EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Using Metabolomics to Listen in on Marine Microbial Interactions

This Research Infrastructure Improvement EPSCoR Research Fellows project provides a fellowship to an Associate Professor and training for a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This work is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Julia Kubanek at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Through the fellowship, the PI will investigate how interactions between marine microbes—specifically, between single-cell predators and their phytoplankton prey—affect the production of chemical compounds that influence ocean ecosystems. The project combines marine biology, chemical ecology, and metabolomics to determine how different predator and prey species affect the types of compounds released. The outcomes will improve understanding of nutrient and carbon cycling in the ocean and provide insights into microbial food web dynamics. Beyond research, the project will expand expertise in advanced chemical analysis at UNH, enhance STEM training opportunities, and workforce development. This project will investigate the role of heterotrophic protist grazing in shaping the metabolite landscape of marine microbial communities, with a focus on understanding how prey and grazer diversity influence excreted metabolite profiles. The research will advance our understanding of microbial chemical interactions and nutrient cycling within the ocean’s microbial loop, contributing to broader knowledge of ocean biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. The project employs controlled laboratory grazing experiments using model protist and phytoplankton species, followed by untargeted metabolomic analysis using high-resolution mass spectrometry. Metabolites will be extracted via solid-phase extraction and analyzed through molecular networking and database comparison. This work will expand the PI’s expertise in the emerging field of marine metabolomics, provide interdisciplinary training for a graduate student, and leverage new campus instrumentation. Activities integrate with broader efforts in research expansion, curriculum development, and the creation of a metabolomics working group to support workforce development and institutional collaboration. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Fellows, which supports early- and mid-career investigators in eligible jurisdictions to develop collaborations at the nation’s private, government or academic research institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.