The San Pedro Ocean Time-Series (SPOT) station is a point in the middle of the San Pedro Channel half way between the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor and the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island. The station is visited monthly and the time-series is basically continuous since 1998. This basin is 900 m deep and is suboxic below about 500 m. The USC Wrigley Institute makes basic hydrographic, nutrient and biological measurements over the entire 900 m water column. Other scientists conduct measurements of their own along side of the SPOT team, including a well developed microbial observatory project (see below) and a sediment trap mooring (Berelson).

Participants: Anthony F. Michaels, Dave Caron, Jed Fuhrman, Doug Capone, Will Berelson

This research area involves a mixture of research projects, largely using modern molecular approaches to improve fisheries management and aquaculture. These projects also include direct work with the full spectrum of stakeholders concerned with the management of coastal fisheries and with the supply of seafood to restaurants and the public. It has been generously supported by Mr. Paxson Offield and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Participants: Dennis Hedgecock, Donal Manahan, Suzanne Edmands, Andy Gracey, Anthony F. Michaels, Dale A. Kiefer

What controls the growth and development of marine animals? How do the larvae of marine animal thrive in extreme environments like the Antarctic and deep sea? What is the genetic basis of variation in animal growth rate and growth efficiency? How can an understanding of larval physiology improve both the management of wild populations and the growth of an aquaculture industry?

Participants: Donal Manahan

Will you get sick if you swim at the beach? What are the economic costs and benefits to society of clean and dirty beaches? Faculty and students are developing new techniques for detecting pathogens and harmful protists in the coastal ocean (Jed Fuhrman, Dave Caron, Rachel Noble, Burton Jones, students).These new techniques have begun to characterize the potential exposure of swimmers. It complements the earlier epidemiology research that showed an increased risk of illness for people who swim near running storm drains (Haile et al). These scientists are leading an effort to set up a comprehensive ocean observing system in Southern California, including the use of robots with modern sensors to rapidly detect harmful agents.

The USC Sea Grant Program

Sea Grant is a federal program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It provides funds for research that meets state needs and the State of California provides additional matching funds. USC operates one of two special institutional programs that have a unique theme. Our theme is the "Urban Ocean" and each year, we run a peer-reviewed competition to disperse about $1 million in federal funds under this topic. This ability to give grants under a theme also allows us to coordinate the local science community at a higher level as they compete to participate.

Ocean Biology, Plankton Ecology and Global Climate

How does the ecology of the ocean control the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? What global and local processes control the structure of ocean ecosystems? How does the structure of an ecosystem control nutrient cycles? Research projects include two NSF-funded "Biocomplexity" grants for $7.5 million that we were awarded after competing with 114 other research groups around the nation.

Participants: Jed Fuhrman, Dave Caron, Douglas Capone, Anthony F. Michaels

How do populations of marine fish and invertebrates breed and disperse into the environment? What do these patterns tell us about sustainability of fisheries and the recovery of endangered species? What can we learn about the appropriate design and management of marine refuges?

Participants: Suzanne Edmands

Ecosystems, environments and human civilizations are all "Complex" systems. They are composed of a large number of interacting and adapting parts. These kinds of systems have a special set of properties that require new approaches and yields new insights. We have been hiring faculty who use these new approaches and are trying to directly address some of the kinds of problems that were difficult to study using traditional approaches. This program is an umbrella for bringing these scientists together across USC to share insights and approaches.

Participants: Anthony F. Michaels, Douglas Capone, Myrna Jacobson

The San Pedro channel includes a variety of oceanic habitats including coastal and oceanic surface waters and a deep, sub-oxic basin. These habitats have unique microbial communities that also change through time. Through a NSF-funded project, USC scientists will determine the current and future status of microbial ecosystems in the nearshore waters near Catalina Island.

Participants: Jed Fuhrman, Dave Caron.

This software is a modeling framework for analyzing environmental questions. It provides an ocean Geographic Information System (GIS) which can bring together remote sensing imagery, in situ data and dynamical models to allow for a detailed, spatially-resolved modeling capability in the oceans. It has been used in fisheries, coastal environmental quality and water quality in reservoirs. It is a key component of the upcoming "Census of Fishes" and "Census of Marine Life" programs. It is the data system for an emerging coastal observing system in California.

Participants: Dale A. Kiefer

What controls the major elemental cycles in the ocean? How does a combination of ocean biology, chemistry, geology and physics determine the distribution of major elements in the sea? How does the combination influence the partitioning of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide between the ocean and atmosphere? How does the sedimentary record tell us the past patterns of ocean biogeochemistry and climate?

Participants: Will Berelson, Douglas E. Hammond, Teh-Lung (Richard) Ku, Douglas Capone, Anthony F. Michaels, Dave Caron, Jed Fuhrman

Why do some marine plants suddenly take over whole ecosystems (e.g. Red Tides, Brown Tides, toxic algal blooms)? Throughout the world there are intermittent periods where one kind of marine plant or protist comes to dominate the ecosystem. Sometimes these blooms are toxic, sometimes the fallout from the bloom kills other organisms and sometimes they are harmless discolorations of the sea.

Participants: Dave Caron

At the junction of biology and earth sciences are a range of processes where living organisms, mostly microbes, influence geochemistry and vice versa. These processes are important for the cycling of elements, the geological history of the earth, the remediation of pollution and life on other planets.

Participants: Ken Nealson, Will Berelson, Wiebke Ziebis, Doug Capone

Evincing rivalness and open access, highly migratory species like tunas, swordfish, and marlins, are the epitome of global common pool resources. There has been much pessimism regarding the ability of national governments to cooperatively manage these important fishes at sustainable levels.  Actually, regional fisheries organizations have failed to maintain many stocks at maximum sustainable yield but, by adopting new management measures, they have succeeded in rebuilding some populations.  The purpose of this research is to understand varigations in the application and effectiveness of international reglations for highly migratory species.   Using a multidisciplinary approach, we extend the traditional bioeconomic cycles of exploitation to include political responses to the costs of overfishing.  This allows us to identify the circumstances under which negative cycles of resource use are self-limiting and when they are not.