Leila J. Hamdan

Research Microbial Ecologist

US Naval Research Laboratory

Leila is a microbial ecologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and teaches a graduate course in estuarine ecology and ecosystem management at the Johns Hopkins University.  Her research centers on metabolic function and community composition of estuarine and marine bacteria. Leila received her graduate education from George Mason University. As a graduate student and National Research Council Postdoc at the Naval Research Laboratory Leila studied DOM cycling by bacterioplankton in four estuaries in North America (Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Atchafalaya Bay and Puget Sound) to determine its contribution to water column anoxia. Recently, Leila states that her interests have steered her offshore and to locations outside of the United States. She currently participates in a large scale study of the biogeochemical factors controlling the fate of sedimentary methane and microbial communities in methane seeps along coastal margins in North America, Chile and New Zealand. This work provides an understanding of the microorganisms regulating production and release of a powerful green house gas to the hydrosphere and atmosphere.