Deep Sea Microbiology (UNSEEN OCEAN CRITTERS) with Peter Girguis
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Who is Dr. Peter Girguis and what drives his deep‑sea microbiology research?
Oh hello. If you are hearing this before September 8th, 2026, and you live anywhere near Atlanta, Georgia, just a heads up, I'm doing a free talk that's open to the public at Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia, alongside wonderful meteorology guest, Dr. Marshall Shepherd. And again, it's September 8th, 3 to 4 p.m. at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. That's actually Athens, Georgia. It's at their special collections library. September 8th. Okay, I'll see you there. Oh, hey, it's the flyer tucked under your windshield, flapping on the highway. Allie Ward. This one is another long time coming episode. I was tipped off about this oldist by my dear friend and squid expert, Dr.
Sarah McInulty of Skype a scientist, who sang this fellow marine scientist praises. And as soon as I heard Critters of the deep I was in. But wait, micro critters? Is that a thing? Oh, I have no idea. But they do. So they got their Bachelor's of Science at UCLA, a PhD from UC Santa Barbara, and did a postdoc at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Legit. They switched coasts a few decades ago, and they are a professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, while also being an adjunct scientist at Woods Hole. And at Harvard, they teach courses like deep sea biology and microbial sciences. And also sea monsters, mythology, fiction, film, and fact. Absolute humdinger of a guest here.
They research what is living and thriving in the places that are hardest to reach on the planet. They also have a voice that was made for radio, and tales. From the deep that goosebumped me. So we're gonna get into it. But first, if you need kid-friendly versions of ologies, we have them for you in their own separate feed called SMologies. Just look for those on your favorite podcast app, S-M-O-L-O-G-I-E-S. Thank you to patrons of the show at patreon.com/slash ologies for supporting for a dollar or more a month. Thank you to everyone out there in items from ologiesmerch.com. And thanks to everyone who rates the show and reviews. It helps so much. And yes, I read them all. And this one was just left by Lord Epe, who wrote, Wonderful, wish there was more.
Learning new things, going in depth into such a variety of topics is always a joy. Would have given a sixth star if you upload seven times as much. Lord Epe, Oligies is about to turn nine. We have over five hundred episodes listed in different categories at Oleges.com. If you've heard them all, I salute your rate of information consumption. I thank you for that seven times over. I think you should take over the podcast if I ever retire. Also thank you to sponsors of Oligies who make it possible for us to donate to a cause of the Olegist Choosing each week. Okay, let's go deep, deep, deep into unseen creatures lurking in inky trenches, what it's like to drift to the seafloor, how single-celled organisms also wait in line at buffets, tube worms, mud medicine, extremophiles, life on other planets.
If we can go check out Atlantis, shark encounters, methane munching, hydronauts, trekky trivia, the Safety of submersibles, deep sea simulations, and how ocean organisms may save your life, with researcher, Harvard professor, and deep sea microbiologist, Dr. Peter Gerges. He him.
This has been such a long time coming. What does your working space look like? I'm looking at behind you and you have like the most professorial den with books and bookshelves and like beautiful Tiffany lamps. But what is your day-to-day look like?
Well, this is my basement and you know, this is my happy place. The lab is also my happy place. What does it look like? I think it's a bit Frankenstein-ish, sort of a bit steampunky.
Okay.
As a lab. What we love to do is understand how Things that live in water, in particular the ocean, in particular the deep sea, like how do they make a living?
Yeah.
And to do that, we build systems that allow us to keep those animals and microbes at the conditions that they live at. So one of the things I love about my lab and love about the lab members is all of them lean into this idea of saying, okay, we've got a question, like we've got this question about this microbe or this animal.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Dr. Peter Girguis and what drives his deep‑sea microbiology research?
0:00–12:31
2
How does the lab recreate extreme deep‑sea conditions to study microbes?
12:31–24:07
3
What are microbial mats and how do they thrive at hydrothermal vents?
24:07–35:36
4
How do deep‑sea microbes harvest energy from methane?
35:36–48:11
5
How can microbes use metal oxides as electron acceptors in oxygen‑free zones?
48:11–1:02:13
6
What is the process for collecting deep‑sea samples with the Alvin submersible?
1:02:13–1:14:36
7
Can deep‑sea microbes provide new antibiotics or biotechnological solutions?
1:14:36–1:23:57
8
What can deep‑sea extremophiles teach us about life on other planets?
1:23:57–1:24:26
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