LA JOLLA – UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography was awarded a four-year, $10 million grant to study the effects of climate change on the nervous systems and behaviors of marine species. Funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the gift will help researchers establish the Allen Discovery Center for Neurobiology in Changing Environments.
Professor of Marine Biology
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
“This is by far the biggest grant I’ve received for my research so far,” Scripps Institution of Oceanography Professor of Marine Biology Martin Tresguerres, Ph.D. told the Business Journal. “Words cannot express how excited I am to be able to merge neurobiology and marine biology to understand how marine animals have adapted to naturally fluctuating environments and to identify their responses to climate change.”
Climate change continues to increase ocean temperatures, causing the water to become more acidic which reduces the oxygen levels in the water. The reduced oxygen can impact the brain development of marine creatures, changing the speed of neural signals and ultimately distorting their senses.
According to researchers, to further study the effects of climate change on these organisms, first they’ll have to study the fundamental mechanisms of how their nervous systems have evolved to function in naturally changing environments. By learning how organisms will adapt and respond to climate change, researchers say they can tailor conservation efforts for especially vulnerable marine life.
Teams plan to study four marine species – staghorn corals, slipper snails, painted sea urchins and three-spined stickleback fish – all of which play important ecological roles and come from diverse evolutionary lineages.
Professor of Marine Biology
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
“We will spend the first year developing novel tools and resources that will allow us to study the nervous system of marine animals in unprecedented detail,” added Dr. Tresguerres. “Some of these tools are already available for sea urchin and stickleback fish, so work on these species will proceed faster than that on coral and snails.”
The Center will be directed by Dr. Tresguerres, with two co-lead principal investigators – Amro Hamdoun, PhD, and Deirdre Lyons, PhD, fellow marine biology professors at Scripps.
“UC San Diego and Scripps are uniquely situated to do this,” said Dr. Hamdoun. “We have a world-class marine research institution embedded within a campus that also houses world-class biomedical research — that proximity really helps for this type of big thinking project.” Dr. Lyons added, “I am looking forward to collaborating with researchers from outside my field, and I’m excited to train the next generation of scientists who will pursue these questions by integrating perspectives and topics from molecules all the way to ecosystems.”
Center as Central Hub
Their labs at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography will act as the central hub for the new Center, but teams at the University of Southern California, Carnegie Science, the University of Virginia, and Canada’s MacEwan University will also participate in the research.
Associate Professor of Marine Biology
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
“There are a few other excellent laboratories doing related research around the world,” shared Dr. Tresguerres, “However, to my knowledge, this is the largest scale project to date, both in terms of the scope of the transdisciplinary science and the level of funding.”
At the end of the initial four years of funding, the Allen Institute could renew its funding for an additional four years with an additional $10 million, so long as the Center’s leadership also raises $10 million.
“The lens of climate change is entirely new for the Frontiers Group, and the timely work of the Allen Discovery Center is critical to understanding the consequences of the climate crisis on the nervous system and to identify potential mechanisms of resilience and adaptation,” shared Kathryn Richmond, PhD, MBA, executive vice president and director of the Frontiers Group. “The team’s commitment to disseminating their discoveries both within the scientific community and the public is a tremendous benefit and will enhance and expand the lasting impact of this important work.”
Executive VP & Director
Frontiers Group
By the end of year 1, Dr. Tresguerres hopes to have initial results for the stickleback fish and sea urchins in stable environments. Year 2 will examine how they function in naturally fluctuating environments. Year 3 will examine the effects of climate change.
“The main motivations I had to get into this line of research were (a) the realization about how little we know about the functioning of nervous system of marine animals in naturally fluctuating environments, and (b) how important this information is in order to understand the effects of climate change on marine animals and to develop science-based solutions,” Dr. Tresguerres added “Through this Center, I am ecstatic to be able to advance our fundamental knowledge about marine biology while at the same time contributing to alleviate the problem of climate change, which is critical to society at large.”
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