Research Interests

My laboratory's research focuses on the interactions of metals and metalloids with marine organisms. This work is aimed at evaluating the bioavailability and fate of metals, including important long-lived radionuclides associated with nuclear wastes, in marine organisms. Our research examines various processes regulating the uptake and trophic transfer of these contaminants in marine food webs. 

Some of this work has explored the nature of binding of metals to diverse types of particles and the influence these have on the extent to which the metals are in a biologically available form. The effects of chemical and phase (particulate, dissolved, colloidal) partitioning of metals on their bioaccumulation in marine food webs are assessed. Particle types considered include abiotic particles such as suspended sediments (e.g., iron oxides with and without organic coatings, clay particles, calcite crystals) and living particles (e.g., phytoplankton cells, bacterioplankton). As well, research has focused on the adsorption/desorption of metals to biogenic detrital matter and the influence this material can have on the vertical flux and geochemical cycling of metals in diverse oceanic regimes, including open ocean and continental shelf waters. Many of these activities are conducted in coordination with Stony Brook University's Center for Environmental Molecular Science (CEMS).

We have also been active in quantifying the transfer of metals from one trophic level to another in marine food chains and have developed a bioenergetic-based kinetic model to assess the bioaccumulation, including specific uptake pathways, of metals in marine organisms. These studies have considered diverse marine herbivores and carnivores, including species that are used as bioindicators of coastal contamination. Experimental studies have assessed rate constants for metal accumulation and release from organisms under different environmental conditions, and the results are applied to understanding processes in specific environmental regions.  We have recently been working with food webs in the Arctic, the Mediterranean, San Francisco Bay, and the Equatorial Pacific.  Additionally, our research has related bioaccumulation and toxicity of select metals to phytoplankton and zooplankton in marine and freshwater environments. These studies emphasized physiological and biochemical responses to sublethal concentrations of metals.

My group has also been active in developing the capability of analyzing the trace element composition of individual plankton plankton cells using synchrotron-based x-ray fluorescence microscopy. This method is now being applied toward understanding elemental stoichiometries in different types of plankton cells and in evaluating biological responses to varying iron concentrations.

Since October 2006 I have served as the Director of Stony Brook University's Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research. I have also been active in helping to coordinate biogeochemical research in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, in conjunction with CIESM, through specialized workshops and conferences.

Currently there are active programs in: (1) evaluating the bioavailability of trace metals from water and sediments to marine organisms; (2) a comparison of the bioaccumulation of metals in Arctic and temperate marine invertebrates; (3) assessing metal accumulation in marine bacteria; (4) studying the cycling and bioaccumulation of inorganic and methylmercury in San Francisco Bay; (5) quantifying the absorption of dissolved organic matter by zebra mussels and its influence on metal absorption; (6) determining the elemental composition and cytological distribution in individual marine protist cells using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence; (7) determining the trophic transfer and potential for biomagnification of metals in marine food chains.

Selected Publications

Fisher, N.S. 1975. Chlorinated hydrocarbon pollutants and photosynthesis of marine phytoplankton: a reassessment. Science 189: 463-464.

Fisher, N.S. 1977. On the differential sensitivity of estuarine and open-ocean diatoms to exotic chemical stress. Amer. Nat. 111: 871-895.

Fisher, N.S., G.J. Jones, and D.M. Nelson. 1981. Effects of copper and zinc on growth, morphology, and metabolism of Asterionella japonica (Cleve). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 51: 37-56.

Fisher, N.S., P. Bjerregaard, and S.W. Fowler. 1983. Interactions of marine plankton with transuranic elements. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28: 432-447.

Fisher, N.S. 1986. On the reactivity of metals for marine phytoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 31: 443-449.

Fisher, N.S., J.K. Cochran, S. Krishnaswami, and H.D. Livingston. 1988. Predicting the oceanic flux of radionuclides on sinking biogenic debris. Nature 335: 622-625.

Reinfelder, J.R. and N.S. Fisher. 1991. The assimilation of elements ingested by marine copepods. Science 251: 794-796.

Fisher, N.S. and M. Wente. 1993. The release of trace elements by dying marine phytoplankton. Deep-Sea Res. 40: 671-694.

Wang, W.-X., N.S. Fisher and S.N. Luoma. 1996. Kinetic determinations of trace element bioaccumulation in the mussel Mytilus edulis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 140: 91-113.

Fisher, N.S., J.-L. Teyssié, S.W. Fowler, and W.-X. Wang. 1996. Accumulation and retention of metals in mussels from food and water: a comparison under field and laboratory conditions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 30: 3232-3242.

Fisher, N.S., S.W. Fowler, F. Boisson, J.L. Carroll, K. Rissanen, B. Salbu, T.G. Sazykina, and K.L. Sjoeblom. 1999. Radionuclide bioconcentration factors and sediment partition coefficients in Arctic Seas subject to contamination from dumped nuclear wastes. Environ. Sci. Technol. 33: 1979-1982.

Roditi, H.A., N.S. Fisher, and S.A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy. 2000. Uptake of dissolved organic carbon and trace elements by zebra mussels. Nature 407: 78-80.

Fisher, N.S., I. Stupakoff, S.A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, W.-X. Wang, J.-L. Teyssié, S.W. Fowler, and J. Crusius. 2000. Trace metals in marine copepods: a field test of a bioaccumulation model coupled to laboratory uptake kinetics data. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 194: 211-218.

Fisher, N.S.  2002.  Editor. Bioaccumulation of Metals and Radionuclides in Marine Organisms. CIESM Workshop Monograph No. 19, Monaco, 120 pp.

Twining, B.S., S.B. Baines, N.S. Fisher, J. Maser, S. Vogt, C. Jacobsen, A. Tovar-Sanchez, and S.A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy. 2003. Quantifying trace elements in individual aquatic protist cells with a synchrotron x-ray fluorescence microprobe. Anal. Chem. 75: 3806-3816.

Twining, B.S., S.B. Baines, and N.S. Fisher.  2004.  Element stoichiometries of individual plankton cells collected during the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX).  Limnol. Oceanogr.49: 2115-2128.

Baines, S.B., N.S. Fisher, and J.J. Cole.  2005.  Uptake of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its importance to metabolic requirements of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha.  Limnol. Oceanogr. 50:36-47.

Baines, S.B., N.S. Fisher, and E.L. Kinney.  2005.  The influence of temperature on dietary metal uptake in Arctic and temperate mussels.  Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.289: 201-213.