Education

• B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1987
• Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, 1993

Research Interests

My research interests are in zooplankton ecology and physiology, coastal and deep-sea food webs, nutrient cycling, and marine detritus ("marine snow"). Much of my current focus is how zooplankton community structure affects flux of organic material and cycling of nutrients in the sea. Our laboratory has recently been involved in a number of projects with this theme, including the role of zooplankton vertical migration in transport of nutrients, the ecology of gelatinous zooplankton "blooms" and their affect on fluxes of organic matter, the importance of zooplankton in the cycling of dissolved organic matter, mesopelagic zooplankton and particle flux, and the effects of mesoscale eddies on zooplankton community structure. We are also using long-term data sets to study the effects of climate change on zooplankton communities, and how these community changes may affect ocean biogeochemistry. I have worked in a number of marine environments including coastal California, the Antarctic, Bermuda and the Sargasso Sea, the subtropical and subarctic North Pacific, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Current Projects

• Amazon Influence on the Atlantic: Carbon export from nitrogen fixation by Diatom Symbioses (ANACONDAS) (NSF OCE/ETBC)
• Carbon flux through the twilight zone- new tools to measure change (NSF OCE)
• Palmer, Antarctica Long Term Ecological Research:  Looking back in time through marine ecosystem space (NSF OPP)
• From Microbes to Mammals: Studying Climate Induced Changes in the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem with a Robotic Cluster (Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation)  
• Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS): Years 21-25 (NSF  OCE, subcontract)

Selected Publications

• Steinberg, D.K., B. A. S. Van Mooy, K. O. Buesseler, P. P. Boyd, T. Kobari, and D. M. Karl.  2008. Bacterial vs. zooplankton control of sinking particle flux in the ocean's twilight zone.  Limnology and Oceanography.  53 (4): 1327-1338.
• Steinberg, D.K., J. S. Cope, S. E. Wlson, and T. Kobari.  2008. A comparison of mesopelagic mesozooplankton community structure in the subtropical and subarctic North Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research II  55(14-15): 1615-1635.
• Goldthwait, S. A., and  D.K. Steinberg. 2008.  Elevated Biomass of Mesozooplankton and Enhanced Fecal Pellet Flux in Cold-Core and Mode-Water Eddies in the Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Research II   55 (10-13): 1360-1377.
• Buesseler, K., C. H. Lamborg, P. W. Boyd, P.J. Lam, F. Dehairs, P. Lam, T. W. Trull, R. R. Bidigare, J. K. Bishop, K.L. Casciotti, F. Dehairs, M. Elskens, M. Honda, D. M. Karl, D. A. Siegel, M. W. Silver, D. K. Steinberg, J. Valdes, B. Van Mooy, and S. E. Wilson.  2007.  Revisiting carbon flux through the ocean's twilight zone.  Science 316:  567-570
• McGillicuddy, D. J.,  L. A. Anderson, N. R. Bates, T. Bibby, K. O. Buesseler, C. Carlson, C. S. Davis, C. Ewart, P. G. Falkowski, S. A. Goldthwait, D. A. Hansell, W. J. Jenkins, R. Johnson, V.K. Kosnyrev, J. R. Ledwell, Q. P. Li, D. A. Siegel, D. K. Steinberg. 2007. Eddy-wind interactions stimulate extraordinary mid-ocean plankton blooms.  Science 316: 1021-1026.
• Steinberg, D.K., N.B. Nelson, C.A. Carlson, and A. Prusak. 2004. Production of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the open ocean by zooplankton and the colonial cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. Marine Ecology Progress Series 267: 45-56.
• Steinberg, D.K., S.A. Goldthwait, and D.A. Hansell. 2002. Zooplankton vertical migration and the active transport of dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen in the Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Research I 49: 1445-1461.
• Steinberg, D.K., C.A. Carlson, N.R. Bates, R.J. Johnson, A.F. Michaels, and A.F. Knap. 2001. Overview of the U.S. JGOFS Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS): A decade-scale look at ocean biology and biogeochemistry. Deep-Sea Research II. 48: 1405-1447
• Steinberg, D.K., C.A. Carlson, N.R. Bates, S.A. Goldthwait, L.P. Madin, and A.F. Michaels. 2000. Zooplankton vertical migration and the active transport of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon in the Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Res. I 47: 137-158.

Students and Post-doctoral Associates

Current Students

• Brandon Conroy, Ph.D. student, Mesozooplankton community composition and grazing in the Amazon River plume
• Lori Price, M.S. student, Microzooplankton community composition and grazing west of the Antarctic Peninsula
• Kate Ruck, M.S. student, Lipid composition of Antarctic zooplankton and role in higher trophic level nutrition
• Joshua Stone, Ph.D. student, Gelatinous zooplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay

Current Post-docs

• Dr. Kim Bernard, Antarctic mesozooplankton grazing and use of gliders and acoustics to estimate Antarctic zooplankton biomass

Past Students

• Grace Henderson, Ph.D. awarded 2009, The role of copepods and heterotrophic dinoflagellates in the production of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nutrients (currently a post-doctoral scholar at Rutgers University)
• Stephanie Wilson, Ph.D. awarded 2009, Mesopelagic zooplankton feeding ecology and effects on particle repackaging and carbon transport in the subtropical and subarctic North Pacific Ocean  (currently a post-doctoral scholar at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
• Rob Condon, Ph.D. awarded 2008, Impacts  of gelatinous zooplankton on dissolved organic matter cycling and bacterioplankton communities in the York River estuary (currently an Assistant Research Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences)
• Bethany Eden, M.S. awarded 2008, Zooplankton community structure in a cyclonic and mode-water eddy in the  Sargasso Sea (currently a teacher– at the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School)
• Astrid Schnetzer, Ph.D. awarded 2001, (University of Austria, Vienna), Zooplankton vertical migration and POM transport in the Sargasso Sea.  (currently a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California)

Past Post-docs

• Dr. Sarah Goldthwait, Zooplankton and biogeochemical cycling in mesoscale eddies (currently an Asst. Professor at California State University, Humboldt)

Courses Taught

• MSCI 501: Fundamentals of Marine Science, Biological Oceanography
• MSCI 652: Marine Plankton Ecology, with Hugh Ducklow
• MSCI 660: Zooplankton Ecology, with Kam Tang
• MSCI 698: Special Topics - Dissolved Organic Matter in Aquatic Systems, with Deborah Bronk
• MSCI 698: Special Topics - Respiration in Aquatic Ecosystems, with Elizabeth Canuel

Awards

• 2007 - Winner of William and Mary Raft Debate
• 2006 - Dean's Prize for Advancement of Women in Marine Science
• 2005 - College of William & Mary Term Distinguished Professor of Marine Science
• 2005 - Elected to the Board of Trustees, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc.
• 2004 - Program mentor, DIALOG (Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Limnology and Oceanography) program
• 2001 - Elected Secretary, Ocean Sciences section, American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• 1987 - National Science Foundation Antarctic Service Award

Professional Memberships

• American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)
• The Oceanography Society (TOS)
• American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Collaborative/Interdisciplinary Efforts

• Panel member, International Council of Scientific Unions, Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR)
• Sargasso Sea Ocean Observatory (S2O2) A consortium of researchers from many institutions
• Current research projects listed above are all collaborative and interdisciplinary