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USC College > Faculty > Departments > Department of Biological Sciences > Karla Heidelberg
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Karla Heidelberg

Assistant Professor

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

LINKS
Faculty Profile on Departmental Website
Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies
 

Education
B.A. Liberal Arts, 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, 6/1999-8/2001  
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 8/14/2006-  
 

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; Protistian 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
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. (2007). The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Metagenomic Characterization of Viruses within Aquatic Microbial Samples. PLoS ONE.
Souza, V., Bonilla-Rosso, G., Falcon, L. I., Espinosa-Asuar, L., Eguiarte, L. E., Castillo, A., Escalante, A. E., Cerritos, R., Heidelberg, K., Rusch, D. B., Halpern, A. L., Segovia, L., Venter, J. C. (2007). Microbial Diversity and Nitrogen Cycle Potential Assessment in a Marine Microbial Community from the Yucatan Channel through Metagenomic Analysis. PLoS Biology.
Rojas-Jimenez, K., Del Valle, C., Leon, B., Ulate, W., Albertazzi, F., Rousch, D., Heidelberg, K., Tamayo-Castillo, G. (2007). Study of the Diversity of Marine Microorganisms of Coco’s Island Based on Environmental DNA Samples. Syst Appl Microbiol.
Heidelberg, K. B., Bythell, J., Oneill, K. L., Sebens, K. P. (2007). Vertical Distribution and Diel Patterns of Zooplankton over a Florida Coral Reef. J. Plank. Res.
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.
 

Service to the University

Administrative Appointments
USC Diving Control Board, 5/2007-  
 

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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