Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE)

微生物海洋学中心：研究与教育 (C-MORE)

• 批准号: 0424599
• 负责人: David Karl
• 金额: $ 1896万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-08-01 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0424599&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Center; Microbial; Oceanography; Research; Education

More than half the biomass on Earth is made up of microorganisms: bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, unicellular algae and viruses. They are the most abundant and diverse forms of life on our planet and are the chief engineers of the global carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Paradoxically, microbes are also the life forms about which we know the least. Startling advances in environmental genomics and high performance computing are now enabling researchers to decipher the genetic code of entire communities of microorganisms. When coupled with advances in automated remote-controlled submersible technologies, this will make possible the deployment of genomic sensors to examine, with unprecedented resolving power, the properties and activities of microorganisms on our planet. The Center of Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE) headquartered at the University of Hawaii (UH) will bring together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and educators to focus on the identities, roles and impacts of microorganisms in the world's largest biome: the ocean. The center is to have four research foci: i) genomic, physiological and other aspects of microbial diversity; ii) the role of microbial metabolism in elemental cycling; iii) development and deployment of novel sensors and instruments for remote automated sampling and processing; and iv) computer simulation, modeling and forecasting of ecosystem processes. Oceanographic, microbiological, genomic, geochemical, informatic and computational methods will be the means through which these foci are integrated with one another via team studies of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. The result will be the first high resolution view of inter-dependent microbial lifestyles and processes that govern the flow of energy and elements in the ocean. C-MORE will integrate the four research themes and their objectives with a varied and diverse portfolio of education and outreach activities for students of all ages. The Center will push interdisciplinary collaboration between faculty, students and postdoctoral scientists in an accelerated fashion to train a new breed of microbial oceanographer, and will help to train teachers and develop curricula at the undergraduate and secondary education levels. Implementation of these activities is also designed to increase the number of students and teachers engaged in quantitative sciences and engineering, focusing on underrepresented groups in science, especially Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.The center will be led by a team of four marine microbial ecologists: David Karl, Sallie Chisholm, Edward DeLong and Jonathan Zehr. Another fourteen scientists and educators will be collaborators, covering biological, physical, geochemical and engineering aspects of oceanography as well as genomic, physiological and ecological aspects of microbiology. In addition to UH, co-PIs and collaborators represent five other institutions (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Oregon State University, University of California Santa Cruz and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). The consolidated efforts of the Center will drive research in microbial oceanography forward at a vastly accelerated rate. Automated remote and in situ sampling and sensing platforms, coupled with mathematical modeling will provide a template for future networks of microbial observing systems. These will provide the sort of information that science and society require to understand and manage our changing Earth system.

地球上的一半以上是由微生物组成的：细菌，古细菌，生物，真菌，单细胞藻类和病毒。 它们是我们地球上最丰富，最多样化的生命形式，是全球碳，氮和磷循环的首席工程师。 矛盾的是，微生物也是我们最不知道的生命形式。 环境基因组学和高性能计算的令人震惊的进步现在使研究人员能够破译整个微生物社区的遗传密码。 当加上自动遥控潜水技术的进步时，这将使基因组传感器的部署可以通过前所未有的解决能力，微生物在我们的星球上的特性和活动进行检查。 总部位于夏威夷大学（UH）的微生物海洋学研究与教育中心（C-MORE）将召集一个由科学家和教育工作者组成的多学科团队，专注于世界上最大的生物群体中微生物的身份，角色和影响海洋。 该中心将拥有四个研究重点：i）微生物多样性的基因组，生理和其他方面； ii）微生物代谢在元素循环中的作用； iii）开发和部署新型传感器和仪器，用于远程自动采样和处理；和iv）生态系统过程的计算机模拟，建模和预测。 海洋学，微生物学，基因组，地球化学，信息和计算方法将是通过北太平洋亚热带回旋的团队研究将这些焦点相互整合的手段。 结果将是控制海洋能量和元素的相互依赖性微生物生活方式和过程的第一个高分辨率视图。 C-More将将这四个研究主题及其目标与各个年龄段的学生的多样化和多样化的教育和外展活动组合在一起。 该中心将以加速的方式推动教师，学生和博士后科学家之间的跨学科合作，以培训新的微生物海洋学家，并将帮助培训教师并在本科和中学教育水平上发展课程。 这些活动的实施还旨在增加从事定量科学和工程的学生和教师的数量，重点是科学领域的代表性不足的群体，尤其是夏威夷人和其他太平洋岛民。该中心将由四个海洋微生物生态学家组成：David Karl，Sallie Chisholm，Edward DeLong和Jonathan Zehr。 另外14位科学家和教育者将是合作者，涵盖了海洋学的生物学，物理，地球化学和工程方面，以及微生物学的基因组，生理和生态方面。 除UH外，Co-Pis和合作者还代表其他五个机构（马萨诸塞州理工学院，蒙特雷湾水族馆研究所，俄勒冈州立大学，加利福尼亚大学圣克鲁斯分校和伍兹霍尔海洋学机构）。 该中心的合并工作将以极大的加速速度推动微生物海洋学的研究。 自动远程和原位采样和传感平台，再加上数学建模将为微生物观测系统的未来网络提供模板。 这些将提供科学和社会需要理解和管理我们不断变化的地球系统的信息。