Emily Zakem

Emily Zakem
I am a Staff Associate/Principal Investigator at Carnegie Science in the Biosphere Sciences & Engineering division. I currently work from two of Carnegie’s campuses: at Stanford University (Stanford, CA) and (primarily) at Caltech (Pasadena, CA).

Liang Xu
I am a postdoctoral researcher studying how species interactions shape the emergence of morphological traits and sustain trait diversity and biodiversity and examining the reciprocal links between species interactions and nutrient cycling on ecological and evolutionary scales, focusing on how these processes unfold in coexisting communities. By integrating theory, modeling, and data, I aim to uncover the mechanisms that connect trait evolution with ecosystem function. https://xl0418.github.io/

Jemma Fadum
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jemma is a biogeochemist and ecosystem ecologist who uses a combination of observational and modeling approaches to better understand the interactive effects of anthropogenic disturbance and global change on microbially mediated biogeochemical pathways in aquatic environments. She is particularly interested in the biogeochemical impacts of aquaculture. jemmafadum.com

Hengdi Liang
Hengdi is a postdoc working on developing mechanistic models to quantify ocean biogeochemical processes. Her work investigates how microbial activity shapes nutrient availability, drives organic matter cycling, and regulates trace metal distributions, providing insights into the fundamental processes that control ocean productivity and carbon sequestration. https://hengdiliang.github.io

Danny McCoy
Postdoctoral Fellow
I study how microbial metabolisms interact with ocean circulation to shape ecological dynamics in oxygen minimum zones. By combining trait-based ecosystem models with eddy-resolving simulations, my work explores how competition and cross-feeding among microbes couple with physical transport to control biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. https://dccoy.weebly.com/

Zhou Liang
Zhou Liang is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Science, working with Dr. Emily Zakem. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from Florida State University in 2024, with training in both lab work and biogeochemical modeling. His research explores dissolved organic matter and its roles in the biological pump and the microbial loop in the ocean. He is developing new modeling frameworks to understand how interactions between microbes and organic matter shape ocean productivity. His personal website is https://zliangocean.com/

Pilar Vergeli
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Pilar Vergeli’s research integrates biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, and complex systems science to investigate how elemental constraints shape microbial communities and ecosystem-scale biogeochemical processes. She is particularly interested in universal patterns of element use in life, with applications to both climate research and astrobiology.

Britt Abrahamson
Postdoctoral Fellow

Xin Sun
Now Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pearse Buchanan
Now Research Scientist at CSIRO in Hobart, Australia.

Lee Bardon
Former MS graduate student through the University of Southern California (USC)’s Marine and Environmental Biology program.