Skip to main content
Climate
Search

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
MIT

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • 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

PostFebruary 9, 2026

PODCAST: Climate Reveal (Season 2, Episode 2) - Climate Modeling

MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy
Podcast: Climate Reveal
PodcastJanuary 29, 2026

E1: Marshes, mangroves, meadows

Ask MIT Climate Podcast
Ask MIT Climate
PostDecember 22, 2025

Study: More eyes on the skies will help planes reduce climate-warming contr...

MIT News
“With more ‘eyes’ on the sky, we could start to see what a contrail’s life looks like,” says Prakash Prashanth.
PostDecember 8, 2025

Where the Ocean and Atmosphere Communicate

MIT Spectrum
Global map showing kilometer-scale ocean turbulence that mix water masses and transport heat, energy, and nutrients.

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