Mercury is a chemical element that is present at dangerously high levels in some of the fish we eat, especially in historically contaminated coastal ecosystems such as the Hudson River. Drs. Robert Mason and Zofia Baumann from UConn’s Avery Point campus are working with the Hudson River Foundation to study the effects of human and climate disturbance on mercury levels in marine organisms that inhabit the Hackensack River system, a sub-estuary of the Hudson River.

Click here to read the complete article:

https://innovation.uconn.edu/news/278

 

Sampling at Berrys Creek

Photo credit: Emily Seelen (left), Brian DiMento (right)

Dr. Hannes Baumann is Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Here, he leads the Evolutionary Fish Ecology lab that investigates how fish populations adapt to natural variability in their environment, and how they respond to unfolding changes in acidity, oxygen levels and temperature in our oceans and coastal waters. The research involves experimental, field, and modelling approaches to study these effects with the ultimate goal of understanding the vulnerability and potential for adaptation of coastal fish to the combined consequences of marine climate change.

Click here to read the complete article:

http://researchfeatures.com/2018/02/27/multistressor-world-marine-climate-change-effects-ocean-life/

Faculty and graduate students volunteer for the 21st annual Quahog Bowl.  Faculty and students from the Department of Marine Sciences served as science judges, science graders, and score keepers for the annual Quahog Bowl held on UConn’s Avery Point campus.  Fifteen high-school teams competed in the event which is a regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. The competition was won by Ledyard High School of Connecticut, but all teams had a fun and educational day. https://seagrant.uconn.edu/2018/01/18/15-teams-from-ct-ri-to-compete-in-21st-annual-quahog-bowl/

Photo credit: Judy Benson

From left to right: Matt Sasaki (graduate student), Michael Finiguerra (Assist. Professor), Evan Ward (Professor and Head), Brittany Sprecher (graduate student), and Michelle Fogarty (graduate student).

Ann Bucklin (Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut)
Dan Distel (Ocean Genome Legacy, Northeastern University)

Expedition ANTARCTIC BLANC (www.AntarcticBlanc.com) sets sail on 12th February 2018 on a 66-foot yacht in Puerto Williams (Chile). The destination is the the Western Antarctic Peninsula region, one of the fastest-warming places on Earth.

Zooplankton samples will be collected for genetic analysis by metabarcoding (DNA sequencing of unsorted samples for a “DNA barcode” gene region). DNA from each sample will be archived at the Ocean Genome Legacy Center (https://www.northeastern.edu/ogl/).

 

Metabarcoding allows rapid assessment of the zooplankton assemblage and pelagic food web, and better understanding of ecosystem responses to climate change.

See http://antarcticblanc.com/environmental-research/an-ecosystems-response-to-climate-change-metabarcoding-of-zooplankton

 

This past November, a group of graduate students from the Department of Marine Sciences attended the 24th Biennial Conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) in Providence, RI. Many prepared either poster or oral presentations for sharing throughout the week, ranging from topics of citizen science to salt marshes. Professors also attended, presented, and convened sessions including: Jaime Vaudrey as the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee, James O’Donnell, Michael Whitney, Hannes Baumann. The full scientific program of the conference can be found here.

Group of graduate students who attended CERF 2017. (Pictured left to right: Molly James, Michelle Fogarty, Julie Pringle, Maryam Mirhakak, Amin Ilia, Jacob Snyder, James deMayo, Vena Haynes, Steven Deignan-Schmidt, and Yan Jia. Not pictured: Gunnar Hansen.)

In February, more students and professors will attend the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, OR.

Complete applications (including letters of recommendation, etc.) are due Friday, March 16^th, 2018.

http://www.mysticaquarium.org/REU/

 

Dr. Kelly Lombardo is the recipient of a 2017 NSF CAREER award for her proposal “CAREER: The Response of Coastal Squall Line Dynamics to Climate Change”.

 

Our pioneering time series is up and running of the shores of the Eastern Long Island Sound at the Avery Point Campus

This time series records real time pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity on surface dissolved carbon dioxide (pCO2) simultaneously.

http://ducos.uconn.edu/data/

Tyler Griffin joins the Oceanography graduate program with a UConn Outstanding Scholars Program Fellowship award. The primary goal of the OSP Fellowship is to recruit and enhance the most academically qualified and promising students entering UConn who are applying to doctoral programs.  OSP recipients represent the very best of the entering graduate student class applying to doctoral programs.  Tyler will be working towards a doctoral degree with Dr. Evan Ward (http://ward.lab.uconn.edu).

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Joe Courtney (CT-2) announced on Tuesday that the University of Connecticut (UConn) was awarded a Marine Debris Research Grant totaling $257,531 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program. The Marine Debris Program is a competitive grant process. UConn will conduct research on the effect of marine debris, like plastic, on oysters from August 2017 through October 2019.  

 

“Our state depends on a clean Long Island Sound, and UConn has been on the forefront of protecting it and supporting marine businesses. This federal grant will help UConn students and professors do even more. It will support invaluable research on the effects of ocean plastic on shellfish,” said Blumenthal, Murphy, and Courtney. “Connecticut’s oyster fisheries are an important part of the Southeastern Connecticut economy, and they depend on clean oceans. We look forward to reviewing the research over the coming years as we continue to fight for policies in Washington that protect the Sound.”

 

“We are proud to receive this grant. Plastic debris can have profound impacts on marine life. Microplastics, produced by the weathering of debris, can be taken up by shellfish. Our research will examine what types of plastic particles are ingested by oysters in Long Island Sound, might cause them harm, and might be passed up the food chain to humans. The study connects the health of Long Island Sound to safe and sustainable seafood,” said Dr. J. Evan Ward, Professor at UConn’s Department of Marine Sciences in Groton.

 

Micrograph of the gill of a living, actively feeding oyster delivered microplastic fibers (red Nylon, red arrows) and spheres (yellow polystyrene, yellow arrows). Fibers and spheres have been captured by the gill and are being transported to the mouth (magnification about 150 x). Credit: J.E. Ward.