[IIGB_All] SEMINAR: Brianna Garcia Candidate for Assistant Professor in Computational and/or Analytical Metabolomics

[IIGBadmin IIGBadmin]

Brianna Garcia

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Candidate for  Assistant Professor in Computational and/or Analytical
Metabolomics
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*Chemical Signatures of Coastal Ecosystem Health*

*Date:* Thursday , February 26, 2026

*Time: *2:00 -3:00 pm

*Location: *Genomics Auditorium

*Abstract:*

Coastal marine ecosystems are vital to billions of people worldwide, yet
are increasingly threatened by climate change and human activities.
Understanding how these forces reshape ecosystem function requires linking
biochemical processes across scales, from cellular and organismal dynamics
to broader ecosystem processes. Metabolomics is a powerful tool, leveraging
chemistry and systems biology, to study the metabolic changes caused by
genetic, environmental, or biological factors. Integrating metabolomics
with ecological and
biogeochemical analyses provides a framework to resolve connections between
environmental change and coastal ecosystem health. For example, multi-omics
studies in coral reef and seagrass habitats reveal how habitat type,
hydrodynamics, and daily temporal cycles shape metabolite and microbial
variability, providing baseline data against which future human impacts and
natural stressors can be evaluated. At finer scales, uncovering the unique
chemical microenvironments of coral tissue, mucus, and skeleton illustrates
how metabolomics can reveal the biochemical conditions that influence
host–microbe interactions and stress responses. Future applications of
these approaches across diverse coastal systems as well as developing
spatially resolved, in situ metabolomic tools could offer scalable insights
into metabolite-mediated microbial interactions and environmental
gradients. This work not only enables early detection of ecosystem changes
but also supports actionable strategies for monitoring, restoration, and
conservation, helping local, regional, and global stakeholders protect and
sustain coastal ecosystems under the pressures of global change.
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