A Healthy Ocean for Healthy
People
Robert R. Bidigare
HIMB
Photo by Brian Daniel
Objectives
• Climate Change Research
• Prevention & Cure of Human Disease
• Microalgae Food & Fuel Production
Research Team
• R. Bidigare, S. Brown, C. O’Kelly, H.
Trapido-Rosenthal , A. Messer, S. Rii,
D. Elsey, S. Christensen, R. Barlow,
L. Shinkoethe, J. Lyford & J. Nakaya
Climate Change Funding
• National Science Foundation. "Center for
Microbial Oceanography: Research and
Education (C-MORE)", 1 August 2006 - 31 July
2011. $ 18,960,000 (PI: D. M. Karl; CoResearcher: R. R. Bidigare)
• National Science Foundation. "Collaborative
Research: Hawaii Ocean Time-series:
Biogeochemistry and Ecology Component", 1
August 2003 - 31 July 2008. $4,324,580 (PI: D. M.
Karl; Co-PIs: R. R. Bidigare and J. E. Dore)
Oceans & Human Health Funding
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Foundation. "Discovery of
Pharmaceutical Lead Compounds from Marine
Organisms (OHHI)", 1 September 2004 - 31
August 2008. $766,692 (PI: R. R. Bidigare; CoPIs: T. K. Hemscheidt, and A. A. Yanagihara)
• National Institutes of Health/National Science
Foundation. "Core Facility for Culture and
Characterization of Marine Microbes (COHH)", 16
February 2004 - 31 December 2008. $1,032,524
(PI: R. R. Bidigare; Co-PIs: M. S. Rappé and S. L.
Brown)
Hawaii: Staph Central
Thornna kahuna
Renewable Energy Funding
• Department of Defense. "Renewable Bio-solar
Hydrogen Production from Robust Oxygenic
Phototrophs", 16 May 2005 - 15 May 2010.
$324,857 (PI: R. R. Bidigare; Co-PI: Susan L.
Brown)
• HR BioPetroleum & Shell Oil Company.
"Isolation and Characterization of Marine
Microalgae for Optimal Production of Biomass
and Lipid", 1 December 2007 - 20 November
2009. $1,970,000 (PI: R. R. Bidigare; Co-PIs: S.
L. Brown, C. J. O’Kelly and H. Trapido-Rosenthal)
HRBP-Shell Joint Venture:
Cellana
Research Highlights
• Bidigare, R. R., F. Chai, M. R. Landry, C. C. S. Hannides, S.
Christensen, D. M. Karl, R. Lukas and Y. Chao. 2008. Subtropical
ocean ecosystem structure changes forced by North Pacific climate
variations. Geophys. Res. Letters (in review)
• Hiscock, M. R., V. P. Lance, A. M. Apprill, R. R. Bidigare, Z. I.
Johnson, B. G. Mitchell, W. O. Smith Jr. and R. T. Barber. 2008.
Photosynthetic maximum quantum yield increases are an essential
component of Southern Ocean phytoplankton iron response. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (in press)
• Benitez-Nelson, C. R., R. R. Bidigare, T. Dickey, M. R. Landry, C. L.
Leonard, S. L. Brown, F. Nencioli, Y. M. Rii, K. Maiti, J. W. Becker, T.
S. Bibby, W. Black, C. Carlson, F. Chen, V. S. Kuwahara, C.
Mahaffey, P. M. McAndrew, P. D. Quay, M. S Rappé, K. E. Selph, M.
E. Simmons and E. J. Yang. 2007. Mesoscale eddies drive increased
silica export in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Science 316: 1017-1021.
Hawaiian Eddy Dynamics
Research Highlights
• Toledo, G., W. Green, R. A. Gonzalez, L. Christoffersen, M. Podar, H.
W. Chang, T. Hemscheidt, H. Trapido-Rosenthal, J. M. Short, R. R.
Bidigare and E. J. Mathur. 2006. Case Study: High throughput
cultivation for isolation of novel marine microorganisms.
Oceanography 19: 120-125.
• Cox, P. A., S. A. Banack, S. J. Murch, U. Rasmussen, G. Tien, R. R.
Bidigare, J. S. Metcalf, L. F. Morrison, G. A. Codd and B. Bergman.
2005. Diverse taxa of cyanobacteria produce b-N-methylamino-Lalanine, a neurotoxic amino acid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:
5074-5078.
• Buesseler, K. O., C. H .Lamborg, P. W. Boyd, P. J. Lam, T. W. Trull,
R. R. Bidigare, J. K.B. Bishop, K. L. Casciotti, F. Dehairs, M. Elskens,
M. Honda, D. M. Karl, D. Siegel, M. W. Silver, D. K. Steinberg, J.
Valdes, B. Van Mooy and S. Wilson. 2007. Revisiting carbon flux
through the ocean’s twilight zone. Science 316: 567-570.
Carbon Flux Dynamics in
the North Pacific Ocean
Future Directions
• National Institutes of Health. "Assessment of
BMAA Bio-magnification in SE US Wetland
Ecosystems and Potential Risks to Human
Health", 1 July 2008 - 30 June 2010. $374,840
(PI: R. R. Bidigare; Co-PI: B. N. Popp) - Pending
• National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. " Airborne Sensing of Oceanproductivity in Mesoscale Eddies (ASOME )", CoPI Council: W. Emery, J. Maslanik, T.A. Moisan,
G. Bland, M. Fladeland, M. Kahru, S. Brown, Z.
Johnson, K. Richards, R. Bidigare & W. Dudley NOI submitted