• Ph.D. (Biology) 1998, U. California, Santa Barbara
• B.A. (Biology) 1992, U. California, Santa Barbara

As a comparative animal physiologist, I study how animals work in extreme environments. How are animals specialized to extremely cold temperatures in polar environments? How do animals cope with low oxygen in some parts of the deep sea? Will existing physiological abilities be sufficient to deal with changing climate and ocean acidification? My lab addresses these questions by comparing physiological performance in diverse animals from widely varying environments. Specifically we measure rates of oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion, activities of key metabolic enzymes, blood oxygen binding ability, osmolyte concentrations, and acid-base balance under controlled conditions in the laboratory, often on board research ships.

Using physiological and biochemical tools, I’m also able to address questions in biological oceanography. For example, metabolic rate measurements in oceanic animals are used to calculate the contribution of such animals to the flux of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep sea.

Our travels to remote parts of the world also provide opportunities to observe species seldom, if ever, seen by humans. We’ve made discoveries of species new to science and have observed new behaviors by other species.

• Rosa, R., Dierssen, H. M., Gonzales, L., and B. A. Seibel. 2008. Ecological biogeography of cephalopod mollusks in Atlantic Ocean. Diversity patterns in the open ocean and deep-sea. Ecology. In press.


• Rosa, R., Trueblood, L. A., and B. A. Seibel. 2008. Ecophysiological demands on scaling of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism of deep-sea gonatid squids. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. In press.


• Rosa, R., Dierssen, H. M., Gonzales, L., and B. A. Seibel. 2008. Ecological biogeography of cephalopod mollusks in Atlantic Ocean. Historical and contemporary causes of coastal diversity patterns. Global Ecology and Biogeography. In press.


• Fabry, V. J., Seibel, B. A., Feely, R. A., and Orr, J. C. 2008. Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Fauna and Ecosystem Processes. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 65: 414-432.


• Seibel, B. A., Dymowska, A., Rosenthal, J. C. 2007. Metabolic temperature compensation and coevolution of locomotory capacity in pteropod molluscs. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 47: 880-891.


• Drazen, J. C. and Seibel, B. A. 2007. Depth-related trends in metabolism of benthic and benthopelagic fishes. Limnol. Oceangr. 52: 2306-2316.


• Seibel, B. A. and Drazen, J. C. 2007. The rates of metabolism in marine animals: environmental constraints, ecological demands and energetic opportunities. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B. 362: 2061-2078.


• Seibel, B. A. 2007. On the depth and scale of metabolic rate variation: scaling of oxygen consumption and enzymatic activity in the Class Cephalopoda. J. Exp. Biol. 210: 1-11.


• Aronson, R., Thatje, S., Clarke, A., Peck, L. S., Blake, D. B., Wilga, C. D., and Seibel, B. A. 2007. Climate change and invisibility of the Antarctic Benthos. Annual Review Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 38: 129-154.


• Samerotte, S. L., J. C. Drazen, G. L. Brand, B. A. Seibel, and P. H. Yancey. 2007. Correlation of trimethylamine oxide and habitat depth within and among species of teleost fishes: an analysis of causation. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 80(2): 197-208.


• Seibel, B. A., Robison, B. H., Haddock, S. D. H. 2005. Post-spawning egg-care by a squid. Nature 438: 929.


• Seibel, B. A., S. K. Goffredi, E. V. Thuesen, J. J. Childress, and B. H. Robison. 2004. Ammonium content and buoyancy in midwater cephalopods. J.Exp. Mar. Biol Ecol. 313: 375-387.


• Seibel, B. A. and V. J. Fabry. 2003. Marine Biotic Response to Elevated Carbon Dioxide. Advances in Applied Biodiversity Science 4. 59-67.


• Seibel, B. A. and H. M. Dierssen. 2003. Cascading trophic impacts of reduced biomass in the Ross Sea, Antarctica: just the tip of the iceberg? Biological Bulletin 205 (2): 93-99.


• Seibel, B. A. and P. J. Walsh. 2003. Biological impacts of deep-sea carbon dioxide injection inferred from indices of physiological performance. Journal of Experimental Biology. 206: 641-650.