Craig Nelson

Associate Specialist, Marine Science Institute
photo of Craig Nelson


I am a microbial systems biologist specializing in the structure and function of natural bacterial communities in aquatic habitats such as coral reefs, lakes, streams, and the open ocean. My research broadly seeks to identify novel bacteria and understand their role in ecosystem processes and biogeochemical transformations. Much of my work centers around culture-independent characterization of natural microbial communities, including taxonomic and metagenomic structure, and measurement of biogeochemical processes and chemical constituents in the surrounding environment which regulate and are regulated by these microbes. I maintain ancillary projects understanding the microbiomes of humans and other animals (corals, amphibians, insects) and studying bacterial pathogens in natural waters in the context of water quality.

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