Biography

I am biological oceanographer and phytoplankton ecologist. I have been fascinated with the alien-ness of ocean life ever since I was a child – at one point, I even had a pet nudibranch (a.k.a., a sea slug)! My research focuses on the strange, single-celled plants that produce much of the oxygen we breathe: phytoplankton.

I joined NOAA Fisheries in 2021 as an Associate Scientist. Before that, I researched phytoplankton bloom dynamics in Cape Cod National Seashore, Monterey Bay, and the Arctic. I have a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. I am an avid surfer and mountain biker and try to get out into nature as much as possible.

RESEARCH

Tiny organisms, giant impact

Phytoplankton are a diverse group of photosynthetic, microscopic organisms that form the base of marine food webs and regulate global climate. The growth of species is dependent on the advantages that their unique physiologies provide in each environment. These physiological traits include novel life cycles, toxin production, swimming behaviors, and nutritional strategies. But climate change may favor certain physiologies over others with consequences for ecosystem health and function.

I use laboratory experiments, field investigations, analytical models, and ocean robots to understand how phytoplankton respond to environmental change. My mission is to predict cascading changes at the base of the food web due to environmental change and to help inform policy actions. To address this theme, my research focuses on two main topics:

1. Climate control of benthic input to planktonic phytoplankton communities

2. Effect of multiple stressors on phytoplankton dynamics in the California Current System (CCS)

CV

Publications

Fischer, A.D., Houliez, E., Bill, B.D., Kavanaugh, M., Alin, S., Collins, A., Kudela, R., Moore, S.K. 2024. Nutrient limitation dampens the response of a harmful algae to a marine heatwave in an upwelling system. Limnology & Oceanography.

Dugenne, M., Corrales-Ugalde, M., Luo, J.Y., Kiko, R., Fischer, A.D., et al. 2024. First release of the Pelagic Size Structure database: Global datasets of marine size spectra obtained from individual imaging devices. Earth System Science Data. 16: 2971–2999.

Houliez, E., Fischer, A.D., Bill, B.D., Moore, S.K. 2023. Does prey availability influence the detection of Dinophysis spp. by the Imaging FlowCytobot. Harmful Algae 130: 102544.

Fischer, A.D., and Brosnahan, M.L. 2022. Growing Degree-Day Measurement of Cyst Germination Rates in the Toxic Dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella. Applied Environmental and Microbiology 88: e02518-21.

Ruhl, H.A., J.A. Brown, A.R. Harper, E. Hazen, L. deWitt, P. Daniel, A. DeVogelaere, R.M. Kudela, J.P. Ryan, A.D. Fischer, F.E. Muller-Karger, and F.P. Chavez. 2021. Integrating biodiversity and envi­ronmental observations in support of national marine sanctuary and large marine ecosystem assess­ments. Oceanography 34.

Anderson, D.M., Fachon, E., Pickart, R.S., Lin, P., Fischer, A.D., Richlen, M.L., Uva, V., Brosnahan, M., McRaven, L., Bahr, F., Lefebvre, K., Grebmeier, J., Danielson, S., Lyu, Y., Fukai, Y., Moore, G.W.K. 2021. Evidence for massive and recurrent toxic blooms of Alexandrium catenella in the Alaskan Arctic. PNAS 118: e2107387118.

Kramer, S.J., Bisson, K.M., Fischer, A.D. 2020. Observations of phytoplankton community composition in the Santa Barbara Channel during the Thomas Fire. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 125: e2020JC016851.

Fischer, A.D., McGaraghan, A., Hayashi, K., Kudela, R.M. 2020. Return of the “age of dinoflagellates” in Monterey Bay: Drivers of dinoflagellate dominance examined using automated imaging flow cytometry and long‐term time series analysis. Limnology & Oceanography 65: 2125–2141.

Bisson, K.M., Baetge, N., Kramer, S.J., Catlett, D., Girling, G., McNair, H., Arrington, E., Hayes, D., Jacobs, C., James, A., Closset, I., Fischer, A.D., Wagner, S., Reading, M., Comstock, J., Amiri, S., Harvey, E., C. Carlson, C., Gaube, P., Drushka, K., Valentine, D.L. 2020. California wildfire burns boundaries between science and art. Oceanography 33: 16–19.

Brosnahan, M.L. & Fischer A.D.*, Lopez, C., Moore, S., Anderson, D.M. 2020. Cyst-forming dinoflagellates in a warming climate. Harmful Algae 91: 101728. *co-first author

Fischer, A.D., Brosnahan, M.L., Anderson, D.M. 2018. Quantitative response of Alexandrium catenella cyst dormancy to cold exposure. Protist 169: 645–66­1.

Brosnahan, M.L., Ralston, D.K., Fischer, A.D., Solow, A.R., Anderson, D.M. 2017. Bloom termination of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella: vertical migration behavior, sediment infiltration, and benthic cyst yield. Limnology & Oceanography 62: 2829–2849.

Fischer, A.D. 2017. Alexandrium catenella cyst dynamics in a coastal embayment: temperature dependence of dormancy, germination, and bloom initiation. (Doctoral dissertation).

Fischer, A.D., Moberg, E.A., Alexander, H.A., Brownlee, E.F., Hunter-Cevera, K.R., Pitz, K.J., Rosengard, S.Z., Sosik, H.M. 2014. Sixty Years of Sverdrup: A Retrospective of Progress in the Study of Phytoplankton Blooms. Oceanography 27: 222­–235.

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