The Texas Gulf Coast is experiencing a rapid increase in oil refining and transport activities, which also increases the risk of spill-related impacts to its coastal bays and estuarine ecosystems.
Scientists conducted the largest comparison to-date of publicly available sequenced bacterial genomes to provide the first in-depth look at using high-throughput marker genes to profile a microbial community’s functional capability.
Meiofauna are microscopic marine organisms that live between grains of sand in ocean, coastal, river, and stream sediments and provide important services such as recycling organic material in the sediment that contribute to healthy marine ecosystems.
Seaside Sparrows live and forage in coastal Gulf of Mexico marshlands, some of which were oiled following the Deepwater Horizon incident. Sparrows in these oiled marshes likely ingested invertebrates that were also exposed to oil. Allison Snider uses DNA analyses to investigate potential long-term changes in the diets of Seaside Sparrows following Deepwater Horizon.