Biology of Marine Systems Faculty

Through a variety of laboratory, field, and model based studies Harvard faculty and students investigate unique aspects of the biology of marine organisms, and explore their relationships with the chemical and physical environment of the ocean, from the surface to the deep ocean floor and its sedimentary layers. These organisms are uniquely interesting in their own right, and research in recent decades has demonstrated the significance of marine organisms, from the smallest microbes to the largest mammals, in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles.

OEB's programs in this area include ecology and physiological genomics, biogeography, and systematics as well as fluid dynamics of life in the marine environments. Organisms and habitats studied include microbial populations in deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities, plankton in oceanic and coastal waters, invertebrates in coastal and near-shore bottom habitats, and wide ranging marine vertebrates.

Colleen Cavanaugh

Colleen Cavanaugh

  • Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology
  • Associate of Leverett House

cavanaug@fas.harvard.edu
Cavanaugh Lab

 

Evolution Faculty Ecology Faculty Biodiversity & Systematics FacultyBiology of Marine Systems Faculty

Symbioses of bacteria in marine invertebrates from deep-sea hydrothermal vents, methane seeps, and coastal reducing sediments

Peter R. Girguis

Peter R. Girguis

  • Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

pgirguis@oeb.harvard.edu
Girguis Lab

Ecology Faculty Biomechanics Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyBiology of Marine Systems Faculty Physiology Faculty

 

 

Physiology and biochemistry of deep sea microorganisms, emphasis on carbon and nitrogen metabolism, to better understand their role in mediating local and global biogeochemical cycles; physiological relationships between microbes and animals in natural systems

George V. Lauder

George V. Lauder

  • Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Ichthyology
  • Curator of Ichthyology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • Professor of Biology

glauder@oeb.harvard.edu
Lauder Lab

Evolution Faculty Biomechanics Faculty Biodiversity and Systematics FacultyBiology of Marine Systems Faculty Physiology Faculty

Biorobotics and evolution of fishes