Justin Seymour
 

Post-doctoral Associate

Parsons Laboratory

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Phone: 617-253-5450

Email: justins@mit.edu
 

 

 

 


Education

 

2004: PhD; Biological Oceanography, Flinders University of South Australia.

1998: Honours (BSc); Marine Microbiology, Flinders University of South Australia

1996: Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology and Environmental Biology), Flinders University of South Australia

 

 

 

Research Overview

 

My research interests incorporate aquatic microbial ecology and biological oceanography. More specifically, I am interested in how spatial and temporal heterogeneity at small-scales (micrometres to centimetres) can influence the ecological interactions of communities of marine microorganisms. In most oceanographic studies, microbial communities are characterised by water samples collected across scales of metres to tens of kilometres over periods of days to seasons. However, many important ecological processes including predation, nutrient uptake and infection are defined on much smaller spatial and temporal scales. It is also at these scales that the confounding effects of small-scale turbulence and diffusion can strongly influence microbial interactions. The priority of my research is to investigate microbial dynamics closer to these ecologically relevant scales. Broadly speaking my research interests focus on the intermittent and heterogeneous nature of marine microbial communities and the causes and consequences of this complexity.

 

 

 

Publications

 

Seymour JR, Seuront L, Doubell MJ, Mitchell JG (2008) Mesoscale and Microscale Variability of Bacteria and Viruses during a Phaeocystis globosa Bloom in the Eastern English Channel. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (In Press)

 

Seuront L, Leterme SC, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG, Ashcroft D, Noble W, Thomson P, Davidson A, van den Enden R, Scott F, Wright S, Schapira M, Chapperon C, Cribb  N (2008) Role of microbial and phytoplanktonic communities in the control of seawater viscosity  off West Antarctica (30-80° E). Deep Sea Research II  (In Press)

 

Seymour JR, Ahmed T, Marcos, Stocker R (2008) A microfluidic chemotactic assay for assessing the behaviour of microbes within diffusing nutrient patches. Limnology & Oceanography: Methods (In Press)

 

Seymour JR, Marcos, Stocker R (2008) Resource patch formation and exploitation throughout the marine microbial food web. American Naturalist (In Press)

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR, Samadani A, Hunt DH, Polz M (2008) Rapid chemotactic response enables marine bacteria to exploit ephemeral microscale nutrient patches. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 4209-4214

 

Seymour JR, Humphries WF, Mitchell JG (2007) Stratification of microbial communities in an anchialine sinkhole. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 50:11-24

 

Seymour JR, Marcos, Stocker R (2007) Chemotactic response of marine microorganisms to microscale nutrient layers.  Journal of Visualized Experiments 4: 052807

 

Seymour JR,  Seuront L, Mitchell JG (2007) Microscale gradients of planktonic microbial communities above the sediment surface in a mangrove estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 73:651-666

 

Seuront L, Lacheze C, Doubell MJ, Seymour JR, Van Dongen-Vogels V, Newton K, Alderkamp AC, Mitchell JG (2007) The influence of Phaeocystis globosa bloom dynamics on spatial patterns of phytoplankton biomass and bulk-phase seawater viscosity. Biogeochemistry 83:173-188

 

Doubell MJ, Seuront L, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG (2006) A high resolution fluorometer for mapping microscale phytoplankton distributions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72:4475-4478

 

Seymour JR, Seuront L, Doubell M, Waters RL, Mitchell JG (2006) Microscale patchiness of virioplankton. Journal of the Marine Biological Association 86: 551-561

 

Patten N, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG (2006) Flow cytometric analysis of viruses and heterotrophic bacteria within coral-associated reef water. Journal of the Marine Biological Association 86: 563-566

 

Seymour JR, Seuront L, Mitchell JG (2005) Microscale and small-scale temporal dynamics of a coastal planktonic microbial community. Marine Ecology Progress Series 300:21-37

 

Seymour JR, Patten N, Bourne DG, Mitchell JG (2005) Spatial dynamics of virus-like particles and heterotrophic bacteria in a coral reef system. Marine Ecology Progress Series 288:1-8

 

Seymour JR, Mitchell JG, Seuront L (2004) Microscale heterogeneity in the activity of coastal bacterioplankton communities. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 35:1-16

 

Waters RL, Mitchell JG, Seymour JR (2003) Geostatistical characterisation of the centimetre scale spatial structure of in vivo fluorescence. Marine Ecology Progress Series 251:49-58

 

Seymour J.R., Mitchell J.G., Pearson L., and Waters R.L. (2000) Heterogeneity in bacterioplankton abundance from 4.5 millimetre resolution Aquatic Microbial Ecology 22:143-153. sampling. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 22:143-153.

 

 

Conference Presentations & Invited Seminars

 

Patten  N, Seymour JR, Seuront L, Harrison P,  Mitchell JG (2008) Prokaryotic and viral abundances between different coral reef micro-habitats. Presentation at the 12th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME 12), Cairns, Australia, August 2008.


Jeffries T, Newton K, Leterme S, Seymour JR, Dinsdale E., Roudnew B., Smith R.,  Seuront, L. ,  Mitchell  J.G (2008).  Functional metagenomic profiling of microbial and viral communities in sediment along a naturally occurring salinity gradient. Presentation at the 12th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME 12), Cairns, Australia, August 2008.

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR (2008) Ecological implications of chemotactic motility. Presentation at the Gordon Research Conference on Marine Microbes, Lucca (Barga), Italy,  July 2008.

 

Hunt DE, Seymour JR, Wildschutte HS, Stocker R, Veneziano D, Polz ME (2008) Microscale clustering of bacteria around eukaryotes in the coastal ocean. Presentation at the 108th Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Boston, June 2008.

 

Seymour JR (2008) Microbial ecology in a patchy seascape. Invited seminar presented at The University of Tokyo, Ocean Research Institute.

 

Seymour JR (2008) Using Microfluidics to study marine microbial ecology in a patchy seascape. Invited seminar presented at The Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

 

Doubell MJ, Seuront L, Seymour JR, Yamazaki H Mitchell JG. (2008) Microscale structure of a phytoplankton bloom.  Japan Oceanographic Society Seminar Series, Tokyo, March 2008.

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR (2008) Patchiness in the microbial world: insights from microfluidic studies. Presentation at the Ocean Sciences Meeting (ASLO, AGU, TOS), Orlando, Florida, March 2008

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR, Marcos (2008) Microbial life in the ocean. Presentation at the American Physical Society, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA

 

Kamiya E, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG, Nishimura M, Hamasaki K, Kogure K (2007) Relationships between abundance of viral subpopulations, bacteria and picophytoplankton in coastal areas. Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Oceanographic Society of Japan, Tokyo, Sept. 2007

 

Seymour JR, Marcos, Stocker R (2007) Using microfluidic channels to study microbial behaviour and ecology in a patchy seascape. Presentation at the 10th Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Faro, Portugal, September 2007.

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR (2007) Insights into the life of a microbe: a microfluidic approach. Presentation at EUROMECH Colloquium 488: The influence of fluid dynamics on the behaviour and distribution of plankton, in Liverpool, UK, May 2007.

 

Seymour JR, Stocker R (2006) The causes and implications of microscale patchiness in the ocean studied using microfluidics. Presented at the Gordon Research Conference on Marine Microbes, in Maine, USA, July 2006

 

Stocker R, Seymour JR, Marcos (2006) Microfluidics for studying microbial ecology. Presented at the Gordon Research Conference on Marine Microbes, in Maine, USA, July 2006

 

Humphreys WF, Seymour JR and Mitchell  JG (2006) Stratification of microbial communities in an anchialine sinkhole. Presentation at the 18th International Symposium on Subterranean Biology, July 2006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

 

Seymour JR, Seuront L, Mitchell JG (2004) Using flow cytometry to assess microscale heterogeneity amongst marine microbial communities. Invited Seminar presented at the University of Brest, France, July 2004.

 

Seuront L, Waters RL, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG (2004) Elucidating large-scale patterns and processes from understanding biophysical properties and interactions at the microscale in the marine environment. Invited Seminar presented at the University of Brest, France, July 2004.

 

Seymour JR, Mitchell JG, Seuront L (2004) Microscale dynamics of marine bacteria and viruses. Invited Seminar presented at Station Marine, Wimereux, University of Lille, France, May 2004.

 

Seymour JR, Mitchell JG (2004) Microscale distributions of bacterioplankton and virus-like particles assessed using flow cytometry. Seminar presented at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Research Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, in February 2004

 

Seuront L, Leterme SC, Seymour JR, Mitchell JG (2004) Sampling the sampling unit: A world in a bottle. Seminar presented at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Ocean Research Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, in February 2004

 

Mitchell J.G., Hale M., Seymour J.R, Barbara G. (2001) Early Glimpses of Submicrometer Biological Oceanography. Presentation given at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall meeting in San Francisco, USA.

 

Seymour J.R. (2000) Spatial heterogeneity in bacterioplankton abundance. Presentation at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2000 national conference in Sydney, Australia.

 

Seymour J.R., Mitchell J.G., Waters R., and Pile A. (2000) High resolution small-scale sampling and flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of microdistributions of marine microorganisms. Presentation at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2000 national conference in Sydney, Australia.

 

Mitchell J.G. and Seymour J.R. (2000) Water column microscale patchiness: Meeting of the tactic and turbulent length scales. Presentation at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO); Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2000.

 

Seymour J.R., Mitchell J.G., Waters R., and Pile A. (2000) Flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of marine microorganisms. Presentation at the Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide, Australia, in November 2000.

 

Waters R., Mitchell J.G., Seymour J.R., and Pile A. (2000) The use of flow cytometry to characterise the marine planktonic microenvironment. Presentation at the Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide in November 2000.

 

Waters R.L., Seymour J.R., Pearson L., Nelson C., Bass L., and Mitchell J.G. (1999) The role of small-scale turbulence in structuring the biological microenvironment. Seminar presented at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, 1999

 

Seymour J.R., and Mitchell J.G. (1998) Millimetre-scale distributions of marine bacteria. Presented at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 1998 National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.

 

Mitchell J.G., G. Barbara, S. Dillon, L. Pearson, J. Seymour, N. Blackburn, B. Bergerson, and R. Luchsinger (1998) Motility in marine bacteria. Seminar presented at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 1998 National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.

 

Seymour J.R., Mitchell J.G., Waters R., and Pile A. (2000) High resolution small-scale sampling and flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of microdistributions of marine microorganisms. Presentation at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2000 national conference in Sydney, Australia.

 

Mitchell J.G. and Seymour J.R. (2000) Water column microscale patchiness: Meeting of the tactic and turbulent length scales. Presentation at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO); Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2000.

 

Seymour J.R., Mitchell J.G., Waters R., and Pile A. (2000) Flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of marine microorganisms. Presentation at the Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide, Australia, in November 2000.

 

Waters R., Mitchell J.G., Seymour J.R., and Pile A. (2000) The use of flow cytometry to characterise the marine planktonic microenvironment. Presentation at the Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide in November 2000.

 

Waters R.L., Seymour J.R., Pearson L., Nelson C., Bass L., and Mitchell J.G. (1999) The role of small-scale turbulence in structuring the biological microenvironment. Seminar presented at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, 1999

 

Seymour J.R., and Mitchell J.G. (1998) Millimetre-scale distributions of marine bacteria. Poster presented at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 1998 National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.

 

Mitchell J.G., G. Barbara, S. Dillon, L. Pearson, J. Seymour, N. Blackburn, B. Bergerson, and R. Luchsinger (1998) Motility in marine bacteria. Seminar presented at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 1998 National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.