊

NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office The reasons aren’t clear—and the agency’s director claims the president’s policies haven’t slowed grant awards

The number of new grants handed out by the National Science Foundation since President Donald Trump took office has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the same 2-month period 1 year ago. scim.ag/42dCJjc

Great work, EMES presenters and session organizers!
@flane.bsky.social @zepernickbn.bsky.social

The dynamic duo of Margarita and Abby presenting their research on phytoplankton dynamics in the Galapagos at ASLO in Charlotte NC. #ASLO25

Taller members of the Marchetti Lab presenting their massive research findings at ASLO in Charlotte NC. #ASLO25. Go Emily!

More carbon dioxide in oceans could harm carbon-eating microbes, speed climate change Increased ocean acidity could reduce populations of phytoplankton more than previously thought

Definitely something we need to pay attention to. www.science.org/content/arti...

Smaller members of the Marchetti Lab presenting massive research findings at the Aquatic Sciences meeting in Charlotte NC @aslo.org. Go Raquel!

These US labs risk imminent closure after Trump cuts US researchers who must forage for their own salary by finding grants fear they will be the first to go as federal research dollars disappear.

“The general public thinks that if you’re a college professor, you get paid by the school,” says Zoe McElligott, who studies neural circuits at a state university. But for 'soft money' faculty members, that’s not the case.

https://go.nature.com/4jcrDSA

Gordon Research Conference in Polar Marine Science 2025 was a success! Had a great time discussing all things related to sea ice & proton-pumping rhodopsins, and made new friends along the way. Looking forward to the next one!

This is truly astonishing and frightening at the same time.

The 10 largest contributors to historical CO2 emissions*

*fossil emissions only, not including land use.

From one of our data insights this week: ourworldindata.org/data-insight...