:. Mike Schwalbach 

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E-mail : schwalba [AT] usc [DOT] edu

Phone : (213)740-5759

Fax : (213)740-8123

I would classify myself as a marine microbial ecologist. My studies to date have focused on assaying the structure of microbial and viral communities over time and understanding how these communities interact over time. I accomplish this by using ARISA, TRFLP, DGGE and 16s sequencing to characterize the bacterial community and PFGE to analyze the viral community. Much of my research over the past three years has been conducted at the Wrigley Institute of Marine Science on Catalina Island and at the USC microbial observatory time series station located in the San Pedro Channel half way between Los Angeles and Catalina Island. Recently I have begun to examine the ecophysiological role of a newly (re)discovered group of bacteriochlorophyll a containing photoheterotrophs as well as the host range dynamics of marine bacteriophage and cyanophage. Currently I am completing my third year of PhD studies in the Marine Environmental Biology program at the University of Southern California.

• 1997-1998 University of Hawaii - Manoa

• 1995-1997,1998-1999 University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, B.S. Biology

• 2000-Present University of Southern California

• 1995-1999 Undergraduate research assistant, University of MN – Twin Cities
  Life Science Summer Undergraduate Research Program, University of MN – Twin Cities, Advisors: Drs Robert Sterner & James Cotner.

• 1999 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, University of MN –Twin Cities
  1999-2000 Technical Scientist, University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Supervisor: Dr. Carla Caceres.

• 2000-Present Ph.D. Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant, University of Southern California Dept. of Biological Sciences, Advisor:Dr. Jed Fuhrman.

• Fall 2000, 2001 Lab component of Introduction to Microbiology

• Spring 2000 Lab component of Human Microbiology

• Spring 2002-’03 Discussion section of Natural History of California

• 2000 Volunteer in the Champaign Schools Science Center “Girls in engineering, mathematics & science” program

• 2000 Co-Consultant for Heal the Bay. Viral indicators were used to detect human fecal contamination at local Southern California sites.

• 2001 Participated in microbiological component of environmental assessment project at Huntington Beach, CA.

• 2003 Participated in epidemiological study conducted at Mission Bay, San Diego, CA in conjunction with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Program (SCCRWP)

• American Society for Microbiology

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• 2001 Sterner R.W. and M.S. Schwalbach. Diel integration of food quality by Daphnia: Luxury consumption by a freshwater planktonic herbivore. LIMNOL OCEANOGR 46 (2): 410-416.

• 2001 Caceres C.E. and M.S. Schwalbach. How well do laboratory experiments explain field patterns of zooplankton emergence? FRESHWATER BIOL 46(9): 1179-1189.

• 2002 Fuhrman J.A., J.F. Griffith and M.S. Schwalbach. Prokaryotic and viral diversity patterns in marine plankton. ECOL RES 17(2): 183-194.

• 2002 Fuhrman, J.A., I. Hewson, M.S. Schwalbach. Viral and bacterial community shifts at an ocean time series station. ASLO 2002 Honolulu, HI, Conference Abstracts. EOS TRANS AMER GEOPHYS UN 83(4): 20 (ms In Prep)

• 2003 Fuhrman J.A. and M.S. Schwalbach. Viral influence on aquatic bacterial communities. BIOL BULL. 204 (2): 192-195. 

• 2003 Schwalbach M.S. and J.A. Fuhrman. Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophs: quantification in California coastal waters and possible ecological roles in marine bacterioplankton. ASLO 2003 Salt Lake City, UT, (Conference Abstracts.)

• 2004 Schwalbach M.S., I. Hewson and J.A. Fuhrman. Viral effects on bacterial community composition in marine plankton microcosms. AQUAT MICROB ECOL 34: 117-127.