Christina Kellogg
Applying molecular techniques and microbiology methods to study marine microbes, particularly the microbial ecology of tropical and deep-sea corals.
Biography
Dr. Kellogg grew up on a charter boat in the U.S. Virgin Islands with the Caribbean Sea as her backyard, so it was no wonder she pursued a career in marine biology. Chris is an environmental microbiologist who applies molecular techniques to characterize and identify microbial communities. After receiving her bachelors of science degree in biology from Georgetown University, Chris pursued a Ph.D. in marine microbiology from the University of South Florida, working on the genetic diversity of environmental viruses. This was followed by postdoctoral research on an NIH-funded fellowship to identify novel drug targets in pathogenic fungi and an internship at Human Genome Sciences. Dr. Kellogg joined the U.S. Geological Survey as a Mendenhall Fellow, characterizing the microbial communities in aerosolized African desert dust, beach sediments, seagrass beds and coral reefs. Currently, she leads an environmental microbiology laboratory at the U.S. Geological Survey specializing in coral microbial ecology. Her research on tropical corals has taken her to the Florida Keys, Caribbean, Hawaii, and American Samoa, leading her friends to say that she specializes in ‘resort microbiology.’ Chris has been working in deepwater coral ecosystems since 2004 and considers herself extremely lucky to have had the privilege of visiting them personally using the Delta and Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers as well as a number of book chapters and has given invited keynote talks on both her aerosol microbiology and deep-sea coral microbial work. Chris served as a judge for the $2 million dollar Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE competition in 2015 and is currently judging the $7 million dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. She was elected to the Council Policy Committee (de facto executive board) of the American Society for Microbiology (2012–2016), playing an active role in revamping the communication and governance structures of the organization. Chris is active in shaping the direction of microbiome research in the U.S., having represented DOI on the Federal Microbiome Interagency Working Group and being a part of the National Microbiome Data Collaborative.
Research Interests
Microbial diversity, microbial ecology, long-distance transport of microbes, biogeography, bioprospecting, symbiosis
Project pages
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
DISCOVRE - Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems Project
Awards
Rudi Lemberg Travelling Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Science
Science and Products
Coral Microbial Ecology
The coral microbial ecology group has an active research program identifying and characterizing the microbial associates of both tropical and cold-water (deep-sea) corals and their surrounding habitat. Current projects focus on coral disease dynamics, bacterial diversity, and using metagenomics to elucidate the functional roles of coral microbes.
DISCOVRE - Diversity, Systematics and Connectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems Project
This project uses amplicon sequencing, functional microarrays, and metagenomics to examine the microbiomes of several deep-sea coral species, with priority given to species that are also of interest to the population genetics group: Desmophyllum dianthus, Paragorgia arborea, Lophelia pertusa, and Primnoa resedaeformis.
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...
Black-band disease in the Florida Keys
Photos of corals affected by black-band disease in the Florida Keys.
Coral Disease
We investigated coral disease processes and causes by characterizing microbial communities in diseased and healthy representatives of selected coral species both temporally and spatially by employing microarray technology. We tested the diagnostic potential of coral fluorescence for identifying disease-induced physiological stress.
Comparison of microbiomes of cold-water corals Primnoa pacifica and Primnoa resedaeformis, with possible link between microbiome composition and host genotype
Cold-water corals provide critical habitats for a multitude of marine species, but are understudied relative to tropical corals. Primnoa pacifica is a cold-water coral prevalent throughout Alaskan waters, while another species in the genus, Primnoa resedaeformis, is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This study examined the...
Goldsmith, Dawn; Kellogg, Christina A.; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Gray, Michael A.; Stone, Robert P.; Waller, Rhian G.; Brooke, Sandra D.; Ross, Steve W.
Deepwater Program: Lophelia II, continuing ecological research on deep-sea corals and deep-reef habitats in the Gulf of Mexico
The deep sea is a rich environment composed of diverse habitat types. While deep-sea coral habitats have been discovered within each ocean basin, knowledge about the ecology of these habitats and associated inhabitants continues to grow. This report presents information and results from the Lophelia II project that examined deep-sea coral habitats...
Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Ross, Steve W.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Nizinski, Martha S.; Prouty, Nancy G.; Bourque, Jill R.; Galkiewicz, Julie P.; Gray, Michael A.; Springmann, Marcus J.; Coykendall, D. Katharine; Miller, Andrew; Rhode, Mike; Quattrini, Andrea; Ames, Cheryl L.; Brooke, Sandra D.; McClain-Counts, Jennifer P.; Roark, E. Brendan; Buster, Noreen A.; Phillips, Ryan M.; Frometa, Janessy Chapter 12. Canyons microbiology studies
Off the eastern coast of the United States, several deep canyons cut through the continental shelf, acting like funnels to move sediment from the shelf out to the deep seafloor. Exposed rock outcrops and ledges along the walls of these canyons provide important habitat for deepsea corals and sponges. Although a few scientific expeditions have...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Lawler, Stephanie N.
USGS microbiome research
Microbiomes are the communities of microorganisms (for example, bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that live on, in, and around people, plants, animals, soil, water, and the atmosphere. Microbiomes are active in the functioning of diverse ecosystems, for instance, by influencing water quality, nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance in plants, and...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Hopkins, M. Camille Predation by Acanthurus leucopareius on black-band disease in Kauai, Hawaii
No abstract available.
Kellogg, Christina A.; West, Amy; Runyon, Christina M. Biogeographic comparison of Lophelia-associated bacterial communities in the Western Atlantic reveals conserved core microbiome
Over the last decade, publications on deep-sea corals have tripled. Most attention has been paid to Lophelia pertusa, a globally distributed scleractinian coral that creates critical three-dimensional habitat in the deep ocean. The bacterial community associated with L. pertusa has been previously described by a number of studies at sites in the...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Goldsmith, Dawn; Gray, Michael A. Cold-water coral microbiomes (Lophelia pertusa) from Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean: raw data
The files in this data release are the raw DNA sequence files in the submitted journal article by Christina A. Kellogg, Dawn B. Goldsmith, and Michael A. Gray entitled "Biogeographic comparison of Lophelia-associated bacterial communities in the western Atlantic reveals conserved core microbiome." They represent a 16S rRNA gene amplicon survey of...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Goldsmith, Dawn Bacterial community diversity of the deep-sea octocoral Paramuricea placomus
Compared to tropical corals, much less is known about deep-sea coral biology and ecology. Although the microbial communities of some deep-sea corals have been described, this is the first study to characterize the bacterial community associated with the deep-sea octocoral, Paramuricea placomus. Samples from five colonies of P. placomus were...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Ross, Steve W.; Brooke, Sandra D. Coral-associated bacterial diversity is conserved across two deep-sea Anthothela species
Cold-water corals, similar to tropical corals, contain diverse and complex microbial assemblages. These bacteria provide essential biological functions within coral holobionts, facilitating increased nutrient utilization and production of antimicrobial compounds. To date, few cold-water octocoral species have been analyzed to explore the diversity...
Lawler, Stephanie N.; Kellogg, Christina A.; France, Scott C; Clostio, Rachel W; Brooke, Sandra D.; Ross, Steve W.
Seasonal microbial and environmental parameters at Crocker Reef, Florida Keys, 2014–2015
Crocker Reef, located on the outer reef tract of the Florida Keys (fig. 1), was the site of an integrated “reefscape characterization” effort focused on calcification and related biogeochemical processes as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystem STudies (CREST) project. It is characterized as a senile or dead...
Kellogg, Christina A.; Yates, Kimberly K.; Lawler, Stephanie N.; Moore, Christopher S.; Smiley, Nathan A.
Investigación del USGS sobre el ecosistema de arrecifes de coral en el Atlántico
Información General Los arrecifes de coral son estructuras sólidas, biomineralizadas que protegen comunidades costeras actuando como barreras protectoras de peligros tales como los huracanes y los tsunamis. Estos proveen arena a las playas a través de procesos naturales de erosión, fomentan la industria del turismo, las...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Yates, Kimberly K.; Zawada, David G.; Richey, Julie N.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Toth, Lauren T.; Torres-Garcia, Legna M.
USGS research on Atlantic coral reef ecosystems
Overview Coral reefs are massive, biomineralized structures that protect coastal communities by acting as barriers to hazards such as hurricanes and tsunamis. They provide sand for beaches through the natural process of erosion, support tourism and recreational industries, and provide essential habitat for fisheries. The continuing global...
Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Yates, Kimberly K.; Zawada, David G.; Richey, Julie N.; Kellogg, Christina A.; Toth, Lauren T.
USGS researcher judges final round of Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition in Kalamata, Greece
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a $7 million global competition being held in Kalamata, Greece, is challenging teams to push the boundaries of ocean technologies by creating solutions that advance the autonomy, scale, speed, depths, and resolution of ocean exploration. Dr. Christina Kellogg (Research Microbiologist, SPCMSC) will be the on-site judge during the week of November 19–24, 2018....