Dan Distel

Dan Distel is a Research Professor in the Department of Biology at Northeastern University, directing the Ocean Genome Legacy Center (OGL), a marine genomic research facility. His work focuses on marine bacteria, bacteria-animal symbioses (especially shipworms and bivalves), and genomic biodiversity conservation. Distel earned his BS from Rutgers University and PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He leads OGL’s mission to preserve marine genetic diversity through DNA banking and research collaboration. Recent projects include discovering new shipworm species and advocating for Antarctic biorepositories.

Education: BS in Biology (Rutgers University), PhD in Marine Biology (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD).

Research Interests: Evolution of marine symbioses, microbial ecology in extreme environments, and genomic strategies for marine conservation. Distel emphasizes the urgency of preserving species before ocean biodiversity collapses: 'It would be a shame if biological diversity disappeared before we even named all species.'

Key Contributions: Over 28,000 marine DNA samples cataloged by OGL; groundbreaking studies on shipworm biology and symbiotic metabolism. Collaborates with institutions like the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute.

Lab & Affiliations: Distel Lab (specializing in symbiosis genomics) and Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center, Nahant, MA.