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.
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.
Marine biologists gather data on climate change at research hotspot
With nearly $3 million in new funding, a USC team studies the San Pedro Basin ecosystem.
Whale reproduction: It’s all in the hips
New study turns a long-accepted evolutionary assumption on its head, finding that whale pelvic bones play a key role in mating.
The islands are her oyster
Alumna enjoys idyllic life as a pearl biologist in the middle of the Pacific.
USC team explores how marine organisms ‘make a living’
Biologists explore how a species of organisms acquires nutrition, which could lead to a better understanding of harmful algal blooms.
Kelp watch monitors radioactive contaminants from Fukushima disaster
USC Wrigley Institute and USC Sea Grant lead an effort to examine long-term effects of Japan’s radiation leaks on California’s coastal waters.
Red Sea research beckons USC team
Microbiologist Douglas Capone leads an ecology study that aims to develop ties with a Saudi Arabian university.
Capone to receive award for biosciences research
The scientist’s work has influenced studies on the interaction between nitrogen and the global carbon cycle.
Island treasures
“The cornerstone of the USC Wrigley Institute’s mission is to advance fundamental knowledge of our ocean, our Earth and her systems,” said Roberta Marinelli, executive director of the USC Wrigley Institute.
New USC scientists cover climate change and clean energy
Naomi Levine and Smaranda Marinescu are two recent faculty additions in the sciences made by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Octopus got your tongue?
The project will compare the movement of the tongue to the movements of the arms of the octopus and the body of a very small and thoroughly studied worm.
Expedition to explore life in extreme habitats
A team of 18 researchers will spend their holiday season at sea, using underwater robots to explore the extreme habitats of life under the sea crust.