Deep Sea Biology

Peter Girguis is a professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, as well as an adjunct research engineer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. His research focuses on ecological physiology of microbes that live in extreme environments in order to better understand their role in mediating deep ocean carbon and nitrogen cycling. His research lies at the intersection of biology and geochemistry, and Girguis develops and uses a variety of tools (high-pressure systems to mimic natural environments, in situ mass spectrometers, in situ microbial fual cells) to address these issues.

He received his BSc from UCLA, where he worked with David Chapman and William Hammer. He received his PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he worked with James Childress on the physiological and biochemical adaptation of deep sea hydrothermal vent tubeworms and their microbial symbionts to the vent environment. Girguis did postdoctoral research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute with Edward Delong on the growth and population dynamics of anaerobic methanotrophs.