Hans G. Dam

(Ph.D., SUNY Stony Brook) Professor of Marine Sciences

I am a biological oceanographer. My research interests are in the biology, ecology and evolution of planktonic organisms, particularly pelagic copepods and toxic dinoflagellates. Earlier in my career, I investigated questions dealing with the role of planktonic organisms on biogeochemical cycles in the ocean and the formation and fate of marine aggregates. Currently, my interests deal with questions of the evolutionary ecology of plankton, particularly zooplankton adaptation to ocean warming and acidification, and reciprocal interactions between zooplankton and toxic dinoflagellates

My proudest professional achievement is the training of some excellent graduate students. I encourage my students to become critical thinkers, to work on important questions in the field, and to publish their work in a timely manner.

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Interaction of Grazers and Toxic Algae. Toxic algal blooms are proliferating worldwide, but we understand little of the consequences of such proliferation. We are currently interested in the evolution of grazer adaptation to phytoplankton neurotoxins produced by the dinoflagellate Alexandrium.  We have experimentally demonstrated that populations of grazers that experience frequent blooms of toxic Alexandrium have a fitness advantage over those populations that do not frequently experience such blooms. We have developed methods to identify phenotypes of adaptation to toxic algae and measured fitness costs and advantages of toxin adaptation. We are also actively working on the molecular mechanisms of grazer adaptation to the toxins produced by Alexandrium. New areas of research in the lab are: 1) Novel mechanisms of toxicity (reactive oxygen species) in Alexandrium.  2) Costs and advantages of toxin production in Alexandrium. 3) Grazer-induced toxicity in Alexandrium.