Dr Emma Rocke
Dr Emma Rocke is a Marine Microbiologist at the University of Cape Town’s Marine and Antarctic Research Centre for Innovation and Sustainability (MARiS), with a research focus on microbial community dynamics and function within marine ecosystems. Her work explores the often unseen but fundamental roles of microorganisms—including bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses—in shaping ocean processes, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Emma takes an interdisciplinary approach to marine science, integrating microbiology, ecology, oceanography, biogeochemistry and molecular techniques to better understand how microbial communities respond to changing environmental conditions. Her research focuses primarily on the Southern Benguela upwelling system and Agulhas Bank, including current research investigating the role of microbial parasites in regulating harmful algal blooms. Through the application of molecular approaches, bioinformatics and emerging technologies, including AI, she aims to uncover how marine microbiomes function and how they may respond to a rapidly changing ocean.
Beyond her research, Emma is passionate about collaboration and building connections across disciplines to address complex ocean challenges. She serves as Chair of the MARiS Scientific Steering Committee, contributing to the strategic development of marine research and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration within the centre.
The Marine Microbiology Lab consists of:
- Dr Emma Rocke: Prinicipal Investigator
- Dr Nicole Dames: Postdoctoral fellow focusing on day-to-day microbial community dynamics and function in the Southern Benguela upwelling region.
- Yameen Badrodien: PhD student: The Benguela microbiome
- Babajide Bankole: MSc student: microplankton dynamics in the Southern Benguela upwelling region using Flowcam data and Ecotaxa.
- Shani Fourie: MSc student: Bloom terminating parasite dynamics in the Southern Benguela upwelling region.
- Rae-Kyndra Ragoobeer: Honours Student
Projects:
Benguela upwelling Topical study (under AtlantECO):
The Benguela upwelling system was sampled in May 2022.The Benguela upwelling is one of four major Eastern Boundary upwelling systems (EBUS) in the world. Coastal upwelling is a major oceanic process driven by prominent currents, of which those within Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems are most important globally. These systems are present along the western shores of landmasses in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans where they comprise vast regions of coastal ocean water. High productivity brings with it low to no oxygen zones which endanger the local ecosystem services. While macrofauna either die or move away, the microbiome in these areas remain active. We were interested in sampling different stages of upwelling in the Benguela upwelling region to understand the evolution of the microbiome before, during and after an upwelling event and in these low oxygen minimum zones using the suite of TARA protocols in order to capture a holistic view of the Benguela microbiome and it’s function. The analysis of these samples is ongoing. (PhD Student Yameen Badrodien & Postdoctoral Research fellow Nicole Dames).
This study is part of a world-wide expedition run by the TARA Schooner. (https://fondationtaraocean.org/en/expedition/mission-microbiomes/ )
External links:
Other projects I am involved in as a collaborator:
- SHARC (PI: Robin Verrinder)
- Sea Ice Algae (PI: Tokoloho Rampai)
- Benthic -pelagic coupling in the Northern Benguela upwelling region (PI: Natasha Karenyi)
- Water filtration by endobenthic sandprawns enhances resilience against hypertrophication under experimental global change conditions. (PI: Deena Pillay)
- Pico-Nano plankton distributions on the Transkei shelf, using flow cytometry.