C.O.O.L. Card Brian

Number of research cruises / Number of different countries visited while on cruises / Number of SCUBA dives / Number of oceans swam in / Languages spoken
13 / 2 / 4 / 2 / 1.5

Brian is a really interesting scientist! He not only SCUBA dives, hikes and explores caves for fun, but also plays the orchestral harp (bet you don’t know many people who do that!) He went to college at Texas A&M and is now working on his doctorate at Rutgers University in New Jersey, which is very far away from his hometown of Austin, Texas. His favorite movie is the classic The Princess Bride and he loves to read science fiction. Brian cites not keeping up with learning a second language as one of his biggest academic regrets and wants to start working on his French again as soon as he finds the time. Brian’s research on microorganisms is fascinating and has taken him to the Gulf of Mexico eight times and the Sargasso Sea in Bermuda twice!

Brian develops and works with machinery that samples sea water and takes measurements of microorganisms. Brian is measuring the light production of the microorganisms and how hungry they are for certain types of food. He compares the microorganisms’ appetites to the measurements of salinity, water temperature, and food availability to see what factors have the greatest effect on the appetite of the microorganisms.

Brian’s work is extremely important because all of the ocean’s biology (that includes the fish you eat) is based on the abundance of these microorganisms. Both natural and man-made disturbances can cause changes in how organic matter (i.e. nutrients) is used in the ecosystem. The “Dead Zones” (vast areas filled with dead floating fish) in the ocean and harmful algal blooms, such as Red Tides, can be caused by changes in the use of organic matter by the microorganisms Brian studies.

Abstract:

Brian is a really interesting scientist! He not only SCUBA dives, hikes and explores caves for fun, but also plays the orchestral harp (bet you don’t know many people who do that!). Brian develops and works with machinery that samples sea water and takes measurements of microorganisms. Brian is measuring the light production of microorganisms and how hungry they are for certain types of food. Brian’s work is extremely important because all of the ocean’s biology (that includes the fish you eat) is based on the abundance of these microorganisms.