Project Grant 2407237

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $339,172 Project Grant under its Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) to the University of Vermont & State Agricultural College (UVM) for a 2-year project titled "A Holobiont Approach to Rapid Thermal Evolution Using an Emerging Copepod Model System". The project will investigate how the microbiome of the copepod Acartia tonsa, a key component of marine food webs, mediates its response to thermal stress caused by climate change. The research aims to: 1) characterize the microbial composition of A. tonsa populations and how it changes under elevated temperatures and probiotic treatments, 2) assess the fitness impacts on A. tonsa under thermal stress and determine if probiotics can mitigate these effects, and 3) link the functional potential of the copepod's microbiome to host genetic responses to thermal stress. This study will provide foundational data on the role of the microbiome in the thermal resilience of copepods, which are facing mass die-offs due to ocean warming, with implications for marine ecosystem management.