John Hobbie is a Distinguished Scientist at the MBL’s Ecosystems Center whose research has attempted to identify the factors controlling decomposition and productivity within aquatic Ecosystems. His research is primarily interested in the role natural assemblages of microbes play in ecosystems. Dr. Hobbie began studying this problem over 30 years ago in Swedish lakes, where he developed and applied methods for measuring the kinetics of uptake of organic compounds by bacteria using radiolabelled substrates. Dr. Hobbie later developed methods for measuring the mineralization of organic compounds to CO2, and visualizing and enumerating bacteria present in natural water samples using DNA specific stains (acridine orange and DAPI). The development of molecular biology has allowed the naming of specific bacteria found in nature and determining what species are present and active seasonally. Dr. Hobbie also looks at larger systems in estuaries and arctic tundra lakes where scientists have access to a longer, 20-year data set. The combination of observations and experimental manipulations carried out over many years have proven a valuable tool for understanding ecological processes.
Dr. Hobbie helped establish the Arctic Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site at Toolik Lake, Alaska and is the director of the Arctic LTER project, which focuses on the ecology of tundra, streams, and lakes at Toolik Lake.
