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Sarah Joanne Lerch

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Researcher
Telephone: 40611252
Department: Plankton

Curriculum Vitae

I have many years of experience with phytoplankton physiology and molecular tools through my graduate and postdoctoral work (2012-2021). This work focused on phytoplankton nutrient physiology and metabolism in both experimental and in situ conditions. My research in these subjects included extensive use of molecular tools and methods including DNA extractions, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), genetic silencing and over expression of target genes, metabarcoding sample preparation and analysis, and metatranscriptomic sample preparation and analysis. In addition I've worked with advanced imaging tools including sorting flow cytometers, scanning electron microscopes, and inverted fluorescence microscopes. Results from this work were analyzed using bioinformatic pipelines and statistical packages requiring coding in R, Python, and Linux command line as well as the use of super computing clusters. In addition to my academic work during this period I also gained experience teaching and designing lesson plans in grade school and university classrooms. I am now responsible for the monitoring of phytoplankton in the open ocean areas of the North, Norwegian and Barents Seas. Findings from these monitoring programs are disseminated through the environmental directorate, ICES working groups, and publicly available cruise reports.

Publications

Academic articles

2023

Oligotrophic waters of the Northwest Atlantic support taxonomically diverse diatom communities that are distinct from coastal waters

Samantha P. Setta, Sarah Lerch, Bethany D. Jenkins, Sonya T. Dyhrman, Tatiana A. Rynearson
The Phycological Society of America
2018

Understanding Diatom Cell Wall Silicification- Moving Forward

Mark Hildebrand, Sarah J.L. Lerch, Roshan Shrestha
Frontiers in Marine Science, Marine Biogeochemistry p. 5
2017

Characterization of a New Protein Family Associated with the Silica Deposition Vesicle Membrane Enables Genetic Manipulation of Diatom Silica

Sarah J.L. Lerch, Benoit Tesson, Mark Hildebrand
Scientific Reports 7
2015

Diatom silica biomineralization: Parallel development of approaches and understanding

Mark Hildebrand, Sarah J.L. Lerch
Seminars in Cell Developmental Biology
2014

Electronically transparent graphene replicas of diatoms: a new technique for the investigation of frustule morphology

Zhengwei Pan, Sarah J. L. Lerch, Liang Xu, Xufan Li, Yen-Jun Chuang, Jane Y. Howe, Shannon M. Mahurin, Sheng Dai, Mark Hildebrand
Scientific Reports 4
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