Program: GeoMICS

The GeoMICS (Global scale Microbial Interactions across Chemical Surveys) research effort grew out of an Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) workshop that discussed how molecular ecologists might collaborate with geochemists to better understand biogeochemical processes in the world oceans. The workshop highlighted the potential of bringing these two communities together. The first GeoMICS cruise was carried out in May 2012 on the R/V Thompson along a subset of Line P. Goals included:

• Identify interactions between changes in microbial diversity, community functions, and chemical features across a gradient.
• Coordinate sampling protocols: inorganic geochemistry, organic geochemistry, and molecular biology.

In February 2013, an OCB-sponsored workshop was held to coordinate data analysis among the groups of participants (inorganic geochemists, organic geochemists, molecular ecologists, modelers, and computer scientists).