Team
Nicole Dubilier headshot photo

Nicole Dubilier

Science/Data
Director, Professor
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Nicole Dubilier is the Director of the Symbiosis Department at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. Nicole studies symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and marine invertebrates. Chemosynthetic symbioses are widespread in the world’s oceans and form the basis for highly productive ecosystems at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps in the deep sea. Nicole’s research group uses a wide array of methods to study chemosynthetic symbioses that range from deep-sea in situ tools to molecular, 'omic' and imaging analyses.

Nicole Dubilier graduated from the University of Hamburg with a PhD in marine zoology in 1992, and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University before joining the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology.

"My goal is to show how important symbioses are for the Earth's oceans. They play a key role in sustaining life and supporting biodiversity in many marine environments, particularly where nutrients are limiting like the deep-sea."

Expeditions

Nicole participated in the following Ocean Exploration Trust expeditions:

Selected Publications

2021

Franke M, Geier B, Hammel JU, Dubilier N, Leisch N. (2021). Coming together—symbiont acquisition and early development in deep-sea bathymodioline mussels. Proc. R. Soc.