WEDNESDAY YACHTING LUNCHEON

Hosted by Ron Young

April 17, 2024

What Squids Can Teach Us About Ourselves and Sustainability of Our Oceans 

Michele Nishiguchi, PhD, Prof Molecular and Cell Biology, Director, Institute for Symbiotic Interactions, UC Merced 

Michele Nishiguchi’s love of marine biology started when she dove into the deep sea of her parent’s shag carpet and swam with the fascinating critters in “The Undersea Adventures of Jacques Cousteau”, on television. During her youthful summers she marveled at scuba divers, dolphins and all things marine, especially those without backbones. Her current research focuses on the relationships between marine organisms and their symbiotic bacteria and spans the bridge between microbial ecology and disease evolution. Dr. “Nish” chases squid in the Indo-West Pacific, Australia, the Mediterranean Sea, and manages to snack on occasional calamari along the way. She will focus on the importance of beneficial microbes to the world’s oceans and humanity’s role in ocean sustainability.