The Microzooplankton Lab

We study zooplankton, specifically the single-celled protozoans that are responsible for most of the consumption in planktonic food webs. These organisms, which include a variety of flagellates and ciliates, can grow rapidly and have high metabolic rates. They form important links in the food web between microbial producers and multicellular organisms such as copepods and fish. They are called "microzooplankton" because they are at the smaller end of the size spectrum for all zooplankton. Most are no longer than the width of a human hair (0.05 mm).

Our research has been supported by the National Science Foundation*, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, SeaGrant, the State of California Bay Delta Program, and the University of Connecticut.

*Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.