We use chemical and microbiological methods to investigate the chemical structure and reactivity of high molecular weight organic matter, and the role of microbial communities in organic matter degradation in sediments, seawater, and rivers. Our work fits into the larger framework of carbon cycling on a global scale: heterotrophic microbes play key roles in the transformations, decomposition, and recycling of marine organic carbon, and are believed to be active in nearly all known marine envi...
