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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.

Karla Heidelberg

Assistant Professor

Contact Information
E-mail: Kheidelb@usc.edu
Phone: (310) 510-4038
Office: AHF 232

LINKS
Faculty Profile on Departmental Website
Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies
Personal Lab Web page
 

Education

  • B.A. Individualized Major, Maryville College, TN, 1988
  • Ph.D. Marine-Estuarine Environmental Science, University of Maryland, College Park, 1998

Postdoctoral Training

  • Department of Biology Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Maryland, College Park, 06/1999-08/2001  

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 08/14/2006-  

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Dr. Heidelberg’s group researches the genetic, biochemical, and metabolic properties of naturally occurring prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial assemblages by pairing contemporary genomic technologies with more traditional lab and field approaches. The knowledge gained through genomic approaches provides the basis to evaluate microbial diversity and the fundamental physiological and ecological principles governing the activities and interactions of microbial taxa in studied habitats. Understanding these interactions and their resultant biogeochemical activities is an exciting avenue of research given that much of the energy flow and elemental cycling is not only conducted by microorganisms, but dictated by their trophic interactions. Current research programs focus on microbial consortia from hypersaline environments, a variety of marine environments, and soil communities.
Research Keywords
Marine and environmental microbiology and ecology; Protist diversity; Environmental genomics and transcriptomics

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

  • J. Craig Venter Institute, Adjunct Scientist, Environmental Genomics Division,http://www.jcvi.org/
  • Wrigley Institute of Marine Studies, Resident Faculty,http://wrigley.usc.edu/

Other Research

  • Heidelberg, JF. Environmental Genome Shotgun Sequencing: Ocean Microbial Populations off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada (Collaborator), 2006-  
  • Kjelleberg, S, P Steinberg, T. Thomas, A. Halpern, KB Heidelberg, JC Venter. Environmental Genomics and Novel Bioactives from Microbial Communities on Living Marine Surfaces. Australian Research Council. (Co-I through J. Craig Institute)., 2006-  
  • Mele, P, B. Cocks, D Hartman, KB Heidelberg, A. Oxley, M. Brownstein, JC Venter. Biosphere Genomics for Agricultural Systems: Accelerating the Development of DNA-based Tools for Health using a Biome Sequencing Approach. Department of Primary Industries, State of Victoria, Australia. (Co-I through J. Craig Venter Institute)., 2006-  

Publications

Journal Article
  • Heidelberg, K. B., Bythell, J., Oneill, K. L., Sebens, K. P. (2009). Vertical Distribution and Diel Patterns of Zooplankton over a Florida Coral Reef. J. Plank. Res.
  • Caron, D. A., Gast, R. J., Countway, P. D., Heidelberg, K. B. (2009). Microbial Eukaryote Diversity and Biogeography (Featured Article). Microbe. Vol. 4 (2), pp. 71-77.
  • Williamson, S., Rusch, D., Yooseph, S., Halpern, A., Heidelberg, K., Glass, J., Andrews-Pfannkoch, C., Fadrosh, D., Miller, C., Sutton, G., Frazier, M., Venter, J. C. (2008). The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Metagenomic Characterization of Viruses within Aquatic Microbial Samples. PLoS ONE. Vol. 3 (1), pp. e1456. PubMed Web Address
  • Caron, D. A., Worden, A. Z., Countway, P. D., Demir, E., Heidelberg, K. B. (2008). Protists are Microbes Too: A Perspective. Int. Soc. Microbial Ecol.. Vol. 3, pp. 4-12. PubMed Web Address
  • Yooseph, S., Sutton, G., Rusch, D. B., Halpern, A. L., Williamson, S. J., Remington, K., Eisen, J. A., Heidelberg, K. B., Manning, G., Li, W., Jaroszewski, L., Cieplak, P., Miller, C. S., Li, H., Mashiyama, S. T., Joachimiak, M. P., van Belle, C., Chandonia, J., Soergel, D. A., Zhai, Y., Natarajan, K., Lee, S., Raphael, B. J., Bafna, V., Friedman, R., Brenner, S. E., Godzik, A., Eisenberg, D., Dixon, J. E., Taylor, S. S., Strausberg, R. L., Frazier, M., Venter, J. C. (2007). The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Expanding the Universe of Protein Families (Cover). PLoS Biology. Vol. 5, pp. e16. PubMed Web Address
  • Rusch, D. B., Halpern, A. L., Sutton, G., Heidelberg, K. B., Williamson, S., Yooseph, S., Wu, D., Eisen, J. A., Hoffman, J. M., Remington, K., Beeson, K., Tran, B., Smith, H., Baden-Tillson, H., Stewart, C., Thorpe, J., Freeman, J., Andrews-Pfannkoch, C., Venter, J. E., Li, K., Kravitz, S., Heidelberg, J. F., Utterback, T., Rogers, Y., Falcon, L. I., Souza, V., Bonilla-Rosso, G., Eguiarte, L. E., Karl, D. M., Sathyendranath, S., Platt, T., Bermingham, E., Gallardo, V., Tamayo-Castillo, G., Ferrari, M. R., Strausberg, R. L., Nealson, K., Friedman, R., Frazier, M., Venter, J. C. (2007). The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Northwest Atlantic through Eastern Tropical Pacific (Cover). PLoS Biology. Vol. 5, pp. e77. PubMed Web Address
  • Heidelberg, K. B., Heidelberg, J. F. (2005). Marine Environmental Genomics: New Secretes from a Mysterious Ocean. Marine Technology Society Journal. Vol. 39 (3), pp. 94-98.
  • Heidelberg, K. B., Sebens, K. P., Purcell, J. E. (2004). Composition and Sources of Near Reef Zooplankton on a Jamaican Forereef, with Implications for Coral Feeding. Coral Reefs. Vol. 23, pp. 263-276.
  • Heidelberg, J. F., Heidelberg, K. B., Colwell, R. R. (2002). Bacteria of the gamma-Subclass Proteobacteria Associated with Zooplankton in Chesapeake Bay. Appl. Env. Microbiol.. Vol. 68, pp. 5498-5507. PubMed Web Address
  • Heidelberg, J. F., Heidelberg, K. B., Colwell, R. R. (2002). Seasonality of Chesapeake Bay Bacterioplankton Species. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.. Vol. 68 (11), pp. 5488-5497. PubMed Web Address
  • Heidelberg, K. B., Sebens, K. P., Purcell, J. E. (1997). Effects of Prey Escape Behavior and Water Flow on Prey Capture by the Scleractinian Coral, Meandrina meandrites. Proc. 8th Int Coral Reef Symp.. Vol. 2, pp. 1081-1086.
  • Kreps, T., Purcell, J. E., Heidelberg, K. B. (1997). Escape of the Ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi from the Scyphomedusa Predator Chrysaora quinquecirrha. Mar. Biol.. Vol. 128, pp. 441-446.
  • Ford, M. D., Costello, J. H., Heidelberg, K. B., Purcell, J. E. (1997). Swimming and Feeding by the Scyphomedusa, Chrysaora quinquecirrha. Mar. Biol.. Vol. 129, pp. 355-362.
Other
  • Remington, K. A., Heidelberg, K. B., Venter, J. C. (2005). Taking Metagenomic Studies in Context. Trends Microbiol.
Proceedings
  • Edgcomb, V. P., Biddle, J., Caron, D. A., Heidelberg, K. B., Countway, P. D., Teske, A. (2009). New Frontiers: The Evaluation of Eukaryotic Populations in the Deep Marine Subsurface: Scientific Goals and Approaches for Future Ocean Drilling Projects. Bremen. INVEST - IODP New Ventures in Exploring Scientific Targets. White Paper PDF

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works

  • Interactive Outreach Website, NSF Sponsored Outreach for a Hydrothermal vent cruise using the DSV Alvin. http://www.expeditions.udel.edu/, 2008-2009   
  • Interactive Outreach Website, Antarctic research Expedition website: http://128.125.202.141/pmwiki-2.1.27/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage, 2007-2008   
  • Discovery Channel Documentary, Science Advisor and featured in "Cracking the Ocean Code", 2004-2005   
  • Article, Research featured in National Geographic Adventure Magazine, 2002-2003   
  • Article, Research featured on CNN.com, Nature Section, 1999-2000   
  • Documentary, Research featured in Jason VII: Adapting to a Changing Sea, 1995-1996   
  • Interactive Outreach Website, NOAA Sponsored Outreach for Aquarius Underwater Habitat Saturation Research Mission: http://www.uncw.edu/aquarius/, 2000-2001   
  • Article and Training/Outreach Video, The Machine that Goes Ping: Article and web-based video designed to showcacse and explain environmental genomics to public. http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/the_machine_that_goes_ping.html, 2008-2009   
  • Magazine, Research featured in USC Trojan Family Magazine Article, "Blurring the Lines Between Earth and Life", 2008-2009   

Service to the University

Other Service to the University
  • USC Hyperbaric Dive Chamber Emergency Response Team Volunteer, Catalina Island. , 11/2006-  

Service to the Profession

Professional Memberships
  • International Society of Microbial Ecology, 2004-  
  • American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 1993-  
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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