Dr. Andrew S. Mount, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor at Clemson University with joint appointments in the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences and in the School of Materials Science & Engineering, College of Engineering and Sciences. He founded and directs the Okeanos Research Laboratory. Dr. Mount trains doctoral level students and post-doctoral scholars. He teaches graduate students and faculty by offering several specialized courses of instruction on optical and electron microscopy. He also teaches a capstone course for undergraduate seniors which focuses on ocean-based environmental problems. Dr. Mount’s research program is dedicated to understanding the molecular and cellular biology of marine invertebrate organisms. His current research interests include the application of modern marine genomics and bioinformatics to develop a bias free understanding of molluscan immunity and cellular biomineralization systems. Okeanos current research efforts include understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of marine cellular biomineralization processes, signal transduction mechanisms and molecular adhesion mechanisms of biofouling marine larval invertebrates and metabolic consequences to invertebrate larvae and copepods of OA at the cellular level. The laboratory performs these investigations utilizing advanced optical and electron microscopy techniques, and routinely develops molecular probes. Contact mount@clemson.edu office phone 864-656-3597Specialties: Correlative optical and electron microscopySpectral and imaging analysis of live cells, tissues and marine larvae, materials, biocrystals and surfacesNanomaterials - characterizationMarine GenomicsMolluscan immunology and biomineralizationMarine BiofoulingNanochemistry and nanospatial interactionsAbrupt climate change and ocean acidificationOcean policy discussions and implications