News

DMS sophomore to study if tiny algae grow calcium carbonate crystals

Posted on February 12, 2025February 12, 2025 by Hannes Baumann

Evelyn Lewis glances at the well plates full of colorful slime in Prof. Visscher’s lab and smiles. The life thriving in there is invisible to the naked eye, but she knows how to keep the microscopic critters happy. For almost a year now, she has helped taking care of them, and this has helped others in the lab with their research projects.

But now, Evelyn is starting a project of her own. Her soft voice betrays the nascent excitement, as she examines a well plate full of what looks like crusty, white dust.

“These are calcium carbonate crystals, and they look so beautiful under the microscope”, she says.

Thanks to a new supply grant from UConn’s Office for Undergraduate research, she will now have the opportunity to look at many more of these crystals. Evelyn’s research will focus on some of the smallest photosynthetic organisms in world, cyanobacteria. When they bloom they often coat themselves in slime that they can chemically manipulate. The conditions in this extracellular slime might then become favorable to bind carbon dioxide (CO₂) in form of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), ultimately removing it from the atmosphere. In other words, cyanobacteria may be tiny but mighty as a natural tool for combating the increase of heat-trapping CO2 in the atmosphere.

“These natural options of using microbial slime for CO₂ removal remain surprisingly underexplored”, explains Visscher. “The slime binds calcium and when it sinks to the bottom, it supports CaCO₃ formation in sediments for thousands of years. This recently discovered mechanism provides novel insights into the global carbon cycle.”

So over the course of the next months, Evelyn will culture cyanobacteria again – but this time for her project. In small well plates, she will measure their CaCO₃ production for about two weeks in relation to differing amounts of calcium. Yet the arguably coolest part will come after that, when the collected crystals will be examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).

Ultimately, the gathered data will allow testing the overarching hypothesis that the presence of cyanobacteria increases CaCO₃ precipitation.

At DMS phytoplankton are now on IFCB-TV

Posted on February 5, 2025February 6, 2025 by Hannes Baumann

The team of DMS researchers Dr. Zofia Baumann, Dr. Kate Randolph and Hazel Levine are happy to share that a major new instrument has begun its long anticipated work. The Imaging Flow Cytobot - or IFCB for short - is for now installed in the Rankin Seawater lab, after being purchased with a UConn-CLAS shared equipment grant nearly two years ago (Dierssen, Baumann et al.).

The instrument has the capacity to monitor and display in real time the breath-taking diversity of microscopic life in the ocean. Our IFCB focuses on the smaller size classes 5 - 150 um, which mostly represent single cell algae and small mixotrophs.

Leveraging additional NSF support, we were able to overcome challenges with operating the IFCB on a routine basis. The IFCB now accesses the intake line of the Rankin Lab (a very small fraction of it) and then photographs any particles and characteristic shapes. The compilation below shows a given size range to illustrate some of the diversity. The IFCB now records these images and displays them on a public-facing online Dashboard, which can be mesmerizing to watch.

Plankton-composite — The composition of some of the larger phytoplankton as captured by the IFCB on February 6th 2025.

The implementation of the IFCB in Rankin Lab was led by Kate Randolph and greatly supported by Hazel Levine, Bob Dziomba, Charlie Woods, Todd Fake, and Chris Mills! Thank you.

The next step is to develop an AI-based classification system for automatic species identification. This will still take time, but we are collaborating with other IFCB users, including its inventors, and are optimistic about the progress ahead.

We hope you enjoy the stunning images of phytoplankton on what we like to call

"IFCB TV" !

Posted on February 5, 2025February 5, 2025 by Hannes Baumann

Reposted from UConn Today by Sarah Al-Arshani | January 28, 2025

A study led by marine sciences Ph.D. student Hannah Collins found that Novamont’s Mater-Bi, a starch-based polymer, degraded significantly faster than traditional plastics—showing promise for reducing marine pollution

Plastic pollution has become a global crisis, with the United Nations Environment Programme estimating between 19 and 23 million tons of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems each year. A partnership between UConn marine sciences researchers and a leading bioplastics manufacturer is showing promise in addressing this issue.

A recent study published in the Journal of Polymers and the Environment found that Mater-Bi, a starch-based polymer produced by Italian company Novamont, degraded by as much as nearly 50% over nine months in a marine environment—significantly more than traditional plastics.

Novamont, which has a U.S. office in Shelton, collaborated with the UConn team to evaluate the product’s biodegradation.

tanks-hannah-and-larissa-3-998x665 — Marine sciences Ph.D. candidate Hannah Collins and Larissa Tabb '22 evaluate the lab tanks to check on degradation progress. (Contributed by Hannah Collins)

The study was led by Hannah Collins, a marine sciences Ph.D. candidate. Collins and her co-author, Larissa Tabb ’22 (CLAS), highlighted research done as part of the Marine Environmental Physiology Laboratory under the guidance of her advisor, professor and head of marine sciences Evan Ward.

“I’ve always been interested in how marine animals interact with their environment,” Collins says. “When our lab started looking at microplastics, it was clear how pervasive and damaging this problem is.”

Collins says the findings could have meaningful implications for reducing plastic pollution in aquatic environments. For example, products like Mater-Bi could replace traditional plastics used in aquatic structures, such as kelp farm lines, to reduce the possibility of plastic pollution.

“We’ve seen the pictures of sea turtles with plastic around their heads,” she says. “We have a lot of evidence of the negative effects of plastic pollution.”

Collins, who grew up visiting Cape Cod and the beaches of Long Island Sound, has long been fascinated by marine life. After earning a degree in biology from Gettysburg College and working in Alaska’s salmon fisheries, she decided to combine her passion for marine organisms and the environment, first in her master’s program and now for her Ph.D.

She says the collaboration with Novamont has helped her feel like she is making a difference in addressing marine pollution. It also provided her with hands-on experience examining real-world product applications.

Biodegradable plastics like Mater-Bi degrade much faster than traditional plastics, reducing risks to aquatic environments. However, Collins notes that many of these products are often tested under controlled conditions, not in real-world marine environments.

Collins’ research on Mater-Bi was conducted in a semi-controlled environment at the John S. Rankin Laboratory on the Avery Point campus. The lab filters seawater from the surrounding area to keep large organisms, like crabs, out. This allowed Collins and her team to test how much the product degraded in natural conditions while ruling out the impact of interference from those large organisms.

Her team tested samples of a Mater-Bi compostable bag, a traditional plastic bag, and a known biodegradable plastic in the lab. Every two weeks, they checked and measured how much each sample degraded by either mass or area. After nine months, they found that the Mater-Bi samples lost between 25% and 47% of their mass or area. Additionally, they found that the rate of degradation increased during warmer months.

“Microbial activity tends to increase in warmer conditions, which likely contributed to the faster degradation rates we observed,” Collins says.

Collins says she is hopeful that these findings could lead to future uses of Mater-Bi in aquaculture, especially for products where temporary or disposable materials are often used, such as oyster grow-out bags or kelp farming lines.

“If something breaks loose, it won’t persist in the water for decades,” she says.

Collins and Tabb have maintained connections with Novamont. Collins will attend the World Aquaculture Conference in New Orleans this March, where she hopes to connect industry leaders with biodegradable products like those produced by Novamont.

“Addressing plastic pollution requires a range of solutions,” she says. “Biodegradable plastics are just one piece of the puzzle.”

Summary of Summer/Fall 2024 Departmental Achievements

Posted on December 2, 2024December 6, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

Awards:

Professor Samantha Siedlecki

Prof. Siedlecki was named as a 2024 – 2025 Fullbright Scholar for research in both Italy and South Africa, which has been featured at UConn Today

Professor Hans Dam

Professor Dam had the honor of giving the Maxilliped Lecture on “Copepods as Model Systems for the Study of the Response of the Biota to Global Change” during the 15th International Conference on Copepoda held in Hiroshima, Japan.

Research Faculty Sandra Shumway

Dr. Shumway was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award by the US Aquaculture Society and is the first female to receive the award. She was also appointed Fellow of the Marine Biological Association, FMBA. MBA Fellows are senior practitioners in marine biology who have contributed to the discipline at the highest level. The title of Fellow of the Marine Biological Association, FMBA, was first awarded in 2014, following granting of a Royal Charter to the Marine Biological Association. There are currently 50 MBA Fellows.

Professor Senjie Lin

Professor Lin has been awarded the 2024 UConn-AAUP Excellence Award in as well as the 2024 Alumni Faculty Excellence Award in Research and Creativity.

Research Scientist Susan A. Smith (Mystic Aquarium):

Sue won first place in Animal Welfare Research for her presentation at the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference in Calgary. Her work involved the use of non-invasive fecal samples to elucidate the microbiome and hormone profile of the African Penguin, along with the development of a genetic sexing test, which will soon be used to aid in the monitoring of endangered wild populations in South Africa.

PhD student Paxton Tomko

Paxton was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP) for research with Professor Pieter Visscher, which was featured at UConn Today

PhD Candidate Halle Berger

Halle was awarded the 2024 National Marine Fisheries-Sea Grant Fellowship by NOAA making her the first UConn student to ever receive the award.

Grants:

Professor Senjie Lin

Prof Lin will collaborate with the University of Columbia and Yale University on a DARPA-funded multi-year (2024-2027) project that aims to utilize algal genomics to develop biosensors for various environmental stimuli

MEBES: Modular engineered biosensors for environmental sensing

Research Professor Paola Batta-Lona, Professor Hannes Baumann

Led by UConn EEB professor Eric Schultz, co-PIs Batta-Lona and Baumann will collect and analyze novel data on short- and long-term changes in the trophic ecology of species of greatest conservation need.

Bottoming Out? Testing Hypotheses on Why Long Island Sound Flatfishes Are Disappearing (Long Island Sound Study, $316,667).

Professor Heidi Dierssen and Research Professor Paola Batta-Lona

In collaboration with colleagues from URI, Dierssen and Batta-Lona will use eDNA to characterize biological communities in shallow seafloor, deep-sea seafloor, and offshore midwater acoustic soundscapes. Additionally remote sensing data and Distributed Sensing enabled Cabled Observatories (DiSCO’s) will be used for broader scale understanding of major ocean processes in these areas.

Coastal and Offshore Biogeochemical Oceanographic Observatories Enabled with Distributed Sensing (NIUVT, $2,126,000)

Research Scientist Zhuomin Chen

Projecting future changes in the Gulf Stream warm-core rings and their impacts on the Northeast U.S. Large Marine Ecosystem in a changing climate using regional MOM6 simulations (NOAA $570,000)

Research Scientist Tracy Romano (Mystic Aquarium) and Associate Professor in Residence Michael Finiguerra:

Drs Romano and Finiguerra were awarded an NSF grant to continue leading the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program through an ongoing collaboration with Mystic Aquarium and the University of Connecticut Avery Point campus.

Romano, T.A., Finiguerra, M. REU Site Mystic Aquarium: Collaborative Research: Plankton to Whales: Consequences of Global Change within Marine Ecosystems. National Science Foundation. $464,997.

Research Scientists Ebru Unal and Tracy Romano (Mystic Aquarium):
Drs Unal and Romano were awarded a North Pacific Research Board grant to further study the transcriptome of the beluga whale for the monitoring of wild populations, in an effort to isolate the health-related expression discrepancies between healthy and endangered populations.

Romano, T.A., Unal, E. The Beluga Skin Transcriptome as a Novel Tool for Monitoring Alaska’s Beluga Stocks. North Pacific Research Board. $244,601

Dr. Romano also received funding by the North Pacific Research Board to design and run a cultural exchange that allowed young Native Alaskans to visit Connecticut, where they met with local CT Native American youth, and together took part in educational and cultural workshops.

Romano, T.A., A Science Based Educational and Cultural Exchange Workshop at Mystic Aquarium for Alaska Native and Native American Youth. $20,000

Publications:

Prof. Hans Dam

Prof. Dam co-authored a study about the negative effects of marine heatwaves on copepods. The authors found that acclimation (“getting used to”) and parental effects (“the fate of the children depends on the experience of the parents”) mitigate the negative effects of heat waves on the fitness of two important copepod species.

Sasaki, M.C, M. Finiguerra, H.G. Dam. 2024. Seasonally variable thermal performance curves prevent adverse effects of heatwaves. Journal of Animal Ecology 2024;00:1–11. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14221

Graduate student Samantha Rush and Professor Penny Vlahos

This study reports on how sea ice in the Arctic Ocean incorporates and stores boron as it forms, reducing the amount of boron from under ice waters.

Rush, S., Vlahos, P., Lee, C.-H., Lee, K., Barrett, L. J. Boron to salinity ratios in the Fram Strait entering the Central Arctic: The role of sea ice formation and future predictions. Marine Chemistry. 267:104463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2024.104463

DMS alumnus Max Zavell and Professor Hannes Baumann

Zavell and Baumann show that the embryos and larvae of an abundant grouper species in Long Island Sound are unaffected by even very high CO2 levels in the water.

Zavell, M.D. and Baumann, H. (2024) Resiliency of Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata, early life stages to future high CO2 conditions. Environmental Biology of Fishes 107:677–691

Research Prof. Paola Batta-Lona and Prof. Ann Bucklin

This morphological and molecular analysis revealed the diet differences of 7 mesopelagic fish species, showing the importance of gelatinous prey.

Bucklin, A., Batta-Lona, P.G., Questel, J., McMonagle, H., Wojcicki, M., Llopiz, J.K., Glancy, S., Caiger, P.E., Francolini, R., Govindarajan, A., Thorrold, S.R., Jech, M., Wiebe, P.H. (2024). Metabarcoding and morphological analysis of diets of mesopelagic fishes in the NW Atlantic Slope water. Front Mar Sci. 11:1411996. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1411996

Batta-Lona also published a study on the diet diversity of three salp species, which showed a wide variety of prey, broadening our understanding of trophic pathways in the mesopelagic food web.

Batta-Lona, P.G., Gardner, K., Questel, J.M., Thorrold, S.R., Llopiz, J.L., Wiebe, P.H., Bucklin, A. (2024). Salps in the NW Atlantic Slope Water: metabarcoding and compound-specific stable isotope analysis of diet diversity and trophic interactions. Mar Biol 171, 233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04535-x

Batta-Lona further published a study that identified parrot fish larvae via morphology and DNA sequences.

Morales‐Pulido, J. M., Galindo‐Sánchez, C. E., Jiménez‐Rosenberg, S. P. A., Batta‐Lona, P. G., Herzka, S. Z., Arteaga, M. C. (2024). A molecular approach to identify parrotfish (Sparisoma) species during early ontogeny. Journal of Fish Biology 1-10 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15921

Batta-Lona was also involved in the MetaZooGene Atlas and Database (MZGdb) provides DNA sequences for multiple genes, with unique capacity for searches by ocean region.

O'Brien, T., Blanco-Bercial, L., Questel, J.M., Batta-Lona, P.G., Bucklin, A. (2024). MetaZooGene Atlas and Database: Reference Sequences for Marine Ecosystems. Methods in molecular biology 2744: 475-489. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3581-0_28

Prof. Peter Auster

Prof. Auster used diver surveys of reef fish off Florida to map predation risk to coral eating fishes.

Auster, P.J. and M.E. Cullerton. 2024. Can variation in fish predator density and the Landscape of Fear facilitate coral restoration success? Reef Encounter 39:48-50.

In another study, Prof. Auster and colleagues argue that the term "destructive fishing" is used in international agreements and guidance without agreement on what this term means.

McCarthy, A.H., D. Steadman, H. Richardson, J. Murphy, S. Benbow, J.I. Brian, H. Brooks, G. Costa-Domingo, C. Hazin, C. McOwen, J. Walker, D. Willer, M. Abdi, P.J. Auster, ..., N. Mukherjee. 2024. Destructive fishing: An expert‐driven definition and exploration of this quasi‐concept. Conservation Letters, e13015. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13015

Post-doctoral researcher Danielle Freeman

Dr. Freeman published an article together with colleagues at WHOI that forecasts the effects of sunlight-driven chemistry during oil spills.

Freeman, D. H.; Nelson, R. K.; Pate, K.; Reddy, C. M.; Ward, C. P. (2024) Forecasting Photo-Dissolution for Future Oil Spills at Sea: Effects of Oil Properties and Composition. Environ Sci Technol. 58: 15236-15245 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c05169

Research Scientist Ebru Unal (Mystic Aquarium):
Dr. Unal showed that skin samples can reveal relevant differences between endangered and stable beluga whale populations.

Unal, E., V. Singh, R. Suydam, C.E. Goertz, and T.A. Romano. (2024). Comparative skin transcriptome analysis as a potential tool to investigate intra- and inter-population differences in belugas. Frontiers in Marine Science: Marine Conservation and Sustainability. 11:1282210

Research Scientist Tracy A. Romano (Mystic Aquarium):

Aerial photogrammetry and lipid analyses can be used to describe the body condition of wild endangered St. Lawrence Estuary beluga whales.

Sherill, M., A. Bernier-Graveline, J. Ewald, Z. Pang, M. Moisan, M. Marzeliere, M. Muzzy, T.A. Romano, R. Michaud, and J. Verreault. (2024). Scaled mass index derived from aerial photogrammetry associated with predicted metabolic pathway disruptions in free ranging St. Lawrence Estuary belugas Frontiers in Marine Science. 11:1360374.

Danielle A. Lavoie (Mystic Aquarium):

This study provided insight into the detection of the invasive nematode parasite A. crassus using identification monitorting methods that allow for the survival of the host A. rostrata (the American eel).

Lavoie, D.L., Oliveira, K. (2024). Non-Lethal Detection of the Invasive American Eel Parasite Anguillicoloides crassus. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.

Meet DMS alumnus Dr. Chris Murray

Posted on December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

Samantha: I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. Can you briefly share some of the highlights from your time at UConn?

Chris: I came to UConn in 2014 joining Dr. Baumann’s lab when he was just starting as a first-year faculty member. My research focused on the effects of climate stressors on fish, particularly in their early life stages. We did experiments exposing fish to climate change stressors like acidification, warming, and hypoxia, which laid the groundwork for many future studies and my work today. At the time, the research was novel, and I got to build the lab alongside Hannes. Avery Point was great for its diversity of undergraduates and young scientists incorporated into research as well as its diversity of research foci from all the different major oceanographic topics.

Samantha: Now, I found that you did your bachelor's in business administration and management. Can you tell me how you made the shift to becoming an oceanography PhD student?

Chris: I was a naive first-generation college student, and when I struggled with biology and chemistry, I just switched to business. By my senior year, I realized it wasn’t for me, but I had matured academically to know what to do to get to the next step and I morphed my business administration degree into environmental science with a capstone project. I still lacked practical science experience though, so the summer before graduate school, I volunteered extensively with local science groups and universities. When contacting graduate programs, many told me I wasn’t competitive for the program, but I found the Marine Policy and Conservation Program at Stony Brook School of Marine Sciences geared towards non-science majors. There, I met Hannes, who was an adjunct professor, and I ended up working with him as a master’s student. It was pure serendipity that I had been there at that moment to get the position! When Hannes moved to UConn, he offered me a PhD position to start his lab, and it was a no brainer! In all, it was a combination of stick-to-itiveness, luck, being in the right place at the right time, seeing opportunities that evolved, and taking advantage of them!

Samantha: After your PhD, what has your career path looked like?

Chris: During my PhD, I applied for a postdoc at Friday Harbor Labs with the University of Washington (UW), but I didn’t get it. However, in the same email, I was offered a 12-month postdoc at the Washinton Ocean and Certification Program to design a project without preconceived notions. I took that and ran! I established awesome collaborations at UW, University of Western Washington, Northwest Fishery Science Center, and USGS Fish Health and Wildlife Center. I did awesome things I never dreamed I would do when I was an undergraduate. It was a risk going out there, but that leap of faith was the most awesome thing I have ever done for my growth.

Samantha: What a cool adventure! So, what’s your current position?

Chris: As my postdoc ended, I was offered a permanent research position at UW, but I had looked for opportunities back east and found that Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) offered a Postdoctoral Scholars Program. Again, I was not selected, but I was also encouraged to write a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship proposal, which ultimately got funded. Considering I never sold my girlfriend-now-wife to a permanent position in Washington, we moved back east. My postdoc at WHOI was an incredible fellowship opportunity, and once that ended, I applied for tenure track faculty jobs. I had varying success, but WHOI didn’t want to lose me, so I was offered my now permanent research job in biology.

Samantha: I also heard you were recently offered a faculty position at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the Chesapeake Biological Lab. What led to your decision to decline the offer?

Chris: It was a dream job for me, but my wife and I found out we’re having a baby and our families are here in Cape Cod. We have a lot of ties to this area, so moving away didn’t feel like the right choice for us right now. It’s a tough reality of academic life- being willing to jump around the country to various opportunities- but with everything we have here, it made more sense to stay. I’m confident this won’t be my only opportunity.

Samantha: That is such a thoughtful decision. It is great to hear how you’re balancing career and personal life. So, what advice do you have for current graduate students?

Chris: Seriously consider your long-term plans, especially as you approach the second half of your degree. You can do a lot now to set yourself up for the next step. It’s true that there aren’t millions of jobs, but if you have a sober idea about what you want, taking steps towards it can make transitions smoother. Also, keep in mind that there are still more opportunities available than you can ever appreciate. Even rejected proposals can be reformatted. The endeavor is always really worth it, at least in my experience.

Samantha: Fantastic advice! And just for fun- what do you enjoy doing outside of research?

Chris: Basically, all the outdoor activities- hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, backpacking, kayaking, fishing. I don’t have all those options on the Cape, but I have more time to enjoy them than I did as a graduate student.

Samantha: That’s awesome! Thanks again for sharing your story and advice, Chris. It was great chatting with you!

Professor Lin receives two research awards

Posted on November 25, 2024November 27, 2024 by Manning, Cara

Congratulations to Professor Senjie Lin who has been awarded the 2024 UConn-AAUP Excellence Award in the Research & Creativity: Career category, as well as the 2024 Alumni Faculty Excellence Award in Research and Creativity (Sciences)! These university-wide honors celebrate faculty who have demonstrated sustained academic excellence over their career and made significant contributions to a field of knowledge.

Dr. Lin is a world-renowned leader in the field of phytoplankton physiology and molecular biology. He develops and applies molecular tools (e.g., genomics and metatranscriptomics) to study phytoplankton, primary producers who form the base of marine food webs.

Prof. Lin is an expert on dinoflagellates, a type of phytoplankton that are increasingly important to study because this group is often involved in toxic algal blooms that can close fisheries and beaches and because some dinoflagellates are essential to coral health, which is deteriorating due to increasing coral bleaching events resulting from climate change.

As part of his research, Prof. Lin has developed new molecular tools such as mitochondrial barcoding for taxonomic identification of dinoflagellates, and developed a new molecular marker based on a specific dinoflagellate genomic trait (DinoSL) which is used to identify and separate dinoflagellate RNA from genetic materials from other types of phytoplankton. Both techniques are now widely used throughout the international research community as demonstrated through the many citations on these articles.

Prof. Lin’s work has also demonstrated how dinoflagellates and diatoms acquire phosphorus and provided new insights into the drivers of harmful algal blooms.

Professor Lin has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and in 2023 he was ranked in the top 2% of global scientists based on his citations.

Congratulations to Professor Lin on this well-deserved honor!

New fellowship offers outreach experience for DMS students!

Posted on September 17, 2024September 17, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

The New Generation of Marine Scientists and Stewards Fellowship is a new initiative led by Dr. Zofia Baumann, who has secured funding for the Department of Marine Sciences to award $1,500 to each of three graduate students for the academic year 2024/25. The inaugural recipients of this fellowship are Anagha Payyambally, Emily Watling, and Bernard Akaawase, who bring a rich diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and expertise to share with K-12 students in Groton, CT.

Located in the southeastern corner of Connecticut, Groton is part of the ancestral territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Nipmuc, and Lenape Peoples, who have been stewards of this land for generations. Groton is also classified as an Environmental Justice Community, underscoring the importance of land and water stewardship to protect the marine ecosystems that coastal communities, including Groton, rely on. Scientific inquiry is a powerful tool that can empower people to become environmental stewards, and the fellowship recipients will engage with K-12 students in Groton to share their unique perspectives on this process.

Anagha Payyambally is a first-generation graduate student from India pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography. She understands the immense value of sharing ideas with the younger generation and is eager to contribute to this initiative.

Emily Watling, a New England native passionate about the marine environment, is working toward her M.S. with a focus on marine ecology. She is excited to collaborate with the other fellows and bring a "storm of ideas" to the table.

Bernard Akaawase, originally from Nigeria, is a third-year Ph.D. student specializing in physical oceanography. Committed to engaging with the younger generation, he has also served as the community outreach chair for the Graduate Students of Color Association (GSCA) at UConn.

As the fellows embark on this journey, stay tuned for updates on their activities and impact in the Groton community.

Undergraduate experiential learning courses

Posted on December 4, 2023June 19, 2024 by Mengyang Zhou

MARN 3001 students at Barn Island mapping the salt marsh elevation. Photo credit: Leonel Romero

Hydrographic survey in Thames River for MARN 3001 aboard the RV Connecticut. Photo credit: Leonel Romero

Students from MARN 4001 presenting their science at a CUSH sponsored public event in the Mystic Seaport Museum. Photo credit: Hung Nguyen

Students in the field for MARN 3030. Photo credit: Pieter Visscher

By Mengyang Zhou

Undergraduate classes within the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS) are bridging the classroom learning, fieldwork and addressing environmental challenges that are relevant to the local community.

As undergraduate students enter their junior and senior year, they engage in experiential learning through classes such as MARN 3001 (Foundations of Marine Sciences, instructed by Pf. Leonel Romero, Pf. Jason Krumholz, and Dr. Claudia Koerting, historically also co-taught by Pf. Craig Tobias who is on sabbatical this year), MARN 4001 (Measurement and Analysis in Coastal Ecosystems, instructed by Pf. Julie Granger and Dr. Claudia Koerting) and MARN 3030 (Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation, instructed by Pf. Pieter Visscher). These classes are designed to provide hands-on experience of fieldwork, lab experiments and data analysis, and empower students to apply classroom knowledge to the real world, making a positive impact on environmental problems in the local community.

The class Foundations of Marine Sciences (MARN 3001) focuses on carrying out and interpreting the most fundamental oceanographic measurements in coastal habitats such as beaches, marshes and estuaries. In the fall semester of 2023, students went on field trips to Long Island Sound and the Thames River aboard the RV Connecticut and RV Lowell Weicker. They collected hydrographic data using CTDs (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth), water samples for nutrient measurements, as well as sediment samples. They also conducted marsh elevation mapping in Bluff Point Beach and Barn Island. Upon analyzing these data and publicly available datasets provided by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), students learned how to characterize the changing coastal systems and how organisms adapt to those changes.

Students in the class Measurement and Analysis in Coastal Ecosystems (MARN 4001) assessed the potential causes of water quality impairment in Wequetequock Cove near Stonington, CT and Pawcatuck River, and built connections with the local community. Beyond learning textbook knowledge, they went into the field to collect water and sediment samples that were analyzed in the lab for nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations and O₂ consumption rates. They also learned how to analyze, interpret and archive the data they collected, as well as those collected by CUSH (Clean Up Sounds and Harbor), a local non-profit organization who has been conducting a long-term survey of the cove’s water quality. Finally, they tried to address important questions, such as identifying the sources of nutrient overload in the cove, and understanding the causes of summertime O₂ depletion in the cover, and constructed scientific posters and presented their scientific findings to a broad audience in Mystic Seaport Museum.

The class Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation (MARN 3030) is another example of a class that is designed to connect students with the real world through service-learning. This class focuses on how pollution in the nearshore marine environment impacts the marine food web. In the fall semester of 2023, students learned the fundamental environmental monitoring techniques and data analysis which were applied to coastal pollution research. They monitored the overall health of the Mystic River through field and lab experiments that included water column profiling, sediment quality and enterococcal counts before and after rain events. Their work provided data for the Alliance of the Mystic River Watershed, a local citizen group that focuses on resilience and social justice along the Mystic River. Upon discussion about local policy related to coordinated resilience planning and watershed protection, they also presented their findings to the public in Mystic Seaport Museum, together with MARN 4001.

To reflect on experiential learning classes, Shannon Jordan, who took MARN 4001 and now a master student in the DMS, said: “MARN 4001, more than any other core class, was an introduction to oceanographic research as it actually occurs. Experimental design, methods of data management and interpretation are not outlined in a manual. In contrast to many undergraduate science labs, this course encourages students to take the reins in each aspect of the scientific method. MARN 4001 was an excellent environment in which to explore individual research interests and the process by which questions are translated into hypotheses, experiments, results, and further questions. The opportunity to develop these practical skills in a collaborative environment – with ready access to the vast knowledge base of experienced faculty – was incredibly valuable.”

Through these experiential learning classes, students worked on interdisciplinary problems and gained plenty of hands-on experience in the field of oceanography. They also proposed solutions to address the local environmental problems, and presented them to a broad audience. The valuable skill sets they developed in the past semester will prepare them for their future career and academic pursuits.

Dissolved organic matter sets the bioavailability of mercury

Posted on December 4, 2023June 19, 2024 by Mengyang Zhou

(Left) Emily Seelen in the lab. (Right) Robert Mason and Celia Chen in the field

Mechanistic illustration of MeHg bioavailability controlled by dissolved organic matter thiol concentrations (Fig. 5 in Seelen et al., 2023)

By Mengyang Zhou

Connecticut and New England, like many locations around the world, houses many estuaries that suffer from mercury pollution that is largely inorganic, less toxic and not as bioaccumulative as methylmercury (MeHg). The mercury concentrations in these regions are much higher than in the open ocean despite only a small fraction of these concentrations being bioavailable. Eventually, inorganic Hg is converted to MeHg and enters the food web. Coastal regions, like estuaries, also support marine resource cultivation and supply to communities, and therefore are potentially a source of exposure for humans to elevated levels of MeHg. A key environmental control determining MeHg bioavailability is dissolved organic matter (DOM), and specifically the sulfur-containing thiol binding ligands within the DOM, as they strongly bind to MeHg. Understanding how dissolved organic matter (DOM) influences MeHg bioavailability is crucial for predicting exposure in high-trophic level biota, including humans. Environmental changes, such as eutrophication and altered runoff, impact DOM loading in aquatic ecosystems and therefore can affect MeHg bioavailability. Historically, using dissolved organic carbon (DOC) as a proxy for MeHg[RM1] -binding capacity has been a standard, but this work shows this assumption may lead to errors depending on the natural environment you are working in. The group hypothesized that the properties of DOM unrelated to total DOC may be impacting MeHg bioavailability, and may underpin the variability in MeHg uptake at low DOC concentrations commonly observed in the environment. Specifically, the group tested whether DOM binding capacity, defined as the concentration of thiol ligands per gram DOC, or the DOM binding strength to MeHg dictated overall MeHg bioavailability in distinct coastal regions.

To address this, the team measured DOM properties associated with MeHg bioavailability across four distinct regions of the nearshore terrestrial-marine aquatic continuum. They found that the in situ MeHg-binding capacity of DOM varied significantly and systematically across the terrestrial-marine aquatic continuum they explored, but the binding affinity varied but not significantly or systematically across the same system, and ligand exchange kinetics were fast for all types of DOM.

Next, they explored the DOM principles they highlight as driving MeHg uptake by testing it in a phytoplankton uptake experiment using a specific species of diatom. Their results supported that not only the total DOM concentration but also the concentration of specific DOM-associated sulfur compounds called thiol functional groups binding sites (DOM-RSH) were the primary factors controlling the MeHg bioavailability and accumulation within the phytoplankton.

The project was started by Emily Seelen PhD ’18 (Fig. 1), now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California, when she was a graduate researcher in Professor Robert Mason’s lab (Fig. 2). Pf. Mason’s funded projects supported the work and Seelen also received an NSF graduate fellowship that enabled a study abroad collaboration with co-authoring chemists Erik Björn, Ulf Skyllberg, and Van Liem-Nguyen from Umeå University in Sweden. Seelen was also advised by Associate Research Professor Zofia Baumann who instructed Seelen on how to perform the phytoplankton uptake experiments, drawing from her previous research tracing heavy metal contaminants through the environment.

Seelen said she was inspired to pursue this work in part as an opportunity to work abroad as a result of her research with Professor Mason. “With Rob I was able to learn a lot about broad coastal Hg cycling, but I knew I wanted to dive a bit deeper into what exactly controlled how much MeHg was able to enter into the food web. I put together a list of potential universities I could study at, and soon got to meet Erik Bjorn at the 2015 Hg conference (ICMGP) in Korea. I instantly knew this was the working group for me and we wrote the proposal soon after!” She then proceeded to apply for the NSF graduate fellowship to pursue this idea and was successful in acquiring one of these highly competitive fellowships.

The study emphasizes the crucial role of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in MeHg bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems. It reveals that MeHg uptake by phytoplankton is directly linked to the DOM-RSH rather than the more traditional binding calculation for MeHg -dissolved organic carbon (DOC) interaction. Figure 3 showcases how decreasing trends in DOM-RSH concentrations across the terrestrial to marine aquatic continuum leads to higher MeHg availability and planktonic uptake in systems dominated by marine DOM relative to those impacted by more humic, terrestrial DOM. The research suggests that measuring DOM-RSH concentrations is essential for accurate models in understanding MeHg incorporation in aquatic food webs across different environments. The research highlights the need to consider specific DOM characteristics, specifically the ratio of thiol functional groups to DOC (DOM-RSH/DOC), for more accurate predictions under various environmental scenarios.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42463-4

Link to UConn Today article

Art Meets Science: ‘Floating Points’ at AVS Gallery

Posted on November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 by Romero, Leonel

Floating Points Exhibit by artist Oskar Landi in The Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art at Avery Point on Nov. 14, 2023. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

The presence of microplastics in the world’s oceans is the focus of the exhibition “Floating Points: Observing the Plastisphere with NASA”, on view at Alexey von Schlippe (AVS) Gallery of Art at Avery Point through Dec. 10. Link to full article in UConn Today.

Marine Sciences