Nicole Millette - SMSP Fall Seminar Series 2026

Nicole Millette

Abstract: Mixoplankton, aquatic protist that can use both photosynthesis and grazing, have gained increasing attention over the past decade. It is now recognized that a substantial number of protistan plankton engage in phago-mixotrophy to obtain nutrients for growth and reproduction under a range of environmental conditions. Unfortunately, our current understanding of mixoplankton in aquatic systems significantly lags behind our understanding of zooplankton and phytoplankton, limiting our ability to fully comprehend the role of mixoplankton (and phago-mixotrophy) in the plankton food web and biogeochemical cycling. A primary reason for this gap in knowledge is a lack of sufficient methods to study the natural population of mixoplankton, separate from phytoplankton and zooplankton. This seminar will cover a range of ongoing efforts to advance mixoplankton methods, recent studies that improved our understanding of mixoplankton, and how other scientists can get involved in this research topic.