Marine invertebrates and their life-history stages live in intimate contact with the environment that includes the microbial world. My long-term research goals are to provide an understanding the functional interplay between the reproductive and developmental stages of marine invertebrates and symbiotic microorganisms, and how these partnerships evolve and are crucial life in the plankton. To do this I combine regular field-based experiments that simulates the oceanographic conditions and employ modern molecular biology and -omic techniques. This integrated approach has allowed myself and colleagues to find clear links between larval development, phenotypic plasticity, and life-history evolution with specific symbiotic microorganisms. We are currently testing hypotheses for a functional interplay between larvae and their symbionts in both sponges and echinoderms.

2020–           Associated Researcher: CRC 1182, Kiel University, Germany

2020–           Postdoctoral Fellow: GEOMAR – Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Germany

2019             Visiting Researcher: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

2018             Visiting Researcher: Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Infrastructure, Sweden

2018             Honorary Associate: University of Sydney, Australia

2016–9         NSF Graduate Research Fellow: UNC Charlotte, USA

2016, 9         Visiting Graduate Researcher: Friday Harbor Laboratories, USA

Kustra, MC & TJ Carrier. 2022. On the spread of microbes that manipulate reproduction in marine invertebrates. The American Naturalist.

Carrier, TJ & JS McAlister. 2022. Microbiota associated with echinoid eggs and the implications for maternal provisioning. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Carrier, TJ, SE Beaulieu, SW Mills, LS Mullineaux, & AM Reitzel. 2021. Larvae of deep-sea invertebrates harbor low-diversity bacterial communities. Biological Bulletin 241: 65-76.

Carrier, TJ*, BA Leigh*, D Deaker, H Devens, GA Wray, SR Bordenstein, M Byrne, & AM Reitzel. 2021. Microbiome reduction and endosymbiont gain from a switch in sea urchin life history. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2022023118.

Carrier, TJ, HA Lessios, & AM Retizel. 2020. Eggs of echinoids separated by the Isthmus of Panama harbor divergent microbiota. Marine Ecology Progress Series 648: 169-177.

Carrier, TJ & AM Reitzel. 2020. Symbiotic life of echinoderm larvae. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 509.

Schuh, NW, TJ Carrier, CS Schrankel, AM Reitzel, A Heyland, & JP Rast. 2020. Bacterial exposure mediates developmental plasticity and resistance to lethal Vibrio lentus infection in purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) larvae. Frontiers in Immunology 10: 3014.

Carrier, TJ & AM Reitzel. 2019. Shift in bacterial taxa precedes morphological plasticity in a larval echinoid. Marine Biology 166: 164.

Leach, WB*, TJ Carrier*, & AM Reitzel. 2019. Diel patterning in the bacterial community associated with Nematostella vectensis. Ecology and Evolution 9: 9935-9947.

Carrier, TJ, S Dupont, & AM Reitzel. 2019. Geographic location and food availability offer differing levels of influence on the bacterial communities associated with larval sea urchins. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 95: fiz103.

Carrier, TJ & AM Reitzel. 2019. Bacterial community dynamics during embryonic and larval development of three confamilial echinoids. Marine Ecology Progress Series 611: 179-188.

Carrier, TJ, K Wolfe, K Lopez, M Gall, DA Janies, M Byrne, & AM Reitzel. 2018. Diet-induced shifts in the crown-of-thorns (Acanthaster sp.) larval microbiome. Marine Biology 165: 157.

Ketchum, RN, EG Smith, GO Vaughan, BL Phippen, D McParland, NA Mansouri, TJ Carrier, JA Burt, & AM Reitzel. 2018. DNA extraction method plays a significant role when defining bacterial community composition in the marine invertebrate Echinometra mathaei. Frontiers in Marine Science 5: 255.

Carrier, TJ, J Macrander, & AM Reitzel. 2018. A microbial perspective on the life-history evolution of marine invertebrate larvae: if, where, and when to feed. Marine Ecology 39: e12490.

Carrier, TJ & AM Reitzel. 2018. Convergent shifts in host-associated microbial communities across environmentally elicited phenotypes. Nature Communications 9: 952.

Du Clos, KT, IT Jones, TJ Carrier, DC Brady, & PA Jumars. 2017. Model-assisted measurements of suspension-feeding flow velocities. Journal of Experimental Biology 220: 2096-2107.

Carrier, TJ & AM Reitzel. 2017. The hologenome across environments and the implications of a host-associated microbial repertoire. Frontiers in Microbiology 8: 802.

Carrier, TJ, SD Eddy, & S Redmond. 2017. Solar-dried kelp as potential feed in sea urchin aquaculture. Aquaculture International 25: 355-366.

Oulhen, N, A Heyland, TJ Carrier, V Zazueta-Novoa, T Fresques, J Laird, T Onorato, DA Janies, & GM Wessel. 2016. Regeneration in bipinnaria larvae of the bat star Patiria miniata induces rapid and broad new gene expression. Mechanisms of Development 142: 10-21.

Oulhen, N, BJ Schulz, & TJ Carrier. 2016. English translation of Heinrich Anton de Bary’s 1878 speech, ‘Die Erscheinung der Symbiose’ (‘De la symbiose’). Symbiosis 69 (3): 131-139.

Carrier, TJ, BL King, & JA Coffman. 2015. Gene expression changes associated with the developmental plasticity of sea urchin larvae in response to food availability. Biological Bulletin 228 (3): 171-180.