Author: charmaineyung

Ocean Adventure: Microbe Hunters Set Sail!

From June 28th to July 10th, 2021, a team of 24 scientists embarked on an important research cruise to the Pearl River Estuary and the South China Sea. The expedition was fully supported by the Hong Kong Branch (HKB) of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou).

The research team, comprising experts from the HKB’s area 1 and the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, conducted extensive studies during their two-week journey. Among the dedicated researchers were Yangbing and Wenqian, who focused on an intriguing aspect of marine microbiology.

Yangbing and Wenqian’s project involved studying the diel cycle of microbial and viral communities across a range of water types, from estuarine to oceanic. This required tireless effort as they filtered numerous water samples throughout the cruise.

Intensive Diel Sampling Reveals Temporal Dynamics of Coastal Marine Microbes

Our research team conducted a 48-hour sampling campaign to investigate the temporal dynamics of coastal marine microbial communities. The study involved collecting water samples at six-hour intervals, providing a high-resolution snapshot of microbial activity over two full day-night cycles. This sampling protocol was designed to capture the diel variations in marine prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses.

Water samples were carefully filtered to isolate different microbial components, allowing for comprehensive analysis of the diverse marine microbial ecosystem. Concurrent with biological sampling, we recorded crucial physico-chemical parameters to contextualize the microbial data within the changing environmental conditions.

This intensive effort aims to shed light on the short-term fluctuations in microbial populations and their potential drivers in coastal marine environments. The resulting dataset promises to offer valuable insights into the complex interplay between marine microbes and their dynamic coastal habitat over diurnal cycles.

Research cruise in Northeast Pacific

Charmaine returned to Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Insitute (MBARI) to join the Worden lab’s DVM 2019 research cruise. She performed diel sampling to explore the diversity and temporal dynamics of viral assemblages in relationship to their hosts in the mesotrophic ocean. She also helped other scientists on board, i.e. collecting DOC and click-iT samples for Dr. Kristin Bergauer (GEOMAR) and dissecting deep-sea invertebrates with UCSC PhD student Charlotte Eckmann.

  • Charmaine on WF

Funded postgraduate opportunities in microbial ecology and oceanography

Ongoing opportunities are available for Ph.D. students wishing to study the microbial ecology and oceanography, focusing on efforts to understand microbial diversity, microbial interactions, and viral impact on picophytoplankton. Successful candidates will pursue a Master’s (M.Phil.) or Doctorate (Ph.D.) in the department of Ocean Science at HKUST with Dr. Charmaine C.M. Yung.  
 
Some potential topics to develop are:
–      Temporal dynamics of picophytoplankton in Hong Kong waters
–      Exploring the temporal dynamics of viruses and their potential hosts including bacteria and single-cell eukaryotes in the ocean
–      Identifying green algae-virus pairs, establish model systems to study the interaction between the underlying mechanism of the infection as well as the top-down and bottom-up effect on green algae populations.
–      Investigating the Vibrio population structure in different sources, including waters and oysters.
 
Requirements:
Applicants should demonstrate the following qualifications:
–      Minimum: A bachelor’s degree in Biology, Microbiology, Bioinformatics or equivalent
–      Strong interest in marine microbial ecology
–      Very good written and oral communication skills in English
–      Experience in basic microbiology, microbial ecology, molecular biology, and/or bioinformatics is preferred, especially DNA/RNA extraction techniques, PCR, and working with UNIX, R and/or Python is preferred.
–      The ability to participate in marine fieldwork that may sometimes be physically demanding
–      Field experience working in marine environments is also an asset
–      Fulfill the HKUST admission requirements (https://pg.ust.hk/prospective-students/admissions/admission-requirements)
 
Interested applicants should e-mail to ccmyung@ust.hk including:
1.    A cover letter describing your motivation, skills, and experience for this position
2.    CV
3.    University transcript (unofficial is fine)
 
Application deadline: Open until filled
Start date: 2020 Spring

GRC Marine Molecular Ecology

Charmaine attended the GRC Marine Molecular Ecology (MME) hosted by our own faculty Prof. Qinglu Zeng and Madeleine van Oppen from Australia. The conference covered a wide range of topics including marine viruses, microbial interactions, eDNA, and coral reefs. Charmaine was elected to be the vice-chair of the next conference held in 2021. Stay tuned for the GRC MME 2021!