Rachel Sipler

Background

About Rachel Sipler

The interdisciplinary nature of my research is my greatest strength as a scientist and especially as a collaborator. I am a biologist that uses cutting edge chemical tools to determine what compounds microorganisms produced and consume. I am a biogeochemist that uses isotopes to ask physiology and nutrient cycling questions. I am also a blue-water oceanographer that works in wastewater treatment plants. I see the intrinsic biological/ chemical connections and possess the skills to conduct research and mentor students at the crossroads of both disciplines. My research uses both traditional and cutting-edge techniques to quantify how changes in the physical and chemical environment may impact coastal microbial community composition, metabolic rates and aquatic food webs. Although the focus of my research has varied from constrained mechanistic studies investigating the response of specific phytoplankton species to a single organic matter source, to complex studies examining community scale microbial responses to an array of physical and chemical changes, the overarching goal of my research remains the same: to determine how coastal phytoplankton and bacterial communities will respond to changes in their environment. Many of my past, current, and proposed projects focus on the impact of anthropogenic or natural dissolved organic matter on microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling in estuarine and marine systems including coastal bays (Sipler and Seitzinger 2008; Sipler et al. 2014), the Gulf of Mexico (Sipler et al. 2013; Bronk et al. 2014; Killberg-Thoreson et al. 2014; Sipler et al. 2014), Southern California (Spackeen et al. submitted), Chesapeake Bay (Killberg-Thoreson et al. 2013), the Arctic Ocean(Baer et al. 2014; Sipler et al. submitted), and the Antarctic (Bertrand et al. 2015, Schofield et al. 2015; Sipler and Connelly 2015).