The Center for Microbial Oceanography (C-MORE) is a research and education organization established in 2006 as a

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

funded Science and Technology Center.

Objectives

It has been said that more is known about the surface of the Moon than about the Earth’s oceans. C-MORE was designed to explore the largely unknown world of

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

in the sea and to educate the public and other scientists about these organisms. The motto of the center is “From

genomes A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

biomes A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community (ecology), community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Art ...

” meaning that the researchers want to look at how the

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

of microbes in the ocean influences the

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

and

function Function or functionality may refer to: Computing * Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards * Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system * Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-orie ...

of the world’s largest biome, the ocean.

Background

The center was initially proposed, and is now directed by Professor David Karl, of the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

. C-MORE has affiliated researchers working at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute,

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

, the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. C-MORE is the only one of NSF’s 17 Science and Technology Centers that focuses on microbial oceanography.

Research

C-MORE scientists want to understand biological processes that begin at microscopic scales and are expressed in vitally significant issues such as

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Areas of research range from

genomic Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of molecular biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, ...

surveys, to studies of the genetic basis of marine microbial

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the Branches of science, scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemistry, chemical, physics, physical, geology, geological, and biology, biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natu ...

to building ecosystem models. One of the strengths of the Center is its seagoing capability, as well as the long term studies that have been conducted by the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) Program in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In addition to extensive laboratory experimentation, C-MORE also stages cruises to examine marine microbes in their environment. One example was the

SUPER HI-CAT C-MORE: SUPER HI-CAT (Center for Microbial Oceanography- Research and Education: Survey of Underwater Plastic Ecosystem Response Hawaii to California Transit) The SUPER HI-CAT research cruise was the first effort to study the microbial communities ...

cruise, which was the first effort to study the microbiology associated with the plastic particles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Education

C-MORE is active in increasing

scientific literacy Scientific literacy or science literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy is chiefly concerned with an understanding ...

about microbial oceanography among the general population, as well as training microbial oceanographers. C-MORE has undergraduate internships as well as a summer graduate training course
the Agouron Course
. C-MORE also provides resources for K-12 educators, such as training workshops, science kits, and a teacher at sea program.
, ''MBARI News Briefs 2008'', July 31, 2008

References

External links

Cmore.soest.edu: C-MORE—Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education website
— ''based at SOEST, UH Manoa''.
Soest.edu: SOEST—School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology website
— ''at UH Manoa''.

— '' at UH Manoa''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Center For Microbial Oceanography: Research And Education 2006 establishments in Hawaii 2006 establishments in the United States Research institutes in Hawaii Oceanographic organizations Biological oceanography Education in Honolulu Environmental microbiology Genetics or genomics research institutions Microbiology organizations National Science Foundation University of Hawaiʻi Research institutes established in 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology research institutes Oregon State University University of California, Santa Cruz Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution