MCB Program Start:
2020
Undergrad School:
University of Southern California
Undergrad Degree:
B.S. Environmental Studies, concentration in ocean sciences. Minor in Science Visualization
Undergrad Graduation Year:
2018
Research Advisor and Department:
Dr. Solange Duhamel, MCB
Research Topic:
Marine microbial communities are the foundation of our oxygenated Earth and continue to be key players in providing the oxygen we breathe today, as well as sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. While phosphorus (P) is essential for life, most of the open ocean surface waters contain little P. I'm interested in understanding how marine microbes are able to sustain growth in these low P environments, what forms of phosphorus are bioavailable to the individual communities, and how the addition of anthropogenically-made forms impact the survivability of the community.
Publications:
1. Duhamel S, Diaz JM, Adams JC, Djaoudi K, Steck V, Waggoner EM (2020). Phosphorus: an integral component of global marine biogeochemistry. Submitted; Nature Geosciences.
2. Waggoner EM, Duhamel S, Djaoudi K, Diaz JM. Dissolved Organic Phosphorus Utilization by Synechococcus. In prep for submission to Frontiers in Microbiology: Aquatic Microbiology.
3. Djaoudi K, Waggoner EM, Plummer S, Steffen R, , Diaz JM, Duhamel S. Bioavailability of representative dissolved organic phosphate compounds to microbial communities in the western North Atlantic. In prep.
Hobbies and Interests:
When I'm not at sea or in the lab, I'm found drawing, playing the piano, reading at a coffee shop or spending time with my family in Oregon.