Jed Fuhrman

Jed Fuhrman, a marine microbiologist and oceanographer, studies the roles of microorganisms and viruses in marine food webs and in the cycling of matter in the sea. His studies have shown that these organisms are responsible for the vast majority of biological activity in the world's oceans.

"Recently, we have discovered a major new group of Archaea inhabiting the deep sea and other novel microbial groups in coral reefs," Fuhrman says. "Some of these groups are as different from any previously known organism as are animals from plants."

Fuhrman's lab explores global marine microbial biodiversity by molecular biological techniques using nucleic acid hybridization and other methods that greatly increase the percentage of microbial species that can be studied. His lab also measures human pathogenic viruses at recreational beaches and is working on ways to make such measurements easier and inexpensive.