[All-postdocs] Bioseminar - Benjamin Van Mooy

[Ana Velez]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biology Department Seminar

Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 12:00 pm
Redfield Auditorium

Benjamin Van Mooy
Deputy Director & VP for Science & Engineering, WHOI

The Molecular Underpinnings and Biogeochemical Consequences of Daily Cycles of Particulate Organic Carbon Composition in the Upper Ocean
Sunlight structures life in the surface ocean on a 24-hour rhythm. Each day, marine microbial cells adjust their physiology, metabolism, and biochemical composition in response to the rising and setting sun. When aggregated across microbial communities in the surface ocean, these diel cycles drive systematic changes in the composition of particulate organic carbon (POC), with cascading consequences for carbon and nutrient fluxes throughout marine ecosystems.

In this seminar, I will draw on multi-omic data from coastal and open-ocean environments to show how resolving daily cycles in gene expression and biochemical composition reveals a hidden choreography of carbon transformation. I will then expand on insights from my lab, focusing specifically on energy-rich carbohydrates and triacylglycerols that are synthesized during the day and respired or repurposed at night, thereby generating a substantial daily carbon flux that remains underappreciated from a molecular perspective in situ. Coordinated cycles in photosynthesis, pigment metabolism, and photoprotection further illustrate how light synchronizes core metabolic programs while enabling ecological differentiation, suggesting temporal niche partitioning that may help sustain high diversity in nutrient-poor waters.

Together, these findings demonstrate that microbial communities, and their contributions to POC reservoirs and fluxes, differ profoundly between sunrise and sunset. Characterizing daily changes in POC composition is therefore central to understanding upper-ocean biogeochemistry. As time permits, I will conclude with a recent example of how molecular-scale measurements of energy-rich molecules can inform mechanistic frameworks for predicting sinking POC export and, ultimately, the ocean's role in regulating Earth's climate.

Biology Seminar Web Page<https://www.whoi.edu/what-we-do/understand/departments-centers-labs/bio/bio-highlights-events/>

For questions, contact:

Ana Maria Velez
Biology Pre-Award Administrative Associate
Ph: 508-289-2334
[signature_1005462319]

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