USC Department of Biology
People Undergraduate Marine Environmental Biology Molecular and Computational Biology Integrative and Evolutionary Biology Neurobiology
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Students
  • Post Docs

Faculty

Biological Sciences has more than 60 full-time faculty members, as well as more than 20 faculty with joint appointments and 15 visiting or adjunct professors. Among its many distinctions and honors, the Ph.D. program faculty includes two members of the National Academy of Sciences, four members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 18 holders of endowed chairs and professorships.

Astrid Schnetzer

Assistant Professor (research) of Biological Sciences

Contact Information
E-mail: astrids@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-3675
Office: AHF 107

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Website
 

Education

  • B.S. Zoology, University of Vienna, Austria, 1995
  • M.S. Zoology /Ecology, University of Vienna, Austria, 1996
  • Ph.D. Marine Biology, University of Vienna, Austria, 2001

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Non-Tenure Track Appointments
  • Research Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 2006-  
PostDoctoral Appointments
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Southern California, 01/01/2002-12/31/2005  

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Plankton food web dynamics, microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling. Research projects focus on studying protistan species composition in different geographical regions / habitats (coastal waters, Antarctica, deep sea), trophic interactions that impact protistan community structure (mesozooplankton feeding), the ecology of harmful algae blooms and the identification of key factors that promote growth and toxin production in harmful algae species (eg, Pseudo-nitzschia spp.).

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

  • Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies,http://wrigley.usc.edu/

Publications

Book Chapter
  • Caron, D. A., Schnetzer, A. (2006). Protistan community structure. Manual of Environmental Microbiology/ASM.
Journal Article
  • Schnetzer, A., Moorthi, S., Countway, P. D., Gast, R. J., Gilg, I. C., Caron, D. A. (in preparation) Depth matters: Microbial eukaryote diversity and community structure in the eastern North Pacific as indicated by environmental gene libraries. Deep Sea Research I.
  • Smith, R. N., Janeshwar, D., Hordur, H., Peirera, A., Arrichiello, P., Cetinic, I., Darjany, L., Garneau, M., Howard, M., Oberg, C., Ragan, M., Seubert, E., Smith, E. C., Stauffer, B., Schnetzer, A., Toro-Farmer, G., Caron, D. A., Jones, B. H., Sukhatme, G. (2009). The USC Center for Integrated Networked Aquatic PlatformS (CINAPS): Observing and Monitoring the Southern California Bight . IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine..
  • Caron, D. A., Garneau, M., Seubert, E., Howard, M., Darjany, L., Schnetzer, A., Cetinic, I., Filteau, I., Lauri, P., Jones, B. H., Trussell, S. (2009). Harmful algae and their potential impacts on desalination operations off Southern California. Water Research.
  • Gilg, I. C., Amaral_Zettler, L. A., Countway, P. D., Moorthi, S., Schnetzer, A., Caron, D. A. (2009). Phylogenetic affiliations of mesopelagic acantharia and acantharian-like environmental 18S rRNA genes in the San Pedro Channel. Protist.
  • Wood, E. S., Schnetzer, A., Benetiz-Nelson, C. R., Anderson, C., Berelson, W., Brezinski, M., Burns, J., Caron, D. A., Cetinic, I., Ferry, J., Fitzpatrick, E., Jones, B. H., Miller, P. E., Morton, S. L., Schaffner, R. A., Siegel, D., Thunell, R. (2009). Rapid downward transport of the neurotoxin domoic acid in coastal waters. Nature Geoscience. Vol. 2 (4), pp. 272-275.
  • Caron, D. A., Countway, P. D., Savai, P., Gast, R., Schnetzer, A., Moorthi, S., Dennett, M. R., Moran, D. M., Jones, A. C. (2009). Defining DNA-Based Operational Taxonomic Units for Microbial-Eukaryote Ecology. Applied Environmental Microbiology. Vol. 75 (18), pp. 5797–5808.
  • Litaker, W. R., Stewart, T. N., Eberhart, B. T., Wekell, J. C., Trainer, V. L., Kudela, V. L., Miller, P. E., Roberts, A., Hertz, C., Johnson, T. A., Frankfurter, G., Smith, J., Schnetzer, A., Schumacker, J., Bastian, J. L., Odell, A., Gentien, P., Le Gal, D., Hardison, D. R., Tester, T. A. (2008). Rapid Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detection of the Algal Toxin Domoic Acid. Journal of Shellfish Research. Vol. 27, pp. 1-10.
  • Schnetzer, A., Miller, P. E., Schaffner, R. A., Stauffer, B. A., Jones, B. H., Weisberg, S. B., DiGiacomo, P. M., Berelson, W. M., Caron, D. A. (2007). Blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia and Domoic Acid in the San Pedro Channela and Los Angeles harbor areas of the Southern California Bight, 2003-2004. Harmful Algae. Vol. 6 (3), pp. 372-387.
  • Schnetzer, A., Caron, D. A. (2006). Copepod grazing impact on the trophic structure of the microbial assemblage of the San Pedro Channel, California. Journal of Plankton Research/Oxford. Vol. 27, pp. 959-972.
  • Schnetzer, A., Steinberg, D. K. (2002). Active Transport of particulate organic carbon and nitrogen by vertically migrating zooplankton in the Sargasso Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series/Inter Research. Vol. 234, pp. 71-84.
  • Schnetzer, A., Steinberg, D. K. (2002). Diets of Vertically Migrating Zooplankton in the Sargasso Sea. Marine Biology/SpringerLink. Vol. 141(1), pp. 89-99.

Honors and Awards

  • Women Evolving Biological Sciences (WEBS) participant, National Science Foundation's ADVANCE Program, Fall 2008   
  • Two-year Schrödinger Stipend for Postdoctoral Studies awarded from the Austrian Science Fund, 2/1/2002-2/1/2004  
  • Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research Program Participant, Spring 2003   

Service to the Profession

Professional Memberships
  • International Society for the Study of Harmful Alga, 2006-  
  • The Oceanography Society, 2005-  
  • American Geophysical Union, 2001-  
  • American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 2001-  


Contact - Glen Smith - Department of Biological Sciences | Hancock Auditorium and Museum (AHF) 107G
University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA 90089-0371
(213) 740-5774 Tel. | (213) 740-8123 Fax | E-mail: glensmit@usc.edu