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Rachel Diner

Course Title: Scripps Institution of Oceanography: The Invisible Life in the Oceans: Introduction to Marine Microbiology

Rachel Diner is a Ph.D. Candidate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, where she is studying how marine microorganisms interact and how they affect human health. She is also a Fellow in the Program for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research (PIER) at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the J. Craig Center Institute.

  • BS in Biology, Minor in Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
  • JD in Law with emphasis on coastal environmental law and policy, University of San Diego School of Law
  • MS in Biology with concentration on Marine Biology, San Francisco State University, Romberg Tiburon Center, Tiburon, California
  • Ph.D. Candidate in Marine Biology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (in process)

While at the University of California, San Diego, she organized and led a science outreach program for high school arts students at the J. Craig Venter Institute. She has taught General Botany at the College of San Matteo, San Matteo, California. Rachel has also served as a TA in Animal Physiology at San Francisco State University and has taught Constitutional Law at the University of San Diego. She also has taught LSAT test prep for Kaplan, in Athens, Georgia.

Publications

  • Diner, R.E., Bielinski, V.A., Dupont C.P., Allen, A.E., Weyman, P.W. (2016) Refinement of the Diatom Episome Maintenance Sequence and Improvement of Conjugation-based DNA Delivery Methods. Frontiers in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 4:65. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2016.00065
  • Diner, R. E., Schwenck, S. M., McCrow, J. P., Zheng, H., & Allen, A. E. (2016). Genetic Manipulation of Competition for Nitrate between Heterotrophic Bacteria and Diatoms. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, 880. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00880
  • ​Cavole, L.M., Demko, A.M., Diner, R.E., Giddings, A., Koester, I., Pagniello, C.M.L.S., Paulsen, M-L., Ramirez-Valdez, A., Schwenck, S.M., Yen, K.Y., Zill, M.E., Franks, P.J.S. (2016). Biological Impacts of 2013-2015 Warm-Water Anomalies in the Northeast Pacific: Winners, Losers and the Future. Oceanography 29(2), http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.32. NOTE: all authors were equal contributors to this article.
  • Diner, R.E., Benner, I., Passow, U., Komada, T., Carpenter, E.J., Stillman, J.H. (2015). Negative effects of ocean acidification on calcification vary within the coccolithophore genus Calcidiscus. Marine Biology, 1-19, doi: 10.1007/s00227-015-2669-x
  • Karas, B.J., Diner, R.E., Lefebvre S.C., McQuaid, J., Phillips, A.P.R., Noddings, C.M., Brunson, J.K., Valas R.E., Deerinck, T.J., Jablanovic, J., Gillard, J.T.F., Beeri, K., Ellisman, M.H., Glass, J.I., Hutchinson III, C.A., Smith, H.O., Venter, J.C., Allen, A.E., Dupont, C.L., Weyman, P.D. (2015). Designer diatom episomes delivered by bacterial conjugation. Nature Communications, 6:6925, doi: 10.1038/ncomms792
  • Benner, I., Diner, R. E., Lefebvre, S. C., Li, D., Komada, T., Carpenter, E. J., & Stillman, J. H. (2013). Emiliania huxleyi increases calcification but not expression of calcification-related genes in long-term exposure to elevated temperature and pCO2. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1627), 20130049

Oral Presentations

  • Diner, R.E., Allen, A.E. “Genetic manipulation of competition for nitrate between heterotrophic bacteria and diatoms.” Ocean Sciences Meeting, New Orleans LA, February 2016.
  • Diner, R.E., Karas,B.J., Lefebvre, S.C., McQuaid, J.M., Allen, A.E., Dupont, C.L., Weyman, P.W. “Development of Replicating Plasmids Delivered to Diatoms via Bacterial Conjugation.” Molecular Life of Diatoms Conference. Seattle, WA,. July 2015.
  • Diner, R.E.. “Variable negative effects of ocean acidification in the coccolithophore genus Calcidiscus.” Master’s Thesis Oral Defense, Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies. December, 2014.
  • Diner, R.E. and Stillman, J.H.. “Ocean Acidification: CO2’s effect on our marine environment.” Marin Conservation League Waters and Watersheds Committee Meeting. September 2013. Invited Talk.
  • Dorfman, R.E*. and Stillman, J.H.. “The effects of nitrogen source on growth and calcification in Emiliania huxleyi.” Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies Seminar Series. May 2012. * Dorfman = maiden name

Poster Presentations

  • Diner, R.E., Lefebvre, S.C., Dupont, C., Allen, A.E.. “Development of a dexamethasone-inducible vector for the transformation of P. tricornutum.” Internship research presentation, J. Craig Venter Institute. August 2013.
  • Dorfman*, R.E., Benner, I., Li, D., Lefebvre, S., Komada, T., Carpenter, E.J., Stillman, J.H. “Transcriptome Response of the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi to Ocean Acidification and Increased Temperature.” Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Francisco, CA. January 2013. * former name was Rachel E. Dorfman.
  • Turner, C., Dorfman, R.E., Page, T., Stillman, J.H.. “Thermal Sensitivity of Heat Shock Protein Gene Expression in Newly Settled Porcelain Crabs.” Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Francisco, CA. January 2013.
  • Dorfman, R.E., Benner, I., Li, D., Lefebvre, S., Komada, T., Carpenter, E.J., Stillman, J.H.. “Transcriptomic Analysis of the Effects of Ocean Acidification and Increased Temperature in the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi.” Third International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World, Monterey, CA. September 2012. (Award: 2nd Place: Best Poster for an Early Career Scientist).
  • Dorfman, R.E., Benner, I., Li, D., Lefebvre, S., Komada, T., Stillman, J.H., Carpenter, E.J.. “Strain-Specific Responses to Nitrogen Source in Coccolithophores.” Ocean Sciences Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. February 2012, COSE Student Project Showcase 2012.