REUfest

          Hi! My name’s Katie Collier and I’m a marine biology major at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.  This summer I will be working with Dr. Tracy Villareal researching Trichodesmium and diatom-diazotroph associations (DDAs) in the Gulf of Mexico.  Trichodesmium and the symbiotic diazotroph within the diatoms are cyanobacteria that have the ability to fix nitrogen.  Most of the research and data collection will be done on the RV Cape Hatteras during the month of July.  I will be collecting samples of water to measure the abundance of Trichodesmium and the DDAs, along with comparing the nitrogen fixing rate of the two diazotrophs at different depths in the ocean.  Some of the  Trichodesmium and DDAs sink to lower depths while some remain at the surface. I would like to determine whether the amount of light they receive influences the amount of nitrogen they are able to fix.