Seventh Workshop on Trait-based Approaches to Ocean Life

I am an Assistant Professor at UC Santa Cruz. My journey is simple on paper, but complex, and I would have it no other way. I love complexity, which is why my lab focuses on marine biogeochemistry and its connection to deoxygenation and climate. Although my lab is just starting, it is a trifecta- lab work, being out in the field, and hanging with our computers, modeling new ideas.

At the center of all we do is the respiration quotient- the amount of oxygen needed to break down organic carbon- and phytoplankton physiology. What is the respiration quotient? What are the controlling patterns we are seeing at the surface and through depth? Are these controls environmental, biological, or a combination? What could it have been in the past? How does climate change impact phytoplankton, their physiology, chemical composition, and stoichiometric ratios? These are just a few questions that go through my mind—maybe on a weekly basis.

We also explore harmful algal bloom dynamics and their predictability with collaborators. Everywhere I go, I come with my life experiences and am who I am- a scientist and bold Chicana. I have leveraged my experiences to have a full community-engaged, focused research pillar on broadening participation and retention in STEM.

Jessica Luo is a global ocean biogeochemical and marine ecosystem modeler at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), working at the interface of plankton ecosystem model development, plankton observations, and the coupled carbon-climate system. Dr. Luo’s research focuses on how various parts of the marine ecosystem (e.g., gelatinous zooplankton, migrating zooplankton, mixotrophs) contribute to the biological pump and ocean biogeochemical cycles, as well as the fate of sinking organic matter in ocean sediments. She has made contributions to the observations of, and modeling of, plankton traits and size structure, through the Pelagic Size Structure database (PSSdb) project, the Size-based Plankton Ecological Traits (SPECTRA) model, and the Carbon, Ocean Biogeochemistry, and Lower Trophics (COBALT) model. In this talk, Luo will discuss the applications and limitations of size and trait based modeling for ocean biogeochemical cycles using examples from the SPECTRA and COBALT models.

Prior to coming to GFDL as a Research Oceanographer, Jessica completed her postdoctoral training at the Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She received her Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Fisheries from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and B.A. and M.S. degrees from Stanford University.

Fungi are a megadiverse group of organisms that drive carbon (C) and nutrient cycling through ecosystems through their activity as decomposers, symbionts, and pathogens. Over the last decade, advances in molecular technologies have enabled exploration of the ecological, evolutionary, and biochemical mechanisms that fungi use to control these large-scale processes in situ and how they are modified by global change.

This talk will describe how we merge biogeochemical analysis and multi-omics approaches to explore these types of fungal activities in complex communities (soils) and the unexpected processes by which they do it. I will also describe what we know about global change impacts on fungal activity in nature and new research on how global change shifts interactions between fungi and plants that feed back to control the exchange of energy and nutrients between the biosphere and the atmosphere. Our results challenge the classic perspective of fungi as recipients of growth resources, showing their roles as ecosystem engineers, and inform current ecological models that consider interactions between plants and microbes.

3:00 PM — Snacks available (Merrill Hall)

3:00–4:30 PM — Name tag pick-up and poster set-up (Merrill Hall)

4:00–4:30 PM — Room check-in

4:30–5:00 PM — Welcome, intro, and Icebreaker (Merrill Hall)

5:00–6:00 PM — Posters: Group A

6:00–7:00 PM — Dinner (Crocker Dining Hall)

7:00–8:00 PM — Bonfire social (BBQ area - The Circle)

7:30–9:00 AM — Breakfast (Crocker Dining Hall)

9:00–9:10 AM — Regroup/Announcements (Merrill Hall)

Biogeography and Biogeochemistry I (Merrill Hall)

9:10–9:50 AM — Keynote: Exploring the use of traits in ocean biogeochemical modeling – from a “master trait” to specialized traits
Jessica Luo (NOAA GFDL)

9:50–10:10 AM — Do higher trophic levels impact secondary production globally?
Rémy Denéchère (UC San Diego)

10:10–10:30 AM — Does mixotroph trait evolution drive a positive climate feedback loop?
Holly Moeller (UC Santa Barbara)

10:30–11:00 AM — Coffee break (Merrill Hall)

Biogeography (Merrill Hall)

11:00–11:20 AM — Modeling fish swimming behavioral traits
Colleen Petrik (UC San Diego)

11:20–11:40 AM — Deriving the Arctic lipidscape by extracting traits from in situ images of copepods
Patrick Pata (Université Laval)

11:40–12:00 PM — Data-driven models to inform on dinoflagellate trophic traits biogeography
Gaspard Rihm (Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle)

12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch (Crocker Dining Hall)

Biogeography and Biogeochemistry II (Merrill Hall)

1:00–1:40 PM — Keynote: Controlling Respiration Quotient: A Global Perspective
Allison Moreno (UC Santa Cruz)

1:40–2:00 PM — Trait-based insights into copepod migration
Rocio B. Rodriguez-Perez (Arizona State University)

2:00–2:20 PM — Impact of migrating zooplankton on carbon sequestration
Daniel Clements (Bigelow Laboratory)

2:20–3:00 PM — Coffee break (Merrill Hall)

3:00–4:00 PM — Discussions & Chalk Talks: Session 1 (Various breakout locations)

Biodiversity and Community Structure (Merrill Hall)

4:00–4:20 PM — Microbial diversity with depth in the ocean
Liang Xu (Carnegie Science)

4:20–4:40 PM — Trait-based modeling with stable isotope probing and genomics
Joe Vallino (Marine Biological Lab)

4:40–5:00 PM — The mystery of gelatinous zooplankton mortality
Julie Lemonie (Sorbonne Université)

5:00–6:00 PM — Posters: Group B

6:00–7:00 PM — Dinner (Crocker Dining Hall)

7:00–9:00 PM — Bonfire social with s'mores (BBQ area - The Circle)

7:30–9:00 AM — Breakfast (Crocker Dining Hall)

9:00–9:10 AM — Regroup/Announcements (Merrill Hall)

Symbiosis and Beyond Competitive Interactions (Merrill Hall)

9:10–9:50 AM — Keynote: The extraordinary biogeochemical capabilities of fungi
Jennifer Bhatnagar (Boston University)

9:50–10:10 AM — Marine microbial interactions: high-resolution monitoring
Ewa Merz (Scripps, UC San Diego)

10:10–10:30 AM — Chemical heterogeneity and nitrite accumulation in anoxic zones
Daniel McCoy (Carnegie Science)

10:30–11:00 AM — Coffee break (Merrill Hall)

11:00 AM–12:00 PM — Discussions & Chalk Talks: Session 2 (Various breakout locations)

12:00 PM — Lunch (bagged lunches delivered to Merrill Hall)

12:00–4:30 PM — Outings: Aquarium, whale watching, hikes, etc.

4:30–5:00 PM — Coffee and snacks (Merrill Hall)

Adaptation and Evolution (Merrill Hall)

5:00–5:20 PM — Ecological constraints on trait plasticity
Colin Kremer (University of Connecticut)

5:20–5:40 PM — EcoT

7:30–9:00 AM — Breakfast (Crocker Dining Hall)
 

Interspecific Variability and Review (Merrill Hall)

9:00–9:10 AM— group photo in front of (ocean side) Social Hall

9:10–9:30 AM — Temperature response in Gephyrocapsa huxleyi lineages
Arianna Krinos (Brown University)

9:30–9:50 AM — A theoretical framework for trait-based eco-evolutionary dynamics
Christopher Klausmeier (Michigan State University)

9:50–10:10 AM — Trait-based approaches to global change ecology
Miram Gleiber (University of Alberta)

10:10–10:40 AM — Coffee break (Merrill Hall)

10:40–11:40 AM — What is the future of trait-based approaches? Group discussion and paper plan
Facilitator: Elena Litchman (Michigan State University)

11:40 AM–12:00 PM — Feedback and closing

12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch (Crocker Dining Hall)

Here is a list of the possible activities for Wednesday afternoon's free time block so you can pack accordingly. We will share more info and have sign-up sheets at the workshop for organizing transportation (car-sharing).

• Monterey Bay Whale Watching
  Climb aboard a whale watching boat and head out to Monterey Bay. We will provide more details about how to order online and secure your spot at the workshop. 
   
• Point Lobos Hiking 
  Stretch your legs and your perspective—take a hike at Point Lobos, where cypress-lined trails, sea lion sightings, and crashing waves offer a breathtaking break from the whiteboard.
   
• Monterey Bay Aquarium
  Dive into discovery at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where world-class exhibits bring the vibrant ecosystems of the California coast to life—no scuba gear required.

The trait-based approach describes ecosystems as consisting of functional types rather than species, characterising them by a few key traits that are interrelated through trade-offs. Examples of traits are organism’s body size, feeding mode, predator-prey size ratios, optimization for fast growth due to proteome allocation, or defence characteristics.

The rationale is that the spatio-temporal distribution of organisms and their functional role in ecosystems depend on their traits rather than on their taxonomical affiliation. As such, the trait-based approach has the potential to describe complex ecosystems in simple ways and to assess the effects of environmental change on ecosystem structure and function.

This workshop aims to discuss the latest research in trait-based ecology of the ocean encompassing all realms of life (e.g. phytoplankton, bacteria, fish, whales, corals). We invite scientists that use either experimental, statistical or modelling approaches to investigate topics related (but not limited) to the following:

• Traits and trade-offs of aquatic organisms
• Distribution of organisms and/or traits in space and time
• How organisms and their traits shape ecosystem functions

This workshop will consist of research talks, poster presentations, discussion sessions, and informal "chalk talks." Any trait-based topic is welcome for submission as an abstract. 

Talks: 15 min

Posters: Maximum 42" x 42". Posters will be on display throughout the workshop.

Chalk Talks 

Chalk talks are slide-free (chalkboard only) presentations to small groups, and could be: 

• Early-stage ideas needing feedback from participants.
• "Zombie idea"—concept that won't go away but has never made it into a publication
• Tutorials on useful methods or approaches.
• Argument for challenging/updating an established paradigm, e.g., "Is it time to set aside some long-held ideas about X?".

Discussions 

Discussions will be facilitated by group leaders around focused topics, with participants filling most of the space. 

Rooms have been reserved at the Asilomar Conference Center. The all-inclusive registration will include room, meeting fees, and all meals, snacks, and drinks. 

Total Estimated Costs (subject to change slightly):

• $1336.14 for single room occupancy
• $1,008.63 for double room occupancy (per participant)

Workshop participants will stay in hotel rooms at the Asilomar Conference Grounds. All rooms are a short walking distance from the main workshop meeting room, Merrill Hall. Single and double-occupancy rooms are available. Meals will be in the main dining hall at Asilomar. Shuttles from local airports (SFO and SJC) to Asilomar are available and can be reserved through Asilomar following registration.

• Ken Andersen (Technical University of Denmark)
• Andrew Barton (University of  California San Diego)
• Thomas Kiørboe (Technical University of Denmark)
• Holly Moeller (University of  California Santa Barbara)
• Camila Serra Pompei (Massachusetts Institution of Technology)
• Shlomit Sharoni  (Massachusetts Institution of Technology)
• David Talmy (University of Tennessee)
• Ben Ward (University of  Southampton, U.K.)
• Emily Zakem (Carnegie Institution for Science)

Questions about the scientific program: Emily Zakem (ezakem@carnegiescience.edu)

Questions about logistics: La Chelle Eddines (leddines@carnegiescience.edu)

News and Updates:
We encourage you to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements about the Seventh Workshop on Trait-based Approaches to Ocean Life by subscribing to our email list.