Matthew Church

 

 

 

I am a biological oceanographer with general interests in understanding how the metabolism of microorganisms influences biogeochemical transformations in the sea. I currently employ various biogeochemical- and molecular biology-based techniques to examine variability in plankton population structure and metabolism. My research has largely focused on defining how ocean biology couples or decouples carbon and nitrogen cycles in the sea, and identifying processes that underlie spatial and temporal variability in linkages among these cycles. These interests have led to my involvement in the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program. A major component of my current research focuses on describing the ecology and biogeochemical significance of microbes involved in marine nitrification and N₂ fixation, including trying to decipher how perturbations in the ocean habitat affect the population structure of these organisms. We have recently begun conducting experiments to examine the sensitivities of naturally-occurring N₂ fixing microorganisms to perturbations in the seawater carbonate system with the hopes that this work will provide insight into how functionally important groups of microbes may respond to long-term changes to ocean ecosystems.