Fall 2021 Department Achievements

Awards

Prof. Hans Dam

Received the 2021 UConn Faculty Excellence Award for Graduate Teaching. This Award recognizes a faculty member with a distinguished record of sustained teaching excellence through outstanding instruction, engaging students thoroughly in the process of learning, and contributing significantly to the intellectual life of the University.  

Grants

CIRCA – Prof. James O’Donnell

The Connecticut legislature’s 2021-23 budget provided an additional $5 million to CIRCA to expand Resilient Connecticut activities and advance fundable projects. CIRCA will continue to support development of innovative adaptation approaches for flood and heat vulnerability along with expert advice on climate issues to communities in Hartford, New London, and Middlesex Counties. 

Prof. Hannes Baumann

Connecticut SeaGrant: PI Baumann together with collaborators from CTDEEP received funding to investigate the causes and ecosystem consequences of the recent, steep increase in Black Sea Bass in Long Island Sound. 

Jo-Marie Kasinak (graduate student, Prof. Vaudrey) & Prof. Vaudrey

Connecticut SeaGrant: Toward a deeper understanding of human connections with ocean environments: Ocean Identity (OI) as a novel construct, research instrument, and assessment tool. (2022-2024), $143,309, PIs Kelly, Kasinak, McKinley, Vaudrey, & Mattei. 

Prof. Robert Mason

NSF Chemical Oceanography: Methylated mercury sources and cycling in the high latitude North Atlantic. (2021-2023), $283,534, PI Mason. 

Prof. Samantha Siedlecki

NSF: Regional climate change projections to enable equitable ocean planning for the blue economy (2021-2022), PIs. Pinsky, Hice-Dunton, Siedlecki, & St. Martin. This project aims to enable climate-ready, coordinated, and inclusive decision making throughout the blue economy and spark a new generation of durable blue development.

Prof. Vlahos

NSF: Arctic Marginal Ice Zone Alkalinity (AMIZA). PI Vlahos. This project is studying the components of carbonate alkalinity in the changing Arctic with a focus on the transient ice melt zones.

NIH: Chronic Kidney Disease. PI Vlahos. Lead PI Shuchi Anand, Stanford University. This project is a continuation of our efforts with colleagues in Sri Lanka and at Stanford to expand our 300 person cohort to a 900 person longitudinal study on the progression of kidney disease and water quality.

Publications

Prof. Peter Auster

Prof. Auster presents a chapter as part of an international effort to inform delegations to the United Nations about the status and effects of human activities on the global ocean. (Levin, L. A., Auster, P., Clark, M. R., Hall-Spencer, J. M., Hopcroft, R., Ingels, J., Metaxas, A., Narayanaswamy, B., Tuhumwire, J. T., Yasuhara, M. (2021).  Continental slopes and submarine canyons.  Chapter 7J, p. 395-420, in: The Second World Ocean Assessment, World Ocean Assessment II. United Nations, New York.)

Prof. Auster addresses the confusion in ecological terminology used in international agreements to manage fisheries impacts on the high seas. (Watling, L., Auster, P. J. (2021). Vulnerable marine ecosystems, communities, and indicator species: confusing concepts for conservation of seamounts. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:622586.)

Prof. Auster and colleagues demonstrate that simple GoPro cameras can be used to quantify the role of oyster aquaculture cages as fish habitat. (Mercaldo-Allen, R., Clark, P., Liu, Y., Phillips, G., Redman, D., Auster, P. J., Estela, E., Milke, L., Verkade, A., Rose, J. M.  (2021). Exploring video and eDNA metabarcoding methods to assess oyster aquaculture cages as fish habitat.  Aquaculture Environment Interactions 13:277-294.)

Prof. Paola Batta-Lona

Prof. Batta-Lona and colleagues examined how environmental conditions affect the distribution of zooplankton in the Gulf of Mexico. (Cicala, F., Arteaga, M., Herzka, S., Martinez, M., Hereu, C., Jimenez Rosenberg, S. P. A., Saavedra, A., Robles, J., Gomez, R., Batta-Lona, P. G., Galindo Sanchez, C. E. (2021). Environmental conditions drive zooplankton community structure in the deep-water region of the southern Gulf of Mexico: a molecular approach. Molecular Ecology.) 

Prof. Batta-Lona and colleagues used DNA (metabarcoding) to look at the diversity of zooplankton in the Gulf of Mexico. (Martinez, M., Hereu, C., Galindo Sanchez, C. E., Arteaga, M., Batta-Lona, P. G., Saavedra, A., Robles, J., Jimenez Rosenberg, S. P. A., Herzka, S. (2021). Epipelagic zooplankton diversity in the deep water region of the Gulf of Mexico: A metabarcoding survey.  ICES Journal of Marine Science.)

Prof. Zofia Baumann

Prof. Baumann and colleagues present a study that demonstrates the liver detoxifies previously-bioaccumulated methylmercury based on analyses of tissues from three waterbird species. (Poulin, B.A., Janssen, S.E., Rosera, T.J., Krabbenhoft, D.P., Eagles-Smith, C.A., Ackerman, J.T., Stewart, A.R., Kim, E., Baumann, Z., Kim, J.H. and Manceau, A., 2021. Isotope fractionation from in vivo methylmercury detoxification in waterbirds. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 5(5), pp.990-997.)

Prof. Ann Bucklin

Ann Bucklin, chair of the Scientific Committee for Ocean Research (SCOR) Working Group WG157 presents with other members of WG157 a review paper examining global patterns of biodiversity of marine zooplankton using DNA barcodes or short sequences of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) that discriminate and identify species and announce a reference database for identification of species from DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of pelagic biodiversity, with advanced search functions by ocean region and taxonomic group. (Bucklin A., Peijnenburg, K. T. C. A., Kosobokova, K. N., O’Brien, T. D., Blanco-Bercial, L., Cornils, A., Falkenhaug, T., Hopcroft, R. R., Hosia, A., Laakmann, S., Li, C., Martell, L., Questel, J. M., Wall-Palmer, D., Wang, M., Wiebe, P. H., Weydmann-Zwolicka, A. (2021). Toward a global reference database of COI barcodes for marine zooplankton. Marine Biology.)

Photo by R.R. Hopcroft and C. Clarke (UAF) and L.P. Madin (WHOI); see: http://www.cmarz.org/galleries.html 

Profs. Hans Dam, Michael Finiguerra, Hannes Baumann

Profs. Dam, Finiguerra, and Baumann show that zooplankton adapt quickly, but with limited capacity, to ocean warming and acidification, which is both encouraging and sobering news for the response of animal populations to rapid climate change. (Dam, H. G., deMayo, J. A., Park, G., Norton, L., He, X., Finiguerra, M. B., Baumann, H., Brennan, R. S., Pespeni, M. H. (2021). Rapid, but limited, zooplankton adaptation to simultaneous warming and acidification. Nature Climate Change, 11, 780-786.)

Prof. Leonel Romero 

Prof. Romero and colleagues propose a new approach to realistically model wave effects on currents, overcoming several limitations of state-of-the-art coupled wave-ocean models. (Romero, L., Hypolite, D., McWilliams, J. C. (2021). Representing Wave Effects on Currents. Ocean Modelling, 167, 101873.)

Prof. Sandy Shumway

Prof. Shumway edited a book titled “Molluscan Shellfish Aquaculture: A Practical Guide” as a usable manual for those interested in an up-to-date introduction to the field. The book covers each of the major cultured species of cultural importance. (Shumway, Sandy, Ed. (2021) Molluscan Shellfish Aquaculture: A Practical Guide. 5M Publishing.)

Prof. Samantha Siedlecki

Prof. Siedlecki and colleagues present work showing that the  projected changes for carbon variables like pCO2 and pH in the California Current System (CCS) using a high resolution model are modified by coastal processes resolved in the downscaled projections relative to the projected global simulation, suggesting downscaled projections are necessary to more accurately project future conditions of these variables. (Siedlecki, S. A., Pilcher, D., Howard, E. M., Deutsch, C., MacCready, P., Norton, E. L., Frenzel, H., Newton, J., Feely, R. A., Alin, S. R., Klinger, T. (2021). Coastal processes modify projections of some climate-driven stressors in the California Current System, Biogeosciences, 18, 2871–2890.)

Prof. Siedlecki, graduate student Kelly McGarry, and colleagues present a combination of regional high-resolution simulations that project ocean acidification (OA) conditions for the Gulf of Maine into 2050, the results of which indicate that the aragonite saturation state (one measure of OA) declines and the entire GOM will experiences biologically critical conditions for most of the year. (Siedlecki, S. A., Salisbury, J., Gledhill, D. K., Bastidas, C., Meseck, S., McGarry, K., … & Morrison, R. (2021). Projecting ocean acidification impacts for the Gulf of Maine to 2050: New tools and expectations. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 9(1):00062.) 

Prof. Penny Vlahos

Prof. Vlahos, graduate student Emma Shipley, and colleagues present an interdisciplinary study that connects drinking water quality to the progression of kidney disease in rice farmers in the Sri Lankan dry zone. (Vlahos, P., Schensul, S., Anand, S., Shipley, E., Diyabalanage, S., Hu, C., Ha, T., Staniec, A., Haider, L., Schensul, J., Hewavitarne, P., Silva, T., Chandrajith, R., Nanayakkara, N. (Accepted). Water Sources and Kidney Function: Investigating Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in a Prospective Study. NPJ Clean Water.)

Halle Berger (graduate student, Profs. Samantha Siedlecki and Catherine Matassa)

Berger and colleagues present a vulnerability assessment for Dungeness crab to climate change which revealed that population-level vulnerability to future hypoxia is most severe overall due to increased exposure of the critical adult stage during the upwelling season. (Berger, H. M., Siedlecki, S. A., Matassa, C. M., Alin, S. R., Kaplan, I. C., Hodgson, E. E., Pilcher, D. J., Norton, E. L., Newton, J. A. (2021). Seasonality and life history complexity determine vulnerability of Dungeness crab to multiple climate stressors. AGU Advances, 2, e2021AV000456.) 

Tyler Griffin (graduate student, Prof. Evan Ward)

Griffin and colleagues demonstrate that antibiotics can be used as effective tools to experimentally diminish the gut microbiomes of suspension-feeding animals, like oysters and mussels. (Griffin, T. W., Pierce, M. L., Nigro, L. M., Holohan, B., & Ward, J. E. (2021). An examination of the use of antibiotics as a method to experimentally perturb the microbiota of suspension-feeding bivalves. Invertebrate Biology.  e12352.)

Allison Staniec (PhD graduate, Prof. Penny Vlahos)

Staniec and colleagues present a study identifying the role of sea spray in gas exchange in an article that was also featured in Nature Highlights: Big Potential for Tiny Droplets. (Staniec, A., Vlahos, P., Monahan, E. C. (2021) The role of sea spray in atmosphere-ocean gas exchange. Nature Geoscience, 14, 593-598.)

The Feng Graduate Research Colloquium has been a tradition in the Marine Science Department since 1996. Named after the first Head of the Department of Marine Sciences, Dr. Sung Y. Feng, the colloquium was started by Prof. Hans Dam. When he joined the department in the early 1990s, he saw a need for better professional development of students, particularly for presenting their research. Hans developed the colloquium to act as a conference in which students receive friendly, constructive criticism, and have the opportunity to work on developing their abstract writing, leadership, and scientific communication skills. 

The format has remained similar over the years, until the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into the schedule. The 2020 colloquium was postponed to 2021 and held entirely online, which presented new challenges for the Steering Committee, the group of graduate students who helped Hans organize and run the colloquium. These challenges included choosing a platform for interactive poster presentations and troubleshooting throughout the day. Hans reflects, “The particularly difficult thing was running the poster session. We found this free software that worked, and it worked pretty well, but it was a little difficult to transition from room to room.” Hannah Collins, a member of the 2021 Feng Steering Committee, added, “Usually, Feng is such a collaborative thing within the department so the challenge was to replicate that virtually. We did our best to create opportunities for good research discussions, even if it was over a computer screen.”

Students benefit in different ways from participating in the colloquium. They prepare by listening to several seminars from faculty about writing abstracts and presenting both posters and oral presentations. Hans works with other faculty to read and critique abstracts students prepare. Hans adds, “One way to make a reputation is to give good talks, whether at conferences or invited seminars. The colloquium is a way to hone many of the skills of professional development and those that are expected of people who graduate from graduate school. We’ve seen the benefits, because our students do very well at conferences.” 

While Masters students typically only have the opportunity to present at one colloquium, PhD students typically get multiple opportunities. Hans acknowledges that he can see improvement in these students from their first colloquium to subsequent ones, “Most PhD students give a poster their first year, so you see that progression from not having an idea formulated to being able to give a talk. The more you present, the better you get, and I see that with the colloquium itself.” 

Given the benefits of the colloquium to students and the department, it’s clear that the tradition isn’t going anywhere, and for now, neither is Hans. “Feng is one of my prides. I do it because I love it, and it’s a great thing. At some point I’m sure I’m going to walk away from it and let somebody else do it, but in the meantime, I’m just enjoying it.” The Department looks forward to another successful Feng Colloquium in 2023.

When considering the oceans’ role in climate change, many people focus on the capability of the oceans to store gases from the atmosphere. However, the transfer of gases between the atmosphere and the ocean is actually a complex process facilitated by multiple mechanisms, including sea spray. Sea spray moves matter and energy between the surface ocean and the atmosphere, and its contribution to gas exchange is not yet fully understood by researchers. Strongly linked to wind conditions, sea spray is predicted to increase as long-term climate trends increase wind speeds, particularly in extreme conditions such as hurricanes. Improving the modeling of gas exchange in these scenarios can help inform climate predictions of the future.

In a recent publication, former graduate student Allison Staniec, Professor Penny Vlahos and Emeritus Professor Edward C. Monahan modeled the sea spray gas exchange of non-reactive gases including argon, helium, neon, nitrogen, and oxygen. The goal of the project was to understand the magnitude of flux of these gases between the ocean and the atmosphere via sea spray. Staniec explained the motivation for the work, “There’s been a lot of exploration about how sea spray can carry things like heat and momentum. People have started looking at how it can carry organic compounds. There hasn’t been a ton of work on gases, and part of that is because it’s really difficult to measure in situ or in the laboratory. We wanted to do a proof of concept of whether this spray-mediated gas exchange could theoretically contribute to overall gas exchange.” 

There are several challenges to creating a sea spray model. First, there are many different calculated sea spray generation fluxes from previous work to choose between. Staniec explains that the Anguelova number flux was chosen because it fell right in the middle of the many literature values, but that the range of orders of magnitude of sea spray droplet generation can further complicate calculations. In addition, sea spray droplets have two stages after creation, in the first they cool after separating from the ocean surface and in the second they shrink and evaporate. However, not all droplets have the same fate. Some cool but fall back to the surface before beginning to evaporate, some evaporate entirely, and many fall somewhere in between. Since the studied gases are more soluble at lower temperatures, droplets that cool but then drop back into the ocean transfer gas into the ocean, but droplets that cool and evaporate completely transfer gas into the atmosphere. 

After carefully considering how to represent all these factors in their model, the group determined that for gases like He and Ne, sea spray will not have much effect even at high wind speeds. However, for gases like O2, sea spray could have a significant impact on gas flux between the ocean and the atmosphere, particularly at high wind speeds. While this paper doesn’t focus on gases that are relevant to climate change, future models can expand the understanding of gas flux to more complicated and climate-relevant gases, such as CO2. Staniec explains, “We didn’t do specifically climate change relevant gases because CO2 is complicated by the fact that it reacts when it enters the water. But this is a stepping stone for that.” More investigation is needed to understand sea spray mediated gas exchange, particularly in areas of high wind speed such as the Southern Ocean, which is known for high winds and carbon sequestration. Future studies can use the findings and relevant code presented in Staniec’s work to further constrain gas exchange in these regions. 

Citation: Staniec, A., Vlahos, P. & Monahan, E.C. The role of sea spray in atmosphere–ocean gas exchange. Nat. Geosci. 14, 593–598 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00796-z