Mine Berg
Senior Oceanographer, Principal

Mine Berg is a senior scientist and program manager for a number of projects associated with aquatic ecosystem health, ranging from freshwater rivers to marine embayments. Mine has over 20 years experience in designing, planning, and conducting water quality monitoring programs, supervising field and laboratory sampling, and performing testing, experimentation, and analysis. She is knowledgeable in identifying pollution problems and developing mitigation measures, as well as recommending steps and programs to improve water quality. Her technical expertise includes data management, statistical analyses, empirical modeling, and R programming.
Mine has collaborated with a number of local, regional, and state agencies through public strategic working groups, assessment frameworks for water quality, scientific expert panels, and stakeholder collaborations. In addition, Mine has extensive background in the review and preparation of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliant documentation.
Mine holds a PhD in Biological Oceanography from University of Maryland and a BS in Environmental Science from Rutgers University.
Publications
Berg GM, Driscoll S, Hayashi K., Kudela R (2019) Effects of nitrogen source, concentration, and irradiance on growth rates of two diatoms endemic to northern San Francisco Bay. Aquatic Biology28: 33-43.
Sutula M, Kudela R, Hagy JD III, Harding LW Jr, Senn D, Cloern JE, Bricker S, Berg GM, Beck M (2017) Novel analyses of long-term data provide a scientific basis for chlorophyll-a thresholds in San Francisco Bay. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 197: 107-118
Berg GM, Driscoll S, Hayashi K, Ross M, Kudela R (2017) Variation in growth rate, carbon assimilation, and photosynthetic efficiency in response to nitrogen source and concentration in phytoplankton isolated from upper San Francisco Bay. Journal of Phycology 53: 664-679.
Factors Affecting Growth of Cyanobacteria – With Special Emphasis on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, AMS. Commissioned by: Southern California Coastal Water Research Project for The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and The California Environmental Protection Agency State Water Resources Control Board, August 2015: SCCWRP Technical Report no. 869. Principal Author.
Impact of Nutrient Concentrations and Ratios on Phytoplankton Community Composition – With special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Estuary, AMS. Prepared for: The San Francisco Estuary Institute in support of The San Francisco Bay Nutrient Management Strategy, 2015. Principal Author.
Scientific Basis to Assess the Effects of Nutrients on San Francisco Bay Beneficial Uses, AMS. Prepared for San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. June 2015. Technical Report no. 864. Contributing Author.
Literature Review on Factors Influencing Phytoplankton Nutrient Uptake and Metabolism: Molecular and Phytoplankton Ecology Perspectives, AMS. Prepared for the Suisun Bay Ammonium Synthesis Report, 2014, Eds: Senn, D.B. and Novick E., Contribution no. 706. San Francisco Estuary Institute, Richmond, CA. Chapter Author.
Esparza ML, Farrell AE, Craig DJ, Swanson C, Dhaliwal BS, Berg GM (2014) Impact of atypical ammonium concentrations on phytoplankton abundance and composition in fresh versus estuarine waters. Aquat Biol 21:191-204.
Assmy P, Smetacek V, Montresor M and 21 others (2013) Thick-shelled, grazer-protected diatoms decouple ocean carbon and silicon cycles in the iron-limited Antarctic Circumpolar Current. PNAS 110:20633-20638.
Smetacek V, Klaas C, Strass VH and 27 others (2012) Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom. Nature 487:313-319 doi:10.1038/nature11229.
Chan CX, Zauner S and 14 others (2012) Analysis of Porphyra membrane transporters demonstrates gene transfer among photosynthetic eukaryotes and numerous sodium-coupled transport systems. Plant Physiology 158:2001-2012.
Berg GM, Shrager J, VanDijken G, Mills MM, Arrigo KR, Grossman AR (2011) Responses of hli, ptox and psbA genes to changes in irradiance in marine Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 65:1-14.
Berg GM, Mills MM, Long MC, Bellerby R, Strass V, Savoye N, Rottgers R, Croot PL, Webb A, Arrigo KR (2011) Variation in particulate C and N isotope composition following iron fertilization in two successive phytoplankton communities in the Southern Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 25, GB3013, doi:10.1029/2010GB003824.
Gobler CJ, Berry DL and 31 others (2011) Niche of harmful alga Aureococcus anophagefferens revealed through ecogenomics. PNAS 108:4352-4357.
Kropuenske LR, Mills MM, van Dijken GL, Alderkamp AC, Berg GM, Arrigo KR, Robinson DH and NA Welschmeyer (2010) Strategies and rates of photoacclimation in two major Southern Ocean phytoplankton taxa: Phaeocystis antarctica (Haptophyta) and Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Bacillariophyceae). Journal of Phycology 46: 1138-1151.
Mills MM, Kropuenske LR, Alderkamp AC, van Dijken GL, Robinson DH, Berg GM Welschmeyer NA and KR Arrigo (2010) Photophysiology in two major Southern Ocean phytoplankton taxa: Photosynthesis of Phaeocystis antarctica (Prymnesiophyceae) and Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Bacillariophyceae) under simulated mixed layer irradiance. Journal of Phycology 46: 1114-1127.
Gantt E, Berg GM and 26 others (2010) Porphyra: complex life histories in a harsh environment. In: J. Seckback and D. Chapman (eds) Red Algae in the Genomic Age. (volume 13 of Cellular Origins Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology) Springer.
Solomon CM, Collier JL, Berg GM and PM Glibert (2010) Role of urea in microbe metabolism in aquatic systems: a biochemical and molecular review. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 59:67-88.
Leblanc K, Hare CE, Feng Y, Berg GM, DiTullio J, Neeley A, Benner I, Sprengel C, Beck A, Sanudo-Wilhelmy SS, Passow U, Schreiber K, Rowe JM, Wilhelm SW, Brown CW, and DA Hutchins (2009) Distribution of calcifying and silicifying phytoplankton in relation to environmental and biogeochemical parameters during the late stages of the 2005 North East Atlantic Spring Bloom. Biogeosciences 6:2155-2179.
Glibert PM and GM Berg (2008) Nitrogen and phytoplankton blooms. In: Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: tools for understanding and managing coastal ecosystems. Edited by JE Petersen, VS Kennedy, WC Dennison and WM Kemp. Springer Science and Business media, New York, NY, pp. 183-190.
Rowe JM, Saxton MA, Cottrell MT, DeBruyn JM, Berg GM, Kirchman DA, Hutchins DA and SW Wilhelm (2008) Constraints on viral production in the Sargasso Sea and North Atlantic. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 52: 233-244.
Glibert PM, Azanza R, Burford M, Furuya K, Abal E, Al-Azri A, Al-Yamani F, Andersen P, Beardall J, Berg GM and 44 others (2008) Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 56: 1049-1056.
Berg GM, Shrager J, Gloeckner G, Arrigo KR and AR Grossman (2008) Understanding nitrogen limitation in Aureococcus anophagefferens (Pelagophyceae) through cDNA and qRT-PCR analysis. Journal of Phycology 44: 1235-1249.
Bailey S, Melis A, Mackey KRM, Cardol P, Finazzi G, van Dijken G, Berg GM, Arrigo KR, Shrager J and AR Grossman (2008) Alternative photosynthetic electron flow to oxygen in marine Synechococcus. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1777: 269-276.
Berg GM and NOG. Jørgensen (2006) Purine and pyrimidine metabolism by estuarine bacteria. Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 42: 215-226.
Berg GM, Repeta DJ and J LaRoche (2003a) The role of the picoeukaryote Aureococcus anophagefferens in cycling of marine high-molecular weight dissolved organic nitrogen. Limnology and Oceanography 48: 1825-1830.
Berg GM, Balode M, Purina I, Bekere S, Bechemin C and SY Maestrini (2003b) Plankton community composition in relation to availability and uptake of oxidized and reduced nitrogen. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 30: 263-274.
Berg GM, Repeta DJ and J LaRoche (2002) Dissolved organic nitrogen hydrolysis rates in axenic cultures of Aureococcus anophagefferens (Pelagophyceae): comparison with heterotrophic bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68: 401-404.
Berg GM, Glibert PM, Jørgensen NOG, Balode M, and I Purina (2001) Variability in inorganic and organic nitrogen uptake associated with riverine nutrient input in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea. Estuaries 24: 204-214.
Jørgensen NOG, Tranvik L and GM Berg (1999) Occurrence and bacterial cycling of dissolved nitrogen in the Gulf of Riga, the Baltic Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 191: 1-18.
Berg GM, Glibert PM, and C-C. Chen (1999) Dimension effects of enclosures on ecological processes in pelagic systems. Limnology and Oceanography 44: 1331-1340.
Mulholland MR, Glibert PM, Berg GM, VanHeukelem L, Pantoja S, and C Lee (1998) Extracellular amino acid oxidation by phytoplankton and cyanobacteria: a cross-ecosystem comparison. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 15: 141-152.
Berg GM, Glibert PM, Lomas MW, and M Burford (1997) Organic nitrogen uptake and growth by the Chrysophyte Aureococcus anophagefferens during a brown tide event. Marine Biology 129:377-387.
Miller CA, Glibert PM, Berg GM, Mulholland MR (1997) Effects of grazer and substrate amendments on nutrient and plankton dynamics in estuarine enclosures. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 12:251-261.
Lomas MW, Glibert PM, Berg GM, Burford M (1996) Characterization of nitrogen uptake by natural populations of Aureococcus anophagefferens (Chrysophyceae) as a function of incubation duration, substrate concentrations, light, and temperature. Journal of Phycology 32: 907-916.
Coats DW, Bockstahler KR, Berg GM, Sniezek JH (1994) Dinoflagellate infections of Favella panamensis from two North American estuaries. Marine Biology 119: 105-113.