Institution: Bowdoin College

Department: Biological Sciences

Position on Cruise: Principle Investigator (PI)

Hometown: Brunswick, Maine

Research Interests: Dr. Thornhill is interested in the evolution and ecology of marine invertebrates, especially those that form symbioses with eukaryotic or prokaryotic microbes. He investigates these organisms through interdisciplinary research (ranging from population genetics and photosystem biochemistry to marine ecology and physical oceanography) to test specific, theoretically-derived hypotheses. His past and current research examines a variety of marine organisms and habitats. Most recently, he has worked on marine organisms from tropical coral reefs, Norwegian fjords, deep-sea cold methane seeps, aquaculture ponds, and the waters around Antarctica. Most of his work has focused on symbiosis in corals and siboglinid annelids. In addition to being also important 'keystone' species in coral reef and chemosynthetic ecosystems, these organisms offer a diversity of both host and symbiont taxa, enabling comparative testing of many ecological and evolutionary hypotheses.

Email Dr. Thornhill