Scripps Marine Microbiologists Honored for Scientific Leadership

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego marine microbiologists Doug Bartlett and Brad Moore have been named fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology. The Academy recognizes scientists for their excellence, originality, and leadership in the microbiological sciences.

Bartlett, a professor of marine microbial genetics in the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and in the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps, conducts research on extremophilic microbial life in the inner space of our oceans. His research group has pioneered studies of the adaptations that enable deep-sea microbes to live at pressures up to and beyond 15,000 pounds per square inch. Much of this work utilizes the tools of genetics and genomics to understand particular aspects of microbial adaptation. 

Current projects in the Bartlett laboratory include characterizing microbial populations in the deepest regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In recent years he has spent considerable time at sea, often using autonomous sampling instruments to recover deep-sea samples. Bartlett was chief scientist of DEEPSEA CHALLENGE, a submersible expedition to the Mariana Trench piloted by “Titanic” director James Cameron that collected deep-sea samples to explore the effect of decompression on the recovery of microorganisms from the world’s greatest ocean depths.

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Moore, a professor of marine chemical biology at the Center of Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the Center for Oceans and Human Health at Scripps, conducts research focused on using genetics in marine drug biosynthesis and bioengineering, and has helped pioneer the field of natural product genome mining. Moore is also chair and professor of pharmaceutical chemistry in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego.

Moore’s multi-disciplinary research at the interface of organic chemistry and molecular biology is intimately tied to marine genomics and explores the unique molecular strategies used by marine microorganisms to produce new therapeutic agents and environmental toxins from the sea. 

The Academy is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and it the world's oldest and largest life science organization, recognizes scientists for outstanding contributions in the microbiological sciences.

“ASM fellows are eminent leaders in the field of microbiology and are relied upon for authoritative advice and insight on critical issues in microbiology,” said American Academy of Microbiology Board of Governors’ Chair Michele Swanson.

The Scripps researchers will be honored as newly elected fellows at ASM’s 2017 annual Microbe meeting on June 2 in New Orleans.

-- Annie Reisewitz