Genomics and Deep-Sea Microbiology: Computational Innovations in Biological Research

Abstract

Exploration of Earth’s biological diversity has accelerated in recent history because of advances in genomics technologies. This acceleration is due to the combined application of 1) high-throughput molecular sequencing techniques to generate massive catalogs of DNA (and other) sequence data and 2) advances in computational tools and workflows enabling findable, accessible, interoperable, and reproducible biological research. This presentation combines my experience with deep subseafloor microbiology and computational tools and highlights aquatic and biological science opportunities for the computationally inclined.

Speaker Biography

Since July 2022, Sean’s primary appointment has been as a Research Faculty at the Estuary and Ocean Science Center and as an Adjunct Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. He also holds a Research Affiliate position with the Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which augments his pre-SFSU activities working with the System Biology Knowledge Base (KBase) project. Sean is experience at the interface of microbiology, environmental sciences, molecular sequencing, and computational biology, and he works on many topics, including developing software that enables and accelerates research outcomes across diverse fields of biological sciences. Sean received his BS in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Hawaii. He performed Postdoctoral Research and worked at the University of Hawaii, the University of Southern California, and the DOE Joint Genome Institute.