The ocean depths are vast and dark. But there are hotspots on the ocean floor — underwater volcanoes and hydrothermal vents — where lively microbial communities thrive, and even support entire ecosystems. Hear from researchers Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Emily St. John, Gilberto Flores, and Peter Girguis about sampling these communities, and understanding how they’ve adapted to this extreme environment.   Links from this episode: Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI: http://jointgeno.me/proposals Join us at the 2023 JGI User Meeting: http://jointgeno.me/JGI2023  Episode TranscriptPaper: Global patterns of diversity and metabolism of microbial communities in deep-sea hydrothermal vent deposits Our contact info:Twitter: @JGIEmail: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov