Phycoerythrin Signatures in the Littoral Zone

I am interested in understanding how, and in what ways, the taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton affects ecosystem-level processes in the sea. I am particularly interested in the relationship between the optical environment and the distribution of phytoplankton with different light harvesting pigments. To this end, I have been working in collaboration with experts in remote sensing and ocean optics, toward the development of an “optical biogeography” for marine picoplankton, particularly different spectral forms of marine Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus. These are globally important organisms for which the long-term goal would be the development of optical signals that could be used to estimate their importance in a given region of the ocean using remote sensing.