Mar Benavides

My research is devoted to understanding the interactions between marine microbes and their physical, chemical and biological environment through a multi-spatiotemporal scale lens.

My underlying philosophy is that processes that take place at small scales (molecule or cell level) can have impact at larger -regional or even global- scales. In the same manner, larger scale processes such as ocean circulation can alter the interactions between microbes and their environment affecting their distribution and activity.

From the nanoscale to the global scale, unveiling the interactions between the marine environment and its microbes requires an interdisciplinary approach. I combine nanotechnology, molecular biology, biogeochemistry and modeling to bridge the spatiotemporal scales of microbial processes in the ocean.

• Linking spatiotemporal scales
• Nitrogen fixation
• diazotroph diversity
• Organic matter-microbe interactions
• Physical-biological coupling
• Microbial identity-function coupling
• Climate change stressors