The Center for Microbial Oceanography (C-MORE) is a research and education organization established in 2006 as a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

funded Science and Technology Center.

Objectives

It has been said that more is known about the surface of the moon than about the Earth’s oceans. C-MORE was designed to explore the largely unknown world of

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

in the sea and to educate the public and other scientists about these organisms. The motto of the center is “From genomes to

biomes A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

” meaning that the researchers want to look at how the

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

of microbes in the ocean influences the

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such a ...

and

function Function or functionality may refer to: Computing * Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards * Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system * Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...

of the world’s largest biome, the ocean.

Background

The center was initially proposed, and is now directed by Professor

David Karl David Michael Karl (May 9, 1950) is an American microbial biologist and oceanographer. He is the Victor and Peggy Brandstrom Pavel Professor of Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Director of the University Cente ...

, of the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...

. C-MORE has affiliated researchers working at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

, the

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. MBARI was founded in 1987 by David Packard, and is primarily funded by the David and Lucile Packard Founda ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

, the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the ed ...

, the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, i ...

, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. C-MORE is the only one of NSF’s 17 Science and Technology Centers that focuses on microbial oceanography.

Research

C-MORE scientists want to understand biological processes that begin at microscopic scales and are expressed in vitally significant issues such as

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Areas of research range from

genomic Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

surveys, to studies of the genetic basis of marine microbial

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the cryosphere ...

to building ecosystem models. One of the strengths of the Center is its seagoing capability, as well as the long term studies that have been conducted by the

Hawaii Ocean Time-series The Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program is a long-term oceanographic study based at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 2015, the American Society for Microbiology designated the HOT Program's field site Station ALOHA (A Long-Term Oligotrophi ...

(HOT) Program in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In addition to extensive laboratory experimentation, C-MORE also stages cruises to examine marine microbes in their environment. One example was the SUPER HI-CAT cruise, which was the first effort to study the microbiology associated with the plastic particles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Education

C-MORE is active in increasing

scientific literacy Scientific literacy or science literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy is chiefly concerned with an understanding ...

about microbial oceanography among the general population, as well as training microbial oceanographers. C-MORE has undergraduate internships as well as a summer graduate training course
the Agouron Course
. C-MORE also provides resources for K-12 educators, such as training workshops, science kits, and a teacher at sea program.
, ''MBARI News Briefs 2008'', July 31, 2008

References

External links

Cmore.soest.edu: C-MORE—Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education website
— ''based at SOEST, UH Manoa''.
Soest.edu: SOEST—School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology website
— ''at UH Manoa''.

— '' at UH Manoa''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Center For Microbial Oceanography: Research And Education 2006 establishments in Hawaii 2006 establishments in the United States Research institutes in Hawaii Oceanographic organizations Biological oceanography Education in Honolulu Environmental microbiology Genetics or genomics research institutions Microbiology organizations National Science Foundation University of Hawaiʻi Research institutes established in 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology research institutes Oregon State University University of California, Santa Cruz Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution