Jason Sylvan
Texas A&M University-College Station, TX·Ecology & Evolution
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents host rich communities of microbes and animals. These communities run on chemical energy rather than sunlight.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Earth & Environmental Science
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
hydrothermal vents
deep sea
East Pacific Rise
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Identify the active microbes recolonizing the 2025 East Pacific Rise eruption site, using amplicon sequencing, metatranscriptomics (gene activity) and proteomics alongside measurements of primary productivity and fluid chemistry.
- Test whether post-eruption microbial communities serve as settlement cues for pioneer animal colonists, by sampling seafloor animals at the same locations as microbial measurements.
- Compare the numbers and types of vent larvae in the plankton before and after the eruption, and use the data to test a biophysical model of larval dispersal by mesoscale eddies.
- Characterize species and functional diversity of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes living on cool, inactive sulfide deposits at 9–10°N on the East Pacific Rise, at on-axis and off-axis sites.
- Determine which animal species are endemic to inactive sulfides and what biological and geological features, such as resident chemolithotrophic microbes, drive these associations.
More about the research
They live in an unstable setting: volcanic eruptions can wipe them out, and vents eventually shut off, leaving behind mineral deposits. How do life and productivity return after an eruption? What lives on vents after they go quiet? Both questions are urgent because deep-sea mining is being considered for these deposits. Both projects work at the 9–10°N vent fields on the East Pacific Rise (EPR), a site studied for decades. They link microbial activity, seafloor chemistry and animal communities.
Why it matters
Inactive sulfide deposits and vent fields are potential targets for deep-sea mining. This work could give policymakers concrete data on which species depend on these habitats, how unique they are, and how quickly seafloor communities recover after major disturbance. These are key inputs for deciding whether and how to mine sustainably. Shared data will also support broader studies of deep-sea biodiversity and carbon cycling.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jill McDermott
Lehigh University, PA·Earth & Environmental Science
Determine how the April 2025 eruption at 9°50'N East Pacific Rise reorganized crustal permeability and fluid pathways, using high-temperature vent fluid sampling paired with in situ temperature measurements.
John Paul Balmonte
Lehigh University, PA·Earth & Environmental Science
Compare how depressurization changes the activity of extracellular enzymes produced by deep-ocean microbial communities, using pressurization systems at sea and in the lab.
Robert Campbell
University of Rhode Island, RI·Earth & Environmental Science
Assess the sources and sinks of trace metals (iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cadmium, zinc, lead) and microplastics in the East Siberian and Laptev seas, including the role of river input and sea ice.
The school
Texas A&M University-College Station: 23 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 768 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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