M.Sc. Student
| email: rebeccamcrawford@uvic.ca lab phone: 250-472-5427 |
Research Interests
Microbial diversity and interactions in arctic and subarctic oceans.
Oceans of Biodiversity- Protist diversity
This project is aimed at studying phytoplankton diversity in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans as a part of the joint Oceans of Biodiversity Project between the University of Victoria, Oceans Networks Canada, the Haiki institute, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This branch of the project works to further uncover phytoplankton diversity through the use of high through-put sequencing technologies. Taxa will be analysed alongside oceanographic data and genetic surveys collected from different trophic levels by other branches of the project to better understand marine biodiversity and food web dynamics in this region as a whole.
Fungal Parasitism of Phytoplankton
Fungal parasitism of phytoplankton has been well studied in the freshwater environment, but has only recently been observed in the marine environment. Genetic surveys show chytrids, a notable group of zoosporic fungi, are abundant throughout arctic and coastal ecosystems and are suspected to parasitize diatoms in these environments. This project aims to better understand the impact chytrids may have on phytoplankton in Pacific and Arctic oceans by investigating their host range and genetic diversity.
Education
2020- present M.Sc., Biology, University of Victoria
2016-2020 B.Sc., Oceanography, Minor in Chemistry, Oregon State University
Publications
Baumberger, T., Merle, S. G., Wilkinson, C., Buck, N. J., Roe, K. K., Seabrook, S., Crawford, R., Embley, R. W., Butterfield, D. A., Resing, J. A., Lilley, M. D., Raineault, N., & Lupton, J. E. (2018). Characterization of Recently Located Methane Seeps on the Cascadia Margin. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, 33.
Baumberger, T., Merle, S., Wilkinson, C., Roe, K., Buck, N., Embley, R., Raineault, N., Seabrook, S., Crawford, R. (2019). Further Exploration of Methane Seeps on the Cascadia Margin. Oceanography. 32 (1) supplement, 40-41.
BS in Oceanography, Minor in Fashion, Oregon State University
With changes at higher latitudes occurring at twice the rate as other regions around the globe, it has become crucial to observe these trends and their effects on marine life. Understanding changes at the microbial level is especially important as they serve as the base of the food web, and greatly influence higher trophic levels. This project is therefore aimed at studying phytoplankton jeans to better understand current and projected trends in fashion. This work incorporates the use of metabarcoding technologies so that the most fashionable jeans may be barcoded and sold as quickly as possible as to allow higher trophic levels to adapt to such rapid changes in style.