Noelle is a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in chemical oceanography. She received her B.S. in chemistry from Stetson University. Noelle is interested in why marine microbes need certain nutrients, especially metals, and how they use these nutrients to live, grow and reproduce. To study this, she analyzes the proteome, or collection of proteins, that these organisms produce. Lately she has been interested in post-translational modification, the dynamic addition of chemicals to a protein. Post-translational modifications can change the biochemistry of a protein, and are therefore important for cell signaling and function. She will be conducting a number of shipboard incubations to study the proteins and post-translational modifications of the microbes that live in the tropical Pacific. She will also assist in the collection of trace metal and proteome samples from the oxygen-deficient zone (ODZ) with the Saito lab.
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