The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Ocean Sciences awarded a Project Grant totaling $690,714 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to conduct research on the direct measurement of in situ growth and growth limitation of bacterioplankton species in the ocean. The research is funded through the NSF Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), which supports basic research to expand fundamental knowledge and understanding of the integrated Earth system.
The key objective of this 3-year award is to use a novel microfluidics-based technology called Suspended Microchannel Resonator to precisely measure the mass and growth rates of individual microbial cells, including bacteria and archaea, in natural seawater samples. This data will help characterize how the mass and growth of diverse microbial species respond to environmental changes and how this translates to the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus globally. The project will also contribute to the academic training of students and postdoctoral scholars and produce science communication products for a broader audience.
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