Luke Thompson is a Research Professor with the Northern Gulf Institute (Mississippi State University), based at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, Florida. Luke received a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a PhD from MIT, both in biology. His current research focuses on marine systems, from microbes to fish to mammals, using 'omics methods, especially DNA sequencing. His group develops methods for high-throughput environmental DNA sample processing and data analysis and applies them to monitoring and conservation efforts in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of America, and global ocean.