Shrimps, worms and similar bottom-dwellers recovered first after history’s largest mass extinction
USC Dornsife researchers join an international team to find underwater clues on how life bounced back after 90% of species died off.
Study of nature preserve turns up more than 1,000 species and signs of changing oceans
To create a comprehensive inventory of marine species in Santa Catalina Island’s Blue Cavern Point nature preserve, USC scholars dived into kelp forests and came face-to-face with a great white shark.
USC scientists may have unlocked kelp’s potential as a major biofuel source
Using a “kelp elevator,” researchers at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies were able to grow the biofuel crop in large quantities in the open ocean.
How will billions of marine microbes adapt to climate change? A new study investigates
USC scientists and their colleagues have developed a model that estimates two different ways microbes will respond to warming oceans.
How a USC student from Chicago ended up protecting sea life through science
Senior Connie Machuca studies corals and anemones to understand how they respond to rising temperatures, acidification and other ocean-related issues linked to climate change.
How do sea stars move without a brain? The answer could impact robotics and more
What USC researchers have uncovered about sea star locomotion could help scientists design simpler decentralized systems for all sorts of devices.
What Are Algal Blooms and Are They Harmful?
In oceans and lakes across the country, tiny organisms create big problems.
How some corals might help their offspring survive warming oceans
USC researchers have discovered that corals can pass on their reshuffled symbiotic algae, which may help their progeny withstand climate change.
For some USC professors, every week is Shark Week
Sharks aren’t just the apex predators we see in movies; they’re complicated, fascinating creatures that Trojans are investigating from many angles.
Southern California’s coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot
New research by USC scientists shows domoic acid from ocean algae is a chronic problem with natural and man-made origins.
Rare DNA from ocean water leads to microbiology breakthrough
USC grad student brings back dynamic data from one of the world’s most sophisticated research vessels, allowing scientists to grow organisms that have never been found in nature.
Salutatorian Amanda Semler dives into a future in marine science
✌ Class of 2017: Her home state of Minnesota is about as far from the ocean as you can get, but her experiences at USC showed the sea was her true calling.
USC senior dives deep to pursue her passion for undersea studies
Environmental studies major caps her scientific career at USC Dornsife with a National Science Foundation-funded research project on a unique fish.
The Secret Life of Bacteria
Newly discovered fossil is the oldest of its kind
The sea urchin fossil found by a USC team had been buried in a rock formation that dates back nearly 270 million years.
Animal movement analyzed, with unlikely help from an octopus
USC researchers want to know more about the human tongue, and they travel to Japan for answers.
New greenhouse will be on view at USC Wrigley Marine Science Center’s 50th anniversary celebration
Part of the greenhouse will feature plants that grow without soil.
Shark Week gives attention to the big guys, but it wouldn’t happen without the small fry
If not for those largely invisible microorganisms, you wouldn’t have great whites or hammerheads.
In memoriam: Basil Nafpaktitis, 85
USC Dornsife marine biologist brought academics to life during a career that lasted more than 30 years.
USC alum is ready to rescue you
Former participant in a USC Wrigley Institute program works for the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command.
Marine conservation from a diver’s perspective
Participants in the USC Scientific Diving program find academic and professional success while advancing their respective fields.
Fragile ecosystems find a media platform
Alumnus John Monterubio manages ReefCam, a company that promotes marine conservation by showing the beauty of threatened coral reef systems.
New species discovered beneath the ocean
Microbes may play an important role in the world’s carbon cycle.
The food chain stops here
A USC scientist digs up information on global climate change by studying oceanic ecosystems and bacteria.