About the Program

Craig Plante

Professor/Director, Graduate Program in Marine Biology

Address: Grice Marine Laboratory, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412
Phone: 843.953.9187
E-mail: plantec@cofc.edu


Education

Ph.D., 1992, University of Washington

Research Interests

  • Microbial ecology, benthic biology, animal-microbe interactions, bioremediation, and the production and role of antimicrobials in marine bacteria  

Current and planned research projects: 

  • Biogeography and community assembly of benthic microalgae
  • The importance of disturbance to sedimentary microbial communities, and processes of re-colonization and succession
  • Role of bacterial antagonisms in structuring benthic bacterial communities

Publications

  • Bezy, V., Hill-Spanik, K., Plante, C.  2020. Unearthing the sand microbiome of sea turtle nests with disparate survivorship at a mass-nesting beach in Costa Rica. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. (in press)
  • Plante, C., Hill-Spanik, K., Cook, M., Graham, C. 2020. Environmental and spatial influences on biogeography and community structure of saltmarsh benthic diatoms. Estuaries and Coasts. (in press)
  • Hill-Spanik, K.M., Smith, A.S., Plante, C.J. 2019. Recovery of benthic microalgal biomass and    community structure following beach renourishment at Folly Beach, South Carolina.    Estuaries & Coasts 42: 157-172  doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0456-x
  • Hook, W., Plante, C. 2019. Antimicrobial production among intertidal sedimentary and porewater bacteria and the characterization of their prevalence in situ. Plankton & Benthos Research 14: 197-205
  • Ellis, C., Thomas, M., Lawson, P., Patel, N., *Faircloth, W., *Hayes, S., *Linton, E., *Norden, D., *Severenchuk, I., *West, C., Brown, J., Plante, R., Plante C.  2018. Kistimonas alittae, sp. nov., a gammabacterium isolated from the marine annelid, Alitta succinea. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol.  doi 10.1099/ijsem.0.003137
  • Roth, P., Hill-Spanik, K.M., McCurry, C., Plante, C.  2017. Propidium monoazide-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PMA-PCR) assay for the characterization of viable diatoms in marine sediments. Diatom Res. 32: 341-350 
  • Rivera-Garcia, L., Hill-Spanik, K., Berthrong, S., Plante, C. 2017. Tidal stage changes in structure and diversity of intertidal benthic diatom assemblages: A case study from two contrasting Charleston Harbor flats.  Estuaries & Coasts 41: 722-783 doi 10.1007/s12237-017-0312-4
  • Plante, C. 2017. Defining disturbance for microbial ecology. Microb. Ecol. 74: 259-263 doi 10.1007/s00248-017-00956-4
  • Plante, C.J., Fleer, V., Jones, M.L.  2016.  Dispersal assembly of benthic microalgal communities: Effects of tidal resuspension. J. Phycol. 52: 827-839
  • Bezy, V., Valverde, R., Plante, C.  2015. Olive ridley sea turtle hatching success as a function of the microbial abundance in nest sand at Ostional, Costa Rica and implications for conservation management. PLoS ONE 10: e118579