Reporting by Helen Hill for CBIOMES News
This year’s CBIOMES Annual Meeting was an opportunity for consolidation as the collaboration nears its tenth and final year.
The CBIOMES 2026 Annual Meeting was held from June 15–17, 2026, at the Simons Foundation offices in New York City, bringing together researchers, collaborators, and trainees for three days of scientific exchange, collaboration, and community building. The meeting commenced on Monday morning with a welcome from Mick Follows, followed by participant introductions that set a collegial and inclusive tone. The scientific program began with an invited plenary lecture by Zoe Finkel, who presented on the elemental and macromolecular composition of marine microbes, framing many of the themes that would recur throughout the meeting. The first day featured a series of focused sessions highlighting advances in macromolecular allocation, microbial physiology, and ecosystem modeling. Presentations explored how transcriptomic and proteomic data inform our understanding of microbial resource allocation and how these processes scale to ocean biogeochemistry.
In the afternoon, a session dedicated to the Global rRNA Universal Metabarcoding Plankton database (GRUMP) brought together researchers working at the interface of molecular biology and biogeography, showcasing progress in quantitative metagenomics and the integration of molecular datasets with ecosystem models. Later sessions examined regional ecosystem simulations using ROMS-Darwin models across diverse ocean systems, emphasizing both current capabilities and future directions. The day concluded with a poster session fostering informal discussion, followed by a group dinner that further encouraged networking and collaboration.
On the second day, the program continued with contributed talks addressing phytoplankton physiology, ecosystem dynamics, and microbial interactions. Speakers examined topics ranging from Prochlorococcus growth characteristics and ecosystem predictability to chemically mediated interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria. A session on phytoplankton–bacteria–organic carbon interactions highlighted emerging insights into global carbon cycling and microbial interdependence, with ample time dedicated to open discussion.
The afternoon shifted toward hands-on and interactive sessions. A GRUMP workshop engaged participants in identifying next steps for dataset development and integration, including efforts to produce taxonomically aggregated products, distinguish living from environmental DNA signals, and harmonize taxonomy frameworks. This was followed by a demonstration of the CMAP AI agent interface, which illustrated new tools for navigating and analyzing the Simons CMAP data system using natural-language queries. The demo sparked discussion about future development opportunities and community contributions. A second poster session and an onsite dinner rounded out the day, providing additional opportunities for scientific exchange.
The final day of the meeting focused on specific research themes and synthesis. A session on Phaeocystis examined its global distribution, proteomics, ecological roles, and implications for biogeochemical anomalies, while also exploring broader trait-based perspectives. This was followed by a session on primary production and remote sensing, where speakers discussed methodological advances, environmental drivers, and modeling approaches, including the integration of ocean color data into ecosystem models. The meeting concluded with a wrap-up session led by Mick Follows, summarizing key insights and identifying priorities for future collaboration. “As ever, I was inspired and also surprised in good ways,’ he said. “I’m very proud of the collective progress this group has made.”
Throughout the meeting, structured presentations were complemented by unstructured time and shared spaces designed to encourage spontaneous discussions and collaborative work. Poster sessions, group meals, and informal interactions played a central role in strengthening connections across the CBIOMES community. The meeting successfully fostered interdisciplinary dialogue, highlighted cutting-edge research, and advanced shared goals in understanding marine microbial ecosystems and their role in global biogeochemical cycles.
2026 Annual Meeting presentations, videos, & materials (restricted)
Special thanks to session organizers, plenary presenters, and workshop convenors, as well as everyone who shared a poster.
Story Image credit: The Simons Foundation