Marine Microbiomics Lab

No organism on Earth lives in isolation! This simple fact underscores the importance of interspecies interactions in sustaining all life on Earth. The Marine Microbial Ecology Lab uses a combination of microbiology, genomics, metabolomics, and field work to understand inter-kingdom interactions between prokaryotes and eukaryotes in the marine environment. We mainly study interactions between eukaryotic phytoplankton and bacteria in the oceans and their role in sustaining the marine food web and driving global biogeochemical cycles. We also examine coral interactions with its complex microbiome and the role these interactions play in maintaining healthy corals. Finally, we study how interspecies interactions between mangrove sediment bacteria present here in Abu Dhabi may lead to the rise of novel secondary metabolites that can act as useful drugs in medicine.

Our Projects:

  • Phytoplankton-Bacteria Symbiosis in Today’s Oceans
  • Coral Holobiont Adaptation to Climate Change
  • Mangrove Sediment Diversity in Extreme Environments

We are also involved in a number of other collaborative projects, including:

  • UAE Healthy Future Study
  • Life and Death of Karenia brevis Blooms in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico
  • Chemical currencies of microbial ecosystems

Researchers

Name Title
Michael A. Ochsenkühn Research Associate
Amin Mohamed
Research Associate
Janja Ceh Research Associate
Cong Fei Postdoctoral Researcher
Carly Moreno Postdoctoral Researcher
Ashely Isaac Instructor of Biology
Lisa Coe Research Technician
Amiteash Paul Undergraduate Researcher
Isha Gandham
Undergraduate

Contact

Shady Amin
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Biology
Email: sa132@nyu.edu

Michael Ochsenkühn
Research Associate
Email: mao13@nyu.edu
Phone: (+971) 2 628 4582