Assistant Researcher (beginning Fall 2013)

Education:

2008 Ph.D. – University of California, Santa Barbara. Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
2005 M.A. – University of California, Santa Barbara. Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
1998 B.A. – University of California, Berkeley. Integrative Biology & English

Research Interests:

• Microbial ecology of aquatic ecosystems (coral reefs, oceanic gyres, alpine lakes)
• Dissolved organic matter biogeochemistry
• Comparative phylogenetics and metagenomics of bacterial communities
• Landscape biogeochemistry and ecosystem metabolism

Prior Research Appointments:

2008-2012       Associate Specialist, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara
2003-2007       Graduate Research Assistant, UC Santa Barbara
2001-2002       Staff Research Associate, Division of Infectious Disease, UC San Francisco
2000                Research Intern, USGS Biological Resources Division, Hilo, HI
1999-2000       Research Assistant, Center for Biological Control, UC Berkeley

Publications:

Nelson, C.E., S.J. Goldberg, L.W. Kelly, A.F. Haas, J.E. Smith, F. Rohwer, and C.A. Carlson. In Press. Coral and macroalgal exudates vary in neutral sugar composition and differentially enrich reef bacterioplankton lineages. The ISME Journal.

Paver, S.F., C.E. Nelson, and A.D. Kent. 2012. Temporal succession of putative glycolate-utilizing bacterioplankton tracks changes in dissolved organic matter in a high-elevation lake. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1574-6941.12012

Nelson, C.E.*, D.M. Bennett*, and B.J. Cardinale. 2012. Consistency and sensitivity of stream periphyton community structural and functional responses to nutrient enrichment. Ecological Applications. doi: 10.1890/12-0295.1 *These authors contributed equivalently to this work.

Nelson, C.E. and C.A. Carlson. 2012. Tracking differential incorporation of dissolved organic carbon types among diverse lineages of Sargasso Sea bacterioplankton. Environmental Microbiology 14: 1500-1516. doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02738.x

Sadro, S., C.E. Nelson, and J.M. Melack. 2012. The influence of landscape position and catchment characteristics on aquatic biogeochemistry in high-elevation lake chains. Ecosystems 15: 363-386. doi:10.1007/s10021-011-9515-x

Haas, A.F, C.E. Nelson, L.W. Kelly, C.A. Carlson, F. Rohwer, J.J. Leichter, A. Wyatt, and J.E. Smith. 2011. Effects of coral reef benthic primary producers on dissolved organic carbon and microbial activity. PLoS ONE 6: e27973. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027973

McCliment, E.A., C.E. Nelson, C.A. Carlson, A.L. Alldredge, J. Witting, and L.A. Amaral-Zettler. 2011. An all-taxon microbial inventory of the Moorea coral reef ecosystem. The ISME Journal 6: 309-319. doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.108

Nelson, C.E., A.L. Alldredge, E.A. McCliment, L.A. Amaral-Zettler, and C.A. Carlson. 2011. Depleted dissolved organic carbon and distinct Bacterial communities in the water column of a rapid-flushing coral reef ecosystem. The ISME Journal 5: 1374–1387. doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.12
[Faculty of 1000 selection by F. Azam: http://f1000.com/13271996]

Nelson, C.E. and C.A. Carlson. 2011. Differential response of high-elevation planktonic bacterial community structure and metabolism to experimental nutrient enrichment. PLoS ONE 6: e18320. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018320

Sadro, S., C.E. Nelson, and J.M. Melack. 2011. Linking diel patterns in community respiration to bacterioplankton in an oligotrophic high-elevation lake. Limnology and Oceanography 56: 540-550. doi: 10.4319/lo.2011.56.2.0540

J.M. Melack, A.C. Finzi, D. Siegel, S. MacIntyre, C.E. Nelson, A.K. Aufdenkampe, and M.L. Pace. 2011. Improving biogeochemical knowledge through technological innovation. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 9: 37–43. doi:10.1890/100004

Huang, Y.J., C.E. Nelson, 21 others, and S.V. Lynch. 2011. Airway microbiota and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with sub-optimally controlled asthma. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 127: 372-381. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2010.10.048
[Faculty of 1000 selection by E. Goleva: http://f1000.com/8622960]

D.E. Hunt*, E. Ortega-Retuerta*, C.E. Nelson*. 2010. Connections between bacteria and organic matter in aquatic ecosystems: Linking microscale ecology to global carbon cycling, p. 110-128. In P.F. Kemp [ed.], Eco-DAS VIII Symposium Proceedings. ASLO. doi:10.4319/ecodas.2010.978-0-9845591-1-4.110 *All three authors contributed equivalently to this work

Nelson, C.E., S. Sadro, and J.M. Melack. 2009. Contrasting the influences of stream inputs and landscape position on bacterioplankton community structure and dissolved organic matter composition in high-elevation lake chains. Limnology and Oceanography 54: 1292-1305. doi:10.4319/lo.2009.54.4.1292

Cardinale, B.J., D.M. Bennett, C.E. Nelson, and K. Gross. 2009. Does productivity drive diversity or vice versa? A test of the multivariate productivity-diversity hypothesis in streams. Ecology 90: 1227-1241. doi:10.1890/08-1038.1
[Faculty of 1000 selection by J. Snaddon and A. Hector: http://f1000.com/1161622]

Nelson, C.E. 2009. Phenology of high-elevation pelagic bacteria: the roles of meteorologic variability, catchment inputs, and thermal stratification in structuring communities. The ISME  Journal 3: 13–30. doi:10.1038/ismej.2008.81

Nelson, C.E. and C.A. Carlson. 2005. A non-radioactive assay of bacterial productivity optimized for oligotrophic pelagic environments. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 3: 211–220. doi:10.4319/lom.2005.3.211

Other Publications
Nelson, C.E. 2008. The Phenology, biogeography, and metabolism of Bacteria in high-elevation lakes of the Sierra Nevada, California. PhD Dissertation. University of California, Santa Barbara. ISBN:9780549478720 http://nelsoncraige.googlepages.com/NelsonDissertation2008.pdf

Nelson, C.E., C.A. Carlson, and J.M. Melack. 2008. Nutrient deposition and alteration of food web structure in high-elevation lakes of the Sierra Nevada: Response by microbial communities. University of California Water Resources Center. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1hw0w7gp

Department of Oceanography
Last modified: November 2012 
ocean@soest.hawaii.edu