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Dr. Kelton Clark received his PhD from MEES, ecology area of specialization, in 2001 under the co-direction of Ken Sebens and Tuck Hines. Kelly is currently the Director of Estuarine Research Center, Morgan State University. His research interests are in experimental and statistical design used to test fundamental questions and advance theoretical foundations of populations and community ecology. Much of his present work concerns the interactions between predator and prey. Generalizations about predator prey relationships are seen as a key to increasing the predictive ability of ecology and ecosystem research. The response of prey to predation risk has consequences for both community and population structures. Shifts in habitat use can influence population abundance of community members through facilitation, resource depression, or preferential feeding on refuge inhabitants. The examination of these interactions can provide insight into one of the myriad of interactions that make predictive community ecology such a challenging field.
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Since UM signed The American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in May 2007, MEES doctoral candidate Ramy Serour has been working with the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER), School of Public Policy to help UM meet the ACUPCC requirements. He conducted the first campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and is currently working on subsequent inventory updates. As a member of the UM Climate Action Plan Working Group chaired by Dr. Matthias Ruth and the Office of Sustainability (OS) in collaboration with campus operators, faculty, undergraduate and graduate student representatives, he developed a cost-benefit assessment of mitigation strategies to help campus decision and policy makers in a campus-wide effort to reduce the University's GHG emissions and ultimately become Carbon Neutral. He is also the graduate student representative in the UM Sustainability Council chaired by Dr. Ann Wylie, Vice President of Administrative Affairs. Both the UM GHG Inventory and a draft of the Climate Action Plan, a 40 year strategic plan for how the campus will become Carbon Neutral by 2050, are posted on the OS website (http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/index.php?p=CAP). |
Dr. Walter Boynton (Chesapeake Biological Laboratory) and Dr. W. Michael Kemp (Horn Point Laboratory) have been notified that they have been selected to receive the 2009 Odum Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF). The award recognizes the lifetime achievements of outstanding estuarine scientists whose sustained accomplishments have made important contributions to understanding estuaries and coastal ecosystems. Michael and Walt have been influential scientific collaborators over several decades based on their common interests in how ecosystems work. Walt has also been voted in as President-Elect of CERF.
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The College of Chemical and Life Sciences will hold its fall commencement on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 4pm in the Memorial Chapel. CLICK HERE to read the announcement.
Congratulations to August 2009 MEES graduates:
Ph.D. – Xiaojun Feng, Evan H.C. Grant, Huiqing Li, Jose J. Reyes-Tomassini, Peter J. Sharpe
M.S. – Leah H. Beckett, Katie M. Delaney, Jason L. Edwards, Kari H. Fenske, Desmond J. Johns, Susan E. Lombardi, Emily D. Seldomridge, Karen A. Taylor, Daohong Yao
Fellowships and Scholarships:
Jeremy Testa (a MEES, doctoral student working with Mike Kemp at Horn Point Laboratory) was awarded a full scholarship to participate in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Advanced Study Program on "Marine Ecosystems and Climate: Modeling and Analysis of Observed Variability" in Boulder, Colorado during August 2009.
Recent Student and Alumni Publications:
Bagatini, MD; Vasconcelos, TG; Laughinghouse IV, HD; Martins, AF; Tedesco, SB. 2009. Biomonitoring Hospital Effluents by Allium cepa L. Test. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 82: 590-592
Karen M. Eisenreich, Shannon M. Kelly and Christopher L. Rowe. Latent Mortality of Juvenile Snapping Turtles from the Upper Hudson River, New York, Exposed Maternally and Via the Diet to Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). Environ. Sci. Technol. 2009, 43, 6052–6057.
K. Gormally, G.S., Peacock, and R. Shellman. "Pressure Onset Propulsion Signal Detection Algorithm (U)," (Secret // NOFORN) Journal of Underwater Acoustics (USN) 58, 267-286 (2008).
Hopfensperger, K.N., K.A.M. Engelhardt, and T.R. Lookingbill. In press. The seed bank and vegetation dynamics in a tidal freshwater marsh. Journal of Vegetation Science.
MacAuley, S.R., S.A. Zimmerman, E.E. Apolinario, C. Evilia, Y.-M. Hou, J.G. Ferry, K.R. Sowers. 2009. The Archetype g-Class Carbonic Anhydrase (Cam) Contains Iron when Synthesized in vivo in Methanosarcina acetivorans. Biochemistry 48(5): 817-9.
Tal, Y., H.J. Schreier, K.R. Sowers, J.D. Stubblefield, A.R. Place, and Y. Zohar. 2009. Environmentally Sustainable, Fully Contained Marine Aquaculture. Aquaculture 286: 28-35.
Werner, VR; Laughinghouse, HD. 2009. Bloom-forming and other planktonic Anabaena (Cyanobacteria) morphospecies with twisted trichomes from Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Nova Hedwigia 89 (1-2): 17-47.
Other Student News:
Haywood Dail Laughinghouse IV (MEES M.S. student working with Dr. Pat Kangas) was awarded a travel bursary from the British Phycological Society to attend the Introductory Course on Freshwater Algal Identification (Durham, England, UK) during the summer of 2009.
Since UM signed The American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in May 2007, MEES doctoral candidate Ramy Serour has been working with the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER), School of Public Policy to help UM meet the ACUPCC requirements. Ramy is working on his dissertation with Dave Tilley. He conducted the first campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and is currently working on subsequent inventory updates. As a member of the UM Climate Action Plan Working Group chaired by Dr. Matthias Ruth and the Office of Sustainability (OS) in collaboration with campus operators, faculty, undergraduate and graduate student representatives, he developed a cost-benefit assessment of mitigation strategies to help campus decision and policy makers in a campus-wide effort to reduce the University's GHG emissions and ultimately become Carbon Neutral. He is also the graduate student representative in the UM Sustainability Council chaired by Dr. Ann Wylie, Vice President of Administrative Affairs.
Alumni News:
Christine Bergeron, MEES M.S. under Rob Mason in 2005 and now a PhD student at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a $111,000 EPA STAR fellowship. The fellowship is to support her work to examine the effects of mercury on the reproductive success of American toads.
Kristine Hopfensperger, MEES Ph.D. under Katia Engelhardt, has joined the Biological Sciences Department at Northern Kentucky University as an assistant professor.
Katie McKone (MEES MS 2008 under Dr. Eva Koch) is currently an Environmental Biologist at the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection.
Faculty News:
MEES faculty members Walter Boynton of CBL and Michael Kemp of HPL have been selected to receive the 2009 Odum Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF). This award recognizes the lifetime achievements of an outstanding estuarine scientist whose sustained accomplishments have made important contributions to our understanding of estuaries and coastal ecosystems.
Saturday, September 5, 2009, twenty students, faculty, and their guests traveled from all over Maryland to join together for a four hour recreational canoe trip at Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary. Horn Point Lab, Chesapeake Biological Lab, UMBC, COMB, and UMCP all had students in attendance. The trip was led by UMBC researcher, Dr. Jeff Campbell who is an avid volunteer at Jug Bay. The tour included a hike along the railroad bed trail where we were greeted by musk turtle who taught us why they have the nickname, "stinkpot" turtle. Then we set off in canoes into the Patuxent River and paddled through the marsh where we got up close and personal with wild rice, pickerel weed, and spatterdock. When we looked to the sky we saw lots of red-winged blackbirds and ospreys plus an occasional great egret or bald eagle. If students are interested, they are highly encouraged by the staff at Jug Bay to use the wetland sanctuary as a study site. There is a Graduate Research Fellowship available to support such work (http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/cbnerr/research_grf.asp). The fellowship is currently held by Horn Point student, Ben Fertig.
Congratulations to May 2009 MEES graduates:
Ph.D. – Kimberly Anderson, Laura Belicka, Kevin Gormally, Nikisa Jordan, Matthew Kendall, Hailong Liu
M.S. – Sarah Bembe, Jeffrey Biermann, Lisa Florkowski, Terra Lederhouse, Amanda Matheny, Katie McKone, Deanna Hanks, Osarodion Nosakhare, Adrianna Ortiz, Michael Owens
Fellowships and Scholarships:
Katherine Davis Ziombra has been awarded a fellowship from the Washington, DC Water and Sewer Authority. She will be working with Lora Harris (her MEES M.S. advisor) and Sudhir Murthy (DC WASA) to investigate how potential reductions in nitrogen inputs from the Blue Plains treatment plant will influence organic matter production and respiration in the lower Potomac estuary. Summer activities also include participation in seminars, visits to EPA headquarters, and opportunities to learn more about wastewater operations at the largest denitrification wastewater treatment plant in the world.
Recent Student and Alumni Publications:
Adolf, J. E., Bachvaroff, T.R., and Place, A.R. (2009). Environmental modulation of Karlotoxin levels in strains of the cosmopolitan dinoflagellate, Karlodinium veneficum (Dinophyceae). J. Phycol. 45(176-192).
Alliegro, M.C. and P. Satir, 2009. Origin of the Cilium: Novel approaches to examine a centriolar evolution hypothesis. Meth. Cell Biol. In press.
Daniel M. Alongi. 2009. The Energetics of Mangrove Forests. 216 pages, Springer; 1st edition.
Bianchi, T.S., and M.A. Allison. 2009. Large-River Delta-Front Estuaries as Natural "Recorders" of Global Environmental Change. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.: 106 (20) 8085-8092.
Boonsatien, B., N. Sangpradub, M.T. Barbour, and W. Simachaya. 2009. An implementation plan for using biological indicators to improve assessment of water quality in Thailand. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. DOI 10.1007/s10661-009-0939-0.
A. Chaudhuri, M. Mitra, J.G. Schwarz and S. Schiewer. 2009. Copper, Zinc, Nickel, and Cobalt biosorption potential of Fucus vesiculosus (Phaeophyceae) and Gracilaria tikvahiae (Rhodophyta). Water Practice and Technology, Vol. 4(2): 1-9.
doi: 10.2166/WPT.2009.039 (http://www.iwaponline.com/wpt/004/0039/0040039.pdf)
Chen, S. N. & Sanford, L. P. (2009). Lateral circulation driven by boundary mixing and the associated transport of sediments in idealized partially mixed estuaries. Cont. Shelf Res., 29(1), 101–118.
Darwish, A.M., Mitchell, A.J. 2009. Evaluation of Diquat against an acute experimental infection of Flavobacterium columnare in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. Journal of Fish Diseases. 32:401-408.
William C. Dennison, Jane E. Thomas, Carol J. Cain, Tim J.B. Carruthers, Matthew R. Hall, Roman, V. Jesien, Catherine E. Wazniak, and David E. Wilson. Shifting Sands: Environmental and cultural change in Maryland's Coastal Bays IAN Press.
B. Fertig, T. J. B. Carruthers, W. C. Dennison, A. B. Jones, F. Pantus and B. Longstaff. 2009. Oyster and Macroalgae Bioindicators Detect Elevated δ15N in Maryland's Coastal Bays. Estuaries and Coasts 32(4): 773-786. 10.1007/s12237-009-9148-x
Anson H. Hines, W. Christopher Long, Jeffrey R. Terwin, Simon F. Thrush. 2009. Facilitation, interference, and scale: the spatial distribution of prey patches affects predation rates in an estuarine benthic community. MEPS 385:127 135. doi:10.3354/meps08055
Kemp WM, Petersen SE, Houde ED, Chen C-C, Cornwell JC, Porter ET (2009) Spatial and Temporal Scaling, p. 49-62. In JE Petersen, VS Kennedy, WC Dennison, WM Kemp. Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale. Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems, 222 p., Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-387-76766-6.
Yannick Labreuchea, Nuala A. O’Leary, Enrique de la Vegaa, Artur Velosoa, Paul S. Grossb, Robert W. Chapmanc, Craig L. Browdyc and Gregory W. Warra. 2009. Lack of evidence for Litopenaeus vannamei Toll receptor (lToll) involvement in activation of sequence-independent antiviral immunity in shrimp. Developmental & Comparative Immunology 33(7): 806-810. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2009.02.005
Kellie Merrell, Eric A. Howe, and Susan Warren. 2009. Examining Shorelines, Littorally. LakeLineVolume 29, No. 1: 10-15.
Margaret R. Mulholland, Ryan E. Morse, George E. Boneillo, Peter W. Bernhardt, Katherine C. Filippino, Leo A. Procise, Jose L. Blanco-Garcia, Harold G. Marshall, Todd A. Egerton, William S. Hunley, Kenneth A. Moore, Dianna L. Berry and Christopher J. Gobler. 2009. Understanding Causes and Impacts of the Dinoflagellate, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Blooms in the Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 32(4): 734-747. 10.1007/s12237-009-9169-5.
Muller-Karger, Frank. E., R. Varela, R. C. Thunell, M. I. Scranton, G. T. Taylor, Y. Astor, C. R. Benitez-Nelson, L. Lorenzoni, E. Tappa, M. A. Goñi, D. Rueda, R. Weisberg, and C. Hu. 2009 (In Press) The CARIACO Oceanographic Time Series. In: Carbon and Nutrient Fluxes in Continental Margins: A Global Synthesis. JGOFS Continental Margins Task Team (CMTT). Editors: Kon-Kee Liu, Larry Atkinson, Renato Quinones, Liana Talaue-McManus, Springer-Verlag New York.
Norris, R.H. and M.T. Barbour. 2009. Bioassessment of aquatic ecosystems. In: Gene E. Likens, (Editor) Encyclopedia of Inland Waters (Oxford: Elsevier) Vol 3 pp21-28.
Porter ET, Cornwell JC, Sanford LP, Newell RIE (2009) Biofiltration, water quality, and sediment processes, p. 190-194. In JE Petersen, VS Kennedy, WC Dennison, WM Kemp. Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale. Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems, 222 p., Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-387-76766-6.
Robalino J, Carnegie RB, O'Leary N, Ouvry-Patat SA, de la Vega E, Prior S, Gross PS, Browdy CL, Chapman RW, Schey KL, Warr G. 2009. Contributions of functional genomics and proteomics to the study of immune responses in the Pacific white leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 128(1-3):110-8.
Smith, K.A. and J.M. Caffrey. 2009. The Effects of Human and Climatic Impacts on Sediment Nitrogen Dynamics in an Urban Estuary, Escambia Bay, Florida, USA. Hydrobiologia. 627:67-85.
Katharine A. Smith, Elizabeth W. North , Fengyan Shi, Shih-Nan Chen, Raleigh R. Hood, Evamaria W. Koch and Roger I. E. Newell. 2009. Modeling the Effects of Oyster Reefs and Breakwaters on Seagrass Growth. Estuaries and Coasts 32(4): 748-757. 10.1007/s12237-009-9170-z.
Sutton, A. J., Fisher, T. R., & Gustafson, A. B. (2009). Historical Changes in Water Quality at German Branch in the Choptank River Basin. Water Air Soil Pollut., 199(1-4), 353–369.
Denise M. Yost, Carys L. Mitchelmore. 2009. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) lyase activity in different strains of the symbiotic alga Symbiodinium microadriaticum. MEPS 386:61-70 - doi:10.3354/meps08031
Alumni News:
Dr. Val Emery, the Army Research Laboratory's outreach program manager was given the prestigious U.S. Army's Superior Civilian Service Award and the Black Engineers of the Year (BEYA) Deans Award. Maj. Gen. Paul S. Izzo, commander of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, gave Dr. Emery the service award for his extensive work with historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions. "Dr. Emery's achievements and exemplary performance are in keeping with the highest traditions of government service," Izzo said in the award citation. Dr. Emery received both his M.S. (1994 under Dr. J. Adams) and Ph.D. (1998 under Dr. David Wright) from MEES.
Dr. Stephen Jordan, MEES Ph.D. under Dr. Vic Kennedy, was among the recipients of the National Fish Habitat Initiative Award for Scientific Achievement, 2009, for a publication in the journal Ecology and Society (S.J. Jordan, L.M. Smith and J.A. Nestlerode. 2008. Cumulative effects of coastal habitat alterations on fishery resources: toward prediction at regional scales. Ecol. & Soc. 14(1): 16 online.
Dr. Randy Larsen (Ph.D. 2002 under Dr. Joel Baker) received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Chemistry at St. Mary's College of Maryland in May 2009. He is planning to spend his sabbatical year in the biogeochemistry group at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. While there, he will be traveling to the Arctic Ocean to study methane hydrates.
Brandon Muffley, 2002 MEES M.S. under Dr. Edward Houde, has been promoted to Chief of the Bureau of Marine Fisheries in the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife. His new position includes coordinating and overseeing all aspects of Bureau operations from budgets and federal aid to research programs and regulations.
Dr. Anthony S. Overton, MEES Ph.D. in 2003 under Dr. Joseph Margraf, has received tenure and been promoted to Associate Professor in the East Carolina University Department of Biology.
Dr. Elka Porter (Ph.D. in 1999 under Dr. Jeffrey Cornwell and Dr. Larry Sanford) will be starting a Visiting Assistant Professor position in the Biology Department of Washington College this August.
Dr. George Waldbusser (2008 Ph.D. under Dr. Roberta Marinellli) will be starting a tenure-track position at Oregon State University this fall in the College of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences.
Dr. Anita Walz (2002 Ph.D. under Drs. Ray Morgan and Mary Ann Ottinger) received tenure this spring. Anita is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Marshall University.
Ruth A. Kelty (MEES 2000 Ph.D. under Dr. Christopher D’Elia) and husband Ryan welcomed their second daughter earlier this year.
MEES alumni Eric (M.S. 2004 under Dr. Jeffrey Cornwell) and Jessica (Davis) Nagel (Ph.D. 2007 under Dr. Michael Kemp) welcomed a baby boy, Brendan Everett, in October 2008.
Miles Connor Reid was born to Michael and Cristi Reid (MEES M.S. 2003 under Drs. Joe Mihursky and Denise Breitburg) in May 2008. He has an older sister, Alyssa.
The 2009 MEES Colloquium will be held on October 23rd & 24th in Annapolis, hosted by the UMCES Integration and Application Network (IAN) and the central MEES office. Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information!
Fellowships and Scholarships:
Melanie Harrison, doctoral student working with Drs. Andrew Miller and Peter Groffman, has been awarded a fellowship from the NOAA Graduate Science Program (GSP). The GSP is aimed primarily at increasing opportunities for students in NOAA-related fields to pursue research and educational training in atmospheric, environmental, remote sensing and oceanic sciences and offers four years of NOAA-related research and training opportunities.
Emily Seldomridge, an M.S. student working with Drs. Karen Prestegaard and Jeffery Cornwell, was awarded the National Estuarine Research Reserve Graduate Research Fellowship for her project entitled "Geomorphic framework for the measurement and prediction of nitrogen loss in tidal wetlands, Jug Bay, MD."
Recent Student and Alumni Publications:
McKernan, M.A., B.A. Rattner, R.C. Hale, M.A. Ottinger. 2009. Toxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (DE-71) in chicken (Gallus gallus), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), and American kestrel (Falco sparverius) embryos and hatchlings. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 28:1007-1017.
Other Student News:
Kari Fenske, M.S. student working with Drs. David Secor and Michael Wilberg, received a 3rd place award for best student presentation at the Tidewater American Fisheries Society Conference for "Demographics and Parasitism by Anguillicola Crassus in Chesapeake Bay American Eels."
Yun Li, a doctoral student working with Dr. Ming Li, received an Outstanding Student Paper Award for her presentation, "Impact of Hurricane Isabel on hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay," at the 2008 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Susan Lombardi, an M.S. student working with Dr. William Lamp, was awarded a conference travel grant from the Wetland Foundation for attendance at the annual meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists in Madison, Wisconsin, this June. Susan will be presenting her research, "Effects of Eastern mudminnow presence on macroinvertebrate communities of Delmarva temporary freshwater wetlands."
Amanda Matheny has won the Norman F. Childers Award - first place for best graduate student research paper at the Northeast Region American Society for Horticultural Science. Her thesis project identified motivators and barriers for adoption of recommended pest management practices by home gardeners. Amanda is a MS candidate in the MEES Program advised by Dr. Amy Brown.
MEES students Katie Delaney and Kari Fenske have been selected as 2009 Presidential Management Fellowship finalists. Both Katie and Kari are M.S. students working at CBL. Katie is advised by Dr. Sujay Kaushal and Kari by Drs. David Secor and Michael Wilberg.
MEES doctoral candidate Denise Yost, working with Dr. Carys Mitchelmore, was awarded a PADI Foundation Research Grant (A California Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation) for her proposal "Spatial variation of DMSP production and DMSP lyase activity in three species of Bermuda coral."
Faculty News:
Two of the seventeen 2009 University System of Maryland Regents' Faculty Awards recipients were MEES faculty member: Dr. H. Rodger Harvey and Dr. Allen Place.
The awards are the highest honor presented by the board to exemplary faculty members. Presented by category, the awards honor excellence in teaching; scholarship, research, or creative activities; public service; mentoring; and collaboration. Dr. Harvey, the award recipient of the research, scholarship, and creativity category, is a professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. Dr. Place, the award recipient of the public services category, is a professor at the Center of Marine Biotechnology.
At the University of Maryland Baltimore County Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, April 1, Dr. Thomas Cronin was honored as Presidential Research Professor, 2009-2012.
More news available in the News Archive.
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