Pat Glibert’s laboratory is involved in the study of the nitrogen dynamics in the water column, the cycling of nutrients, and the physiology of algal processes as they relate to nutrient uptake. In this program, we are combining the measurements of rates of nitrogen uptake and release, as measured using stable isotope techniques, with measurements of the activity of some of the enzymes that are involved in the assimilation of nitrogen. Types of processes being measured in water column:

• Nitrogen uptake kinetics in the water column
  
• Nitrogen regeneration in water column
  
• Nitrification in water column
  
• Nitrogen uptake by size fraction
  
• Carbon uptake
  
• Bacterial production
  
• Urease and nitrate reductase activity-size fraction
  

In support of these and other measurements in this program, ambient nutrients, particulate and dissolved, inorganic and organic, are also determined.

Gradients in the Chesapeake Bay, in terms of nutrient composition and physical forcing, provide an ideal site for investigating the relationships between nutrient processes and microbial biocomplexity.