Jeffrey W. Krause, Ph.D.

Bio

Dr. Jeff Krause aboard the R/V Sikuliaq during the 2017 ASGARD cruise in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. (Photo Credit Mr. Brandon Smith, North Pacific Research Board)  

As a Seattle-area native, my connection to the ocean started in childhood, but it was my 9th grade biology teacher’s inspiration that led to my pursuit of a career in marine science.  I arrived at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in December 2012 and affiliated with the University of South Alabama the following August.  My professional path started in Seattle and included stops in New York (Long Island University), Oregon (Oregon State University), and California (University of California Santa Barbara) prior to arriving in Alabama.  I am happy to call the Gulf Coast home and to be part of the DISL community.   

My laboratory studies how phytoplankton (marine single-cell plants), especially diatoms, cycle energy and elements in the ocean, and the processes promoting the efficient transfer of their material to higher organisms (e.g. primary and secondary consumers like zooplankton and larval fish).  My team conducts research from our local coastal waters to the vast open-ocean gyres, and we have worked in systems spanning from the equator to the high Arctic.  The Plankton Zoo, image below, was taken aboard a research cruise in the Alaskan Arctic and shows the marvelous diversity of organisms one can see by looking within a few milliliters of seawater. 

We are always looking for creative, motivated and hard-working individuals.  Please see the DISL Job Postings page for laboratory opportunities or email me to inquire about potential graduate student opportunities.

Research Interest

While phytoplankton may not sound important, nothing could be further from the truth.  Phytoplankton give us the three “F”s

1)  "Fumes” to breathe, specifically oxygen.  In fact, phytoplankton provide the oxygen in 1 of every 2 breaths we take, the rest comes from land plants.
2)   "Food” to eat.  Like plants on land, phytoplankton are the base of the oceanic food web, meaning nearly all animal life in the ocean ultimately depends on phytoplankton producing food through process of photosynthesis.
3)   "Fuel” to our way of life.  Many people joke that crude oil comes from dinosaurs, but crude oil is actually the ancient remains of phytoplankton which have been compressed and modified by the environment over millions of years. 

While my research is diverse, I am best known for studying diatoms, a group of phytoplankton which have a characteristic shell made of glass. Diatoms are important because:

     •  Globally, this group alone produces as much of the oxygen as all the rain forests combined.
     •  Diatoms are the dominant group of phytoplankton in regions with the most productive fisheries (e.g., Northern Gulf of Mexico, Monterey Bay, Peru).
     •  Diatoms have many industrial applications including livestock feed and toothpaste additives, to micro- and nanotechnology including computing and pharmaceutical applications.
     •  Diatom shells are a marvel of nature’s creativity and engineering (pictures below).

Projects

Publications

• 2021

  Closset, I., McNair, H.M., Brzezinski, Krause, J.W., Thamatrakoln, K., Jones, J.. Diatom response to alterations in upwelling and nutrient dynamics associated with climate forcing in the California Current System. Limnology and Oceanography. 66(4): 1578-1593. doi: 10.1002/lno.11705.

• Krause, J.W., Lomas, M.W., Danielson, S.L. . Direct to consumers: reduced nutrient limitation and microzooplankton losses enable efficient passage of diatom production to higher trophic levels or export during spring. Deep-Sea Research II. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2021.104950.

• 2020

  Agustí, S., J.W. Krause, I.A. Marquez, P. Wassmann, S. Kristiansen, and C.M. Duarte . Arctic (Svalbard Islands) Active and Exported Diatom Stocks and Cell Health Status. Biogeosciences. 17:35–45. doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-35-2020.

• Pickering, R.A., L. Cassarino, K.R. Hendry, X.L. Wang, K. Maiti, J.W. Krause. Using Stable Isotopes to Disentangle Marine Sedimentary Signals in Reactive Silicon Pools. Geophysical Research Letters. 47, e2020GL087877. doi: 10.1029/2020GL087877.

• Cox, T.E., Cebrian, J., Tabor, M., West, L., Krause, J.W.. Do diatoms dominate benthic production in shallow systems? A case study from a mixed seagrass bed. Limnology and Oceanography: Letters doi: 10.1002/lol2.10167

• Saad, E.M., R. A. Pickering, K. Shoji, M.I. Hossain, T. G. Glover, J.W. Krause*, and Y. Tang (*Corresponding author). Effect of Cleaning Methods on the Reactivity of Diatom Frustules. Marine Chemistry. 224, 103286. doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2020.103826.

• Marquez, I.A., Abraham, A., Krause, J.W.. Organic polymer consumption facilitates domoic acid entry into the marine food web without direct ingestion of Pseudo-nitzschia. Harmful Algae. 98, 101891. doi: 10.1016/j.hal.2020.101891.

• Krause, J.W., M. A. Brzezinski, J.L. Largier, H.M. McNair, M. Maniscalco, K.D. Bidle, A.E. Allen, and K. Thamatrakoln. The interaction of physical and biological factors as drivers of phytoplankton spatial distribution in the northern California Current. Limnology and Oceanography. doi:10.1002/lno.11431.

• Curry, T., J. Krause, and R. Baker. Small-Scale Variability in Carbon Isotope Ratios of Microphytobenthos and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in a Northern Gulf of Mexico Salt Marsh. Gulf and Caribbean Research 31, (1): SC41-SC45. doi.org/10.18785/gcr.3101.16.

  

• Krause, J.W. and M.W. Lomas. Understanding diatoms' past and future biogeochemical role in high‐latitude seas. Geophysical Research Letters. 47, e2019GL085602. doi: 10.1029/2019GL085602.

• 2019

  Lomas, M.W., S.E. Baer, S. Acton, and J.W. Krause. Pumped up by the Cold: Elemental Quotas and Stoichiometry of Polar Diatoms. Frontiers in Marine Science. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00197

  

• Chaplin, C.C., M. Tabor, I.A. Marquez, K. Maiti, and J.W. Krause . Resuscitation of Microalgae from Mississippi River Plume Sediments. Gulf and Caribbean Research. 30, SC28-SC41. doi: 10.18785/gcr.3001.15.

• Krause, J.W., I.K. Schulz, K. A. Rowe, W. Dobbins, M. Winding, M. Sejr, C.M. Duarte, and S. Agustí . Silicic acid limitation drives bloom termination and potential carbon sequestration in an Arctic bloom. Scientific Reports. 9. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44587-4.

  

• Deleon, S.N., J.W. Krause, and R. Baker. Variability in microphytobenthos biomass and carbon isotopic values in shallow coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Gulf and Caribbean Research. 30, SC22-SC27. doi: 10.18785/gcr.3001.11.

• Stukel, M.R., T.B. Kelly, L.I. Aluwihare, K.A. Barbeau, R. Goericke, J.W. Krause, M.R. Landry, and M.D. Ohman. The Carbon: 234Thorium ratios of sinking particles in the California Current Ecosystem 1: Relationships with plankton ecosystem dynamics. Marine Chemistry. doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2019.01.003.

• Redalje, D., J. Ammerman, J. Cable, J. Herrera, A. Knapp, J.W. Krause, D. Valdes, and A. Hayward. Nutrients in the Gulf of Mexico: Distributions, Cycles, Sources, Sinks and Processes. In Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota. Volume 5, Chemical Oceanography. Ed: T. S. Bianchi. Texas A&M University Press, College Station. (ISBN-13: 978-1623497743).

• Kranzler, C.F., J. W. Krause, M. A. Brzezinski, B. R. Edwards, W. P. Biggs, M. Maniscalco, J. P. McCrow, B. A. S. Van Mooy, K. D. Bidle, A. E. Allen, and K. Thamatrakoln . Silicon limitation facilitates virus infection and mortality of marine diatoms. Nature Microbiology. 4, 1790–1797. doi: 10.1038/s41564-019-0502-x.

• Hendry, K. R., Huvenne, V. A. I., Robinson, L. F., Annett, A., Badger, M., Jacobel, A. W., Ng, H.C., Opher, J., Pickering, R. A., Taylor, M. L., Bates, S. L., Cooper, A., Cushman, G. G., Goodwin, C., Hoy, S., Rowland, G., Samperiz, A., Williams, J. A., Achterberg, E. P., Arrowsmith, C., Brearley, J. A., Henley, S. F., Krause, J.W., Leng, M. J., Li, T., McManus, J. F., Meredith, M. P., Perkins, R., Woodward, E. M.. Isotope Cycling in the Labrador Sea: Tracing the biogeochemical pathway of glacial meltwater from Southwest Greenland. Progress in Oceanography. 176, 102126. doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102126.

• Gancel, H.N., R.H. Carmichael, K. Park, J.W. Krause, and S. Rikard. Field Mark-Recapture of Calcein-Stained Larval Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in a Freshwater-Dominated Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts. doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00582-6.

• 2018

  Stukel, M.R., T. Biard, J.W. Krause, and M.D. Ohman. Large Phaeodaria in the Twilight Zone: Their Role in the Carbon Cycle Limnology and Oceanography 63(6), 2579-2594. doi: 10.1002/lno.10961.

• Ohnemus, D.C., J.W. Krause, M.A. Brzezinski, J.L. Collier, S.B. Baines, and B.S. Twining. The chemical form of silicon in marine Synechococcus Marine Chemistry. doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2018.08.004.

• McNair, H.M., M.A. Brzezinski, and J.W. Krause . Diatom populations in an upwelling environment decrease silica content to avoid growth limitation Environmental Microbiology. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.14431.

• Krause, J.W., C.M. Duarte, I.A. Marquez, P. Assmy, M. Fernández-Méndez, I. Wiedmann, P. Wassmann, S. Kristiansen, and S. Agustí. Biogenic silica production and diatom dynamics in the Svalbard region during spring Biogeosciences 15, 6503-6517. doi: 10.5194/bg-15-6503-2018.

• McNair, H.M., M.A. Brzezinski, C.P. Till, and J.W. Krause. Taxa-specific contributions to silica production in natural diatom assemblages Limnology and Oceanography 63(3), 1056-1075. doi: 10.1002/lno.10754.

• Greer, A.T., A.M. Shiller, E.E. Hofmann, J.D. Wiggert, S.J. Warner, S.M. Parra, C. Pan, J.W. Book, D. Joung, S. Dykstra, J.W. Krause, B. Dzwonkowski, I.M. Soto, M.K. Cambazoglu, A.L. Deary, C. Briseño-Avena, A.D. Boyette, et al. . Functioning of coastal river-dominated ecosystems and implications for oil spill response: From observations to mechanisms and models Oceanography 31(3). doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.302.

• Biard, T., J.W. Krause, M.R. Stukel, and M.D. Ohman. The significance of giant phaeodarians (Rhizaria) to biogenic silica export in the California Current Ecosystem Global Biogeochemical Cycles 32(6), 987-1004. doi: 10.1029/2018GB005877.

• 2017

  Krause, J., E. Darrow, R. Pickering, R. H. Carmichael, A. Larson, J. Basaldua. Reactive Silica Fractions in Coastal Lagoon Sediments from the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Cont. Shelf Res. 151(2017):8-14. doi: 10.1016/j.csr.2017.09.014

• Brzezinski, M.A., J.W. Krause, S.B. Baines, J.L. Collier, D.C. Ohnemus, and B.S. Twining . Patterns and Regulation of Silicon Accumulation in Synechococcus spp Journal of Phycology 53 (4), 746-761. doi: 10.1111/jpy.12545.

• Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, S.B. Baines, J.L. Collier, B.S. Twining, and D.C. Ohnemus . Picoplankton contribution to biogenic silica stocks and production rates in the Sargasso Sea Global Biogeochemical Cycles 31, 762-774. doi: 10.1002/2017GB005619.

• 2016

  Décima, M., M.R. Landry, M.R. Stukel, L. Lopez-Lopez, and J.W. Krause . Mesozooplankton biomass and grazing in the Costa Rica Dome: amplifying variability through the plankton food web Journal of Plankton Research 38(2), 317-300. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbv091.

• Ohnemus, D. C., S. Rauschenberg, J.W. Krause, M.A. Brzezinski, J.L. Collier, S. Geraci-Yee, S.B. Baines, and B.S. Twining. Silicon content of individual cells of Synechococcus from the North Atlantic Ocean Marine Chemistry 187, 16-24. doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2016.10.003.

• Krause, J.W., M.R. Stukel, A.G. Taylor, D.A.A. Taniguchi, A. De Verneil, and M.R. Landry. Net biogenic silica production and the contribution of diatoms to new production and organic matter export in the Costa Rica Dome ecosystem Journal of Plankton Research, 38(2), 216-229. doi: 10.1093/plankt/fbv077.

• 2015

  Barletta, R.E., J.W. Krause, T. Goodie, and H. El Sabae . The direct measurement of intracellular pigments in phytoplankton using resonance Raman spectroscopy Marine Chemistry 176, 164-173. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2015.09.005.

• McNair, H.M., M.A. Brzezinski and J.W. Krause . Quantifying diatom silicification with the fluorescent dye, PDMPO Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 13 (10), 587-599. doi: 10.1002/lom3.10049.

• Brzezinski, M.A., J.W. Krause, R.M. Bundy, K.A. Barbeau, P.J.S. Franks, R. Goericke, M.R. Landry, and M.R. Stukel. Variable influence of iron stress on siliceous biomass and silica production and silicon and carbon export in a frontal zone within the California Current Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 120, 4654–4669, doi: 10.1002/2015JC010829.

• Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, R. Goericke, M.R., Landry, M.D. Ohman, M.R. Stukel and A.G. Taylor . Variability in diatom contributions to biomass, organic matter production and export across a frontal gradient in the California Current Ecosystem Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 120, 1032–1047, doi:10.1002/2014JC010472.

• 2014

  Baumann, M.S., S.B. Moran, M.W. Lomas, R.P. Kelly, D.W. Bell, and J.W. Krause. Diatom control of the autotrophic community and particle export in the eastern Bering Sea during the recent cold years (2008-2010) Journal of Marine Research 72, 405-444, doi: 10.1357/002224014815540679.

• 2013

  Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, T.A. Villareal, and C. Wilson. Biogenic silica cycling during summer phytoplankton blooms in the North Pacific subtropical gyre Deep -Sea Research I 71, 49 -60. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2012.09.002.

• Wilson, C., T.A. Villareal, M.A. Brzezinski, J.W. Krause, and A.Y. Shcherbina. Chlorophyll bloom development and the Subtropical Front in the North Pacific Journal of Geophysical Research Ocean 118 (3), 1473 -1488. doi:10.1002/jgrc.20143.

• Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, D. A. Siegel, and R.C. Thunell. Biogenic silica standing stock and export in the Santa Barbara Channel ecosystem Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 118 (2), 736 -749. doi:10.1029/2012JC008070.

• 2012

  Baines, S.B., B.S. Twining, M.A. Brzezinski, J.W. Krause, S. Vogt, D. Assael, and H. McDaniel. Significant silicon accumulation by marine picocyanobacteria. Nature Geoscience 5, 886 -891 doi: 10.1038/ngeo1641.

• Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, T.A. Villareal, and C. Wilson. Increased kinetic efficiency for silicic acid uptake as a driver of summer diatom blooms in the North Pacific subtropical gyre Limnology and Oceanography 57 (4), 1084 -1098. doi:10.4319/lo.2012.57.4.1084.

• Villareal T.A., C.G. Brown, M.A. Brzezinski, J.W. Krause, and C. Wilson. Summer Diatom Blooms in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: 2008–2009 PLoS ONE 7, e33109. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033109.

• 2011

  Demarest, M.S., M.A. Brzezinski, D.M. Nelson, J.W. Krause, J.L. Jones, and C. Beucher. Net biogenic silica production and nitrate regeneration determine the strength of the silica pump in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Deep -Sea Research II 58 (3 -4) 462 -476, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.08.007

• Brzezinski, M.A., J.W. Krause, M.J. Church, D. M. Karl, B. Li, J.L. Jones, and B. Updyke. The annual silica cycle of the north Pacific subtropical gyre Deep -Sea Research I 58, 988 -1001. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2011.08.001.

• Krause, J.W., M.A. Brzezinski, and J.L. Jones. Application of low -level beta counting of 32Si for the measurement of silica production rates in aquatic environments Marine Chemistry 127, 40 -47. doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2011.07.001.

• Krause, J.W., D.M. Nelson, and M.A. Brzezinski. Biogenic silica production and diatoms’ estimated contribution to primary production and nitrate uptake in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean Deep -Sea Research II 58 (3 -4) 434 -448, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.08.010.

• Brzezinski, M.A., S.B. Baines, W.M. Balch, C.P. Beucher, F. Chai, R.C. Dugdale, J.W. Krause, M.R. Landry, A. Marchi, C.I. Measures, D.M. Nelson, A. E. Parker, A. J. Poulton, K. E. Selph, P.G. Strutton, A. G. Taylor, and B. S. Twining. Co -limitation of diatoms by iron and silicic acid in the equatorial Pacific Deep -Sea Research II 58 (3 -4) 493 -511, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.08.005.

• 2010

  Krause, J.W., Brzezinski, M.A., Landry, M.R., Baines, S.B., Nelson, D.M., Selph, K.E., Taylor, A.G., Twining, B.S.. The effects of biogenic silica detritus, zooplankton grazing, and diatom size structure on Si -cycling in the euphotic zone of the eastern equatorial Pacific Limnology & Oceanography 55 (6) 2608 -2622, doi:10.4319/lo2010.55.6.2608

• Krause, J.W., D.M. Nelson, and M.W. Lomas. Production, dissolution, accumulation, and potential export of biogenic silica in a Sargasso Sea mode -water eddy Limnology & Oceanography 55 (2), 569 -579, doi: 10.4319/lo.2010.55.2.0569.

• 2009

  Krause, J.W., M.W. Lomas, and D.M. Nelson. Biogenic silica at the Bermuda Atlantic Time series Study site in the Sargasso Sea: Temporal changes and their inferred controls based on a 15-year record Global Biogeochemical Cycles 23, GB3004, doi:10.1029/2008GB003236

• Maiti, K., C.R. Benitez-Nelson, M.W. Lomas, and J.W. Krause. Biogeochemical responses to late -winter storms in the Sargasso Sea. III. Estimates of export production using 234Th:238U disequilibria and sediment traps Deep -Sea Research I 56 (6), 875 -891, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2009.01.008.

• Krause, J.W., D.M. Nelson, and M.W. Lomas. Biogeochemical responses to late -winter storms in the Sargasso Sea. II. Increased rates of biogenic silica production and export Deep -Sea Research I 56 (6), 861 -874, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2009.01.002.

• Lomas, M.W., F. Lipschultz, D.M. Nelson, J.W. Krause, and N.R. Bates. Biogeochemical responses to late -winterstorms in the Sargasso Sea. I. Pulses of primary and new production Deep -Sea Research I 56 (6), 843 -860, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2008.09.002.

• Lomas, M.W., N. Roberts, F. Lipschultz, J.W. Krause, D.M. Nelson, and N.R. Bates. Biogeochemical responses to late -winter storms in the Sargasso Sea. IV. Rapid succession of major phytoplankton groups Deep -Sea Research I 56 (6), 891 -908, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2009.03.004

• 2008

  Brzezinski, M.A., C. Dumousseaud, J.W. Krause, C.I. Measures, and D.M. Nelson. Iron and silicic acid concentrations together regulate Si uptake in the equatorial Pacific Ocean Limnology & Oceanography 53 (3), 875 -889, doi: 10.4319/lo.2008.53.3.0875.

• Krause, J.W.. Silicon biogeochemistry in the open -ocean surface waters : insights from the Sargasso Sea and equatorial Pacific Oregon State University, Ph.D. Dissertation.

• 2005

  Gobler, C.J., L.A. Cullison, F. Koch, T. Harder, and J.W. Krause. Influence of freshwater flow, ocean exchange, and seasonal cycles on phytoplankton " nutrient dynamics in a temporarily open estuary Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science 65, 275 -288, doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2005.05.016.

Who We Are

Principal Investigator: 

Jeffrey Krause, Ph.D., 2008, Oregon State University
Senior Marine Scientist:  Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Assistant Professor: University of South Alabama

Current Lab Members:    

Krause Lab Members onboard the R/V Pelican, May 2017 (R-L) Israel Marquez, Sydney Acton, Rebecca Pickering, Jeffrey Krause

In the News