Mara Freilich studies the ways that physical oceanographic processes, including fronts and eddies, affect ocean microbial ecology, carbon cycling, and nutrient distributions. Her work understanding the link between biological and physical processes involves developing methodologies for modeling ecological processes in the context of environmental variability. She uses a range of methods from numerical ocean models to observational work at sea. She also does interdisciplinary work to understand the ways that science can be used to inform socially just responses to climate change.