Skip to main content
Climate
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
Search
MIT

Main navigation

    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
PostMarch 9, 2017

Prochlorococcus: The microbe supplying 5% of the world’s photosynthesis

Penny Chrisholm is an expert on Prochlorococcus. In fact, MIT’s professor of Biological Oceanography has dedicated the last 30 years of the career to researching this incredible microbe.

Prochlorococcus is an intriguing organism. It influences our climate and may have even fueled the surge of early life in the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago, according to new research by Chrisholm and her team.

Learn more about Professor Chrisholm and her favourite microbe here.

PHOTO: N. WATSON AND L. THOMPSON, MIT
by ClimateX Team
Topics
Atmosphere
Biodiversity
Food, Water & Agriculture

Related Posts

PostSeptember 8, 2026

Study predicts large disparities in access to food, water, and energy in 20...

MIT News
A new study focuses on forecasting future access to food, water, and energy in 2050.
PostAugust 31, 2026

Playing against climate risk

MIT News
Left to right: Researchers Anamitra Saha and Sai Ravela of the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, and Jayanta Basu of the University of Calcutta design the board for a "snakes and ladders" game. The game is the first step in encouraging community members to use an app-based simulation that suggests solutions to their unique geographical and environmental challenges.
PostAugust 28, 2026

Gage Coon: An Earth scientist exploring the power of microbes

MIT News
“I discovered this world of academia, and so I was really excited when I learned about it,” Gage Coon says. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, constant learning. That is exactly what I want to do forever.’”
PostAugust 25, 2026

The secret love life of the longfin squid

MIT News
A spawning aggregation of longfin squid approaches a mop of eggs.

MIT Climate Knowledge in Your Inbox

 
 

MIT Groups Log In

Log In

Footer

  • About
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
MIT Climate Project
MIT
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • Simplecast
Communicator Award Winner
Communicator Award Winner