The MEGAMER Facility was created to provide support and a collaborative environment for University of California, Santa Cruz scientists, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF) sponsored investigators, visiting scientists and postdoctoral researchers. In addition, this facility is designed to provide an interdisciplinary environment to link biological oceanographers with engineers and instrument developers working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and elsewhere. The MEGAMER facility has several designed outputs from which priority use of equipment and accommodations are derived.
Output #1
Development of flow cytometric methods for marine microbiology
- Purpose: To develop flow cytometric methods for probing marine microbial communities to better understand population dynamics and ocean biogeochemistry.
Output #2
Design and implement probes for in situ detection and characterization of microbes on the Environmental Sample Processor
- Purpose: To develop probes for implementation on remote instrumentation for assaying microbial community composition and physiological status. To develop a system by which visiting scientists or UCSC researchers can more easily port candidate probes for use on array and qPCR modules on the Environmental Sample Processor
Output #3
Experimental testing of probes for in situ detection-
Purpose: To test gene expression probes under different environmental and physiological conditions, for implementation on the ESP.
Output #4
Investigation of processes that govern cyanobacterial distributions in the California Current System using advanced physical and ecosystem models
- Purpose: To use forward and data assimilative three-dimensional circulation and ecosystem models of the California Current System to understand the interaction between ocean physics and biology that control ocean ecology and ocean health
