UC San Diego Receives $10 Million for Center on Neurobiology in Changing Environments

Climate change is fundamentally altering the marine environment by cranking up the heat, making the ocean more acidic and lowering seawater’s oxygen content, because warmer water cannot hold as much oxygen. The speed and scope of these changes can be literally mind bending for ocean creatures. Shifts in temperature and ocean chemistry can alter brain development in early life, change the speed of neural signals, tweak neurotransmitter function or distort the senses of marine organisms.

To understand the potential impacts of climate change, the center will first have to uncover fundamental mechanisms of marine animals' nervous systems and how they have evolved to function in naturally changing environments. The findings could help predict how marine organisms will respond to climate change and guide conservation efforts for vulnerable species. 

“The question is how the nervous systems of marine animals deal with natural environmental variability and whether they can adapt to the swiftly changing conditions brought about by anthropogenic climate change,” said Martin Tresguerres, a marine physiologist at Scripps who will lead the Allen Discovery Center for Neurobiology in Changing Environments. “Some species or populations may be more resilient or more vulnerable than others, and we want to identify them and try to understand the mechanisms behind this resiliency or vulnerability.”

The center brings together researchers from Scripps Oceanography and across the UC San Diego campus, the University of Southern California, Carnegie Science, the University of Virginia, and MacEwan University. The research group comprises a diverse team of experts in marine biology and neurobiology – which studies cells in the nervous system and how they fit together and function – and genomics. The center will be directed by Tresguerres and two co-lead principal investigators: Scripps’ Amro Hamdoun and Deirdre Lyons. Matthew Lovett-Barron and Diana Rennison, from UC San Diego’s School of Biological Sciences, and Nathan Shaner, from UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, are also key contributors to the interdisciplinary work of the center. 

Left: Scripps Oceanography marine physiologist  Martin Tresguerres will lead the Allen Discovery Center for Neurobiology in Changing Environments. The collaborators will study four exemplar marine species: staghorn coral, the slipper snail, the painted sea urchin and the three-spined stickleback fish. Right: Marine biologist Amro Hamdoun will co-lead the center and focus on the painted sea urchin response to climate change. Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego. 

“UC San Diego and Scripps are uniquely situated to do this,” said Hamdoun. “We have a world-class marine research institution embedded within a campus that also houses world-class biomedical research – that proximity really helps for this type of big thinking project.”

The collaborators will study four exemplar marine species: staghorn coral, the slipper snail, the painted sea urchin and the three-spined stickleback fish. The team chose the creatures because they represent a diversity of evolutionary lineages that each play important ecological roles. 

Researchers across multiple disciplines will investigate how warming oceans, decreased oxygen levels and ongoing ocean acidification impact these animals' nervous systems and behaviors by combining cutting-edge genetic approaches with physiological and behavioral experiments in the lab and the field. 

“The lens of climate change is entirely new for the Frontiers Group, and the timely work of the Allen Discovery Center is critical to understanding the consequences of the climate crisis on the nervous system and to identify potential mechanisms of resilience and adaptation,” said Kathryn Richmond, Ph.D., M.B.A., executive vice president and director of the Frontiers Group. “The team’s commitment to disseminating their discoveries both within the scientific community and the public is a tremendous benefit and will enhance and expand the lasting impact of this important work."

The center’s primary research aims include developing neural maps for each of the four species, examining how environmental changes affect each animal’s behavior and sensory perception, and identifying genetic variations that may help some animals adapt to changing oceans. The overarching goal is to identify mechanisms that provide either resilience or vulnerability to the neurobiological impacts of climate change in the oceans. In the process of pursuing these research avenues the team will develop new tools and techniques for studying marine animal neurobiology that will hopefully spur further research in this understudied arena.

Left: Evolutionary developmental biologist Deirde Lyons (center) will co-lead Allen Discovery Center for Neurobiology in Changing Environments. Right: PhD student Stephanie Neal (front) and Deirdre Lyons (back) examine snails with a fluorescent dissecting microscope. Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego. 

“Nervous systems have evolved to be adaptable to changing environmental conditions, but not without limits,” said Lovett-Barron. “Marine organisms are at the front lines of a changing climate, and it is essential to understand how these diverse nervous systems adapt or fail to adapt to a changing ocean. This center provides a unique opportunity to address this question by integrating a wide range of fields – from cellular neurobiology to population genetics to behavior – centered around a core collaboration between marine biologists and neuroscientists at UC San Diego.” 

In addition to its scientific goals, the new center has a strong commitment to sharing its findings and tools with the global research community and training the next generation of researchers, especially those from groups underrepresented within the sciences. The center will directly support trainee positions of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The team will also organize hybrid onsite-online workshops and conferences aimed at training ecologists in neuroscience and neuroscientists in ecology, with fellowships to attend geared towards scientists from developing countries. To bring the excitement of this research to the general public, the center will partner with Birch Aquarium at Scripps to create public education programs.  

“I am looking forward to collaborating with researchers from outside my field, and I’m excited to train the next generation of scientists who will pursue these questions by integrating perspectives and topics from molecules all the way to ecosystems,” said Lyons.

The center positions Scripps at the forefront of a new field bridging neuroscience and marine ecology, with potential far-reaching implications for ocean conservation in the face of climate change. At the close of the initial four years, the Allen Institute may renew its investment for an additional four years and additional $10 million on the condition that the center’s leadership raises $10 million, potentially amplifying the center’s impact even further.

Other key collaborators include Todd Martz of Scripps and Richard Daneman of UC San Diego School of Medicine, Falko Kuester of the Jacobs School of Engineering and Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego, Carly Kenkel of the University of Southern California, Phillip Cleves of Carnegie Science, Tracy Larson of the University of Virginia and Trevor Hamilton of MacEwan University.

About The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group

The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, a division of the Allen Institute, is dedicated to exploring the landscape of bioscience to identify and foster ideas that will change the world. The Frontiers Group recommends funding to the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which then invests through award mechanisms to accelerate our understanding of biology, including: Allen Discovery Centers at partner institutions for leadership-driven, compass-guided research; and Allen Distinguished Investigators for frontier explorations with exceptional creativity and potential impact. The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group was founded in 2016 by the late philanthropist and visionary Paul G. Allen. For more information, visit https://alleninstitute.org/division/frontiers-group.

About the Allen Institute

The Allen Institute is an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization founded by philanthropist and visionary, the late Paul G. Allen. The Allen Institute is dedicated to answering some of the biggest questions in bioscience and accelerating research worldwide. The Institute is a recognized leader in large-scale research with a commitment to an open science model. Its research institutes and programs include the Allen Institute for Brain Science, launched in 2003, the Allen Institute for Cell Science, launched in 2014, the Allen Institute for Immunology, launched in 2018, the MindScope Program, launched in 2020, and the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, launched in 2021. In 2016, the Allen Institute expanded its reach with the launch of The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, which identifies pioneers with new ideas to expand the boundaries of knowledge and make the world better. For more information, visit alleninstitute.org.

About the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

For more than four decades the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has focused on changing the trajectory of some of the world's toughest problems. Founded by philanthropists Jody Allen and the late Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, the Foundation initially invested in community needs across the Pacific Northwest with a focus on regional arts, under-served populations, and the environment. Today, the Foundation supports a global portfolio of frontline partners working to preserve ocean health, protect wildlife, combat climate change, and strengthen communities. The Foundation invests in grantees to leverage technology, fill data and science gaps, and drive positive public policy to advance knowledge and enable lasting change.