Jennifer Bowen

Jennifer Bowen is a Professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center. Her research focuses on microbial communities in coastal ecosystems, particularly how human activities alter these communities and how they can mitigate pollution. She leads interdisciplinary projects such as the $8.4M Simons Foundation-funded CMarsh initiative and NSF-supported NAN study, collaborating with institutions like MIT, MBL, and the University of Georgia.

Her lab emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion, actively promoting equitable research spaces. Key projects include investigating nitrogen cycling in salt marshes, plant-microbe interactions, and microbial responses to hydrological oscillations. Current efforts involve fieldwork at the Plum Island Ecosystems LTER site and metabolomics research with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Scientific Awards & Collaborations:

• Simons Foundation Cluster Grant ($8.4M) for tidal marsh ecosystem research
• NSF funding for differential nitrogen effects on marshes
• PIE LTER Phase V renewal focusing on organic matter dynamics

Bowen's lab has advised Ph.D. students like Hillary Marchwinski (studying marsh restoration), Johanna L’Heureux (microbial functions), Brian Donnelly (temperature/salinity disturbances), and Mya Darsan (fungal-plant interactions in salt marshes). Collaborators include Zoe Cardon (MBL), Anne Giblin (MBL), and Randall Hughes (Northeastern).