Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
17 Biological Lane
St. George's GE 01
Bermuda
Tel: 441-297-1880 ext. 726
Fax: 441-297-8143
E-mail: rachel.parson@bios.edu
Oceanic Microbial Observatory


Specialization:
Marine Marine Microbial Ecology

Profile:
Ms. Parsons received her bachelor's degree in biochemistry and biological chemistry from the University of Nottingham in 1991, and her master's degree in aquatic resource management from King's College, London, in 1993. Her master's degree work included a research project at BIOS, where she had previously participated in the Bermuda Programme. She joined BIOS's staff in 1994, working on projects that included investigations of dissolved organic matter and the oceanic carbon cycle in the Antarctic, North Atlantic, Arabian Sea and Pacific Ocean. In 1998, she joined Dr. Craig Carlson in the Microbial Ecology Program, where she is the onsite manager of the Oceanic Microbial Observatory, a collaboration between BIOS, the Carlson laboratory at the University of California, and Dr. Stephen Giovanonni's laboratory at Oregon State University.

Current Research:

• Fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) using oligonucleotide probes to identify specific bacteria species within the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS).
• Temporal and spatial distribution of three bacteria species within the time-series study at BATS.
• Spatial and temporal viroplankton distributions within the time-series study at BATS.

Educational Background:

• M.Sc. Aquatic Resource Management, King's College, London, 1993
• B.Sc. Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry (Hons), University of Nottingham, 1991
• International Baccalaureate, United World College of the Atlantic, S. Wales, 1988

Selected Publications:

• Carlson, C.A., S.J. Giovannoni, D.A. Hansell, S.J. Goldberg, R. Parsons and K. Vergin. 2004. Interactions between DOC, microbial processes and community structure in the mesopelagic zone of the northwestern Sargasso Sea. Limnology and Oceanography, 49:1073-1083
• Venter, J.C., K. Remington, A.L. Halpern, S. Levy, J. Heidelberg, J.A. Eisen, I. Paulsen, K.E. Nelson, D.E. Fouts, W. Nelson, D. Rusch, A.H. Knap, M.W. Lomas, K. Nealson, O. White, J. Peterson, H.O. Smith, J. Hoffman, R. Parsons, C. Pfannkoch and Y. Rogers. 2004. Environmental whole genome shotgun sequencing: The Sargasso Sea. Science, 304:66-74
• Carlson, C.A., S.J. Giovannoni, D.A. Hansell, S.J. Goldberg, R.J. Parsons, M.P. Otero, K. Vergin and B.R. Wheeler. 2002. The effect of nutrient amendments on bacterioplankton production, community structure and DOC utilization in the northwest Sargasso Sea. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 30(1):19-36.