Bopaiah Biddanda, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
Environmental Biology

Bloom in a Bottle
Bloom in a Bottle!
Pandora's Bottle?		 Productivity Gradient
Productivity Gradient		 Sinkhole
Sinkhole Ecosystem

  Click on the above images for more information

Dr. Bopi Biddanda

Dr. Bopi Biddanda is an Aquatic Microbial Ecologist interested in the Carbon Biogeochemistry of natural waters.  He has a background in Marine Biology, Oceanography and Microbial Ecology, and likes to address questions of carbon flow driven by microorganisms in nature.  He was born in India and had his early education there including a Master's degree in Marine Biology. Following Ph.D. work in Marine Microbial Ecology at the University of Georgia, he has worked at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany), University of Texas marine Science Institute, and the University of Minnesota before joining GVSU's Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon as a Research Scientist to explore the Great Lakes.

Currently, he conducts research on the carbon cycle of Lake Michigan and on the ecology of submerged sinkholes in Lake Huron, teaches graduate courses on Aquatic Microbial Ecologyand Ecosystem Biogeochemistry, mentors undergraduate and graduate students, and serves on the board of 2 international science journals (Journal of Plankton Research and Aquatic Microbial Ecology).

Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Carbon Cycle Lab

The microbial ecology and carbon cycle laboratory is focused on understanding the role microorganisms play in mediating the journey of carbon (aquatic carbon is a major reservoir of reactive carbon in the biosphere) and associated bioactive elements in the aquatic environment. In recent decades, there has been an explosion of ideas and research regarding the importance of microbial life on our planet. It is now widely recognized that inconspicuous microbes drive many e
Scott Kendall on board R/V Laurentian exploring submerged sinkhole ecosystems
cosystem level processes (including bulk of aquatic metabolism) thereby regulating the movement of energy and materials through ecosystems. Another recent finding of importance has been the observation that even very large lakes (such as Lake Michigan) benefit from substantial terrestrial subsidies, indicating close linkages between land and water everywhere.  Knowing how land, water and the atmosphere link together, and how microorganisms respond to changes in these linkages, are critical to our understanding of how energy and materials (including carbon and pollutants) circulate in a rapidly changing world.

The general focus of the lab's research in recent years has been on two major areas:  1.  How autotrophs and heterotrophs are coupled together in the aquatic environment and the significance of this relationship to the carbon balance of natural waters, and 2.  The importance of microorganisms in driving carbon and nutrient cycles across biogeochemical gradients in the environment. Research in this lab therefore, occurs at the interface between microbiology and biogeochemistry in the environment under the following projects:

  1. Seasonal variability in primary production and respiration processes in Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan
  2. Contribution of carbon and nutrients from West Michigan Rivers to Lake Michigan
  3. Microbial and photochemical transformation of dissolved organic matter in the Muskegon River- Lake Michigan system.
  4. Geophysical and biochemical habitat mapping of submerged sinkholes in Lake Huron
  5. Assessment of the microbial composition and carbon metabolism in submerged sinkhole ecosystems of Lake Huron.
  6. Tracing the fate of carbon and food web structure in submerged sinkholes of Lake Huron using stable isotopes

The laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility that includes an organic and inorganic carbon analyzer; automated titrimetry; several microscopes equipped with digital cameras, image analysis software, and epifluorescence systems; a radioactive isotope lab, multiparameter sondes; light sensors, self-designed chambers for production/respiration studies; and temperature controlled growth chambers. 

 
Eric Strickler (undergraduate student) sampling rivers of West Michigan. Thomas Garry Sanders (graduate student) preparing ROV for a dive over submerged sinkholes. 
Angie Defore (graduate student) deploying sondes for metabolic measurements in Muskegon Lake. Undergraduate students Maggie Weinert and Tom Holcomb measuring Muskegon Lake water metabolism.
 






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2008 Publications: 

Biddanda, B. A., S. C. Nold, S. A. Ruberg, S. T. Kendall, T. G. Sanders, and J. J. Gray    (In Press, 2008). Submerged Sinkhole Ecosystems in the Laurentian Great Lakes:  A Microbiogeochemical Frontier.  Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union.

Biddanda, B. A., A. Steinman, L. Nemeth, Y. Hong and S. Kendall (2008).  Nutrient bioassays of plankton biomass and metabolism in an urbanized drowned river-mouth lake (Mona Lake, Michigan).  J. Freshwater Ecology 23 (1): 41-53.

Johengen, T.H., B. A. Biddanda and J. B. Cotner (2008):  Stimulation of Lake Michigan plankton metabolism by sediment resuspension and river runoff. J. Great Lakes Research 34: 213-227.

Kerfoot, C. R., J. W. Budd, S. Green, J. B. Cotner, B. A. Biddanda and D. J. Schwab (2008).  Doughnut in the desert: late-winter production in southern Lake Michigan.    Limnology and Oceanography 53: 589-604.

Nold, S. C., M. J. Bellecourt, B. A. Biddanda, S. C. Kendall, S. A. Ruberg, T. G. Sanders and J. V. Klump (Submitted):  Lacustrine submerged sinkhole sediments are   a sink for organic carbon.  Biogeochemistry

Ruberg, S. A., S. T. Kendall, B. A. Biddanda, T. Black, W. Lusardi, R. Green, T. Casserley, E. Smith, S. Nold, G. Lang and S. Constant (In Press, 2008). Observations of the Middle Island sinkhole in Lake Huron: a unique hydrologic and glacial creation of 400 million years.  Marine Technology Society Journal.

Steinman, A., M. Ogdahl, R. Rediske, C. Ruetz, B. Biddanda and L. Nemeth. (2008):  Current status and trends in Muskegon Lake, Michigan. J. Great Lakes Research 34: 169-188.

For more information about Bopi, visit his faculty page.