Skip to Main Content
University of Texas University of Texas Libraries

Marine Science Seminars

Seminars held at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute

MSI Seminars 2019

Friday, December 6, 1:00 pm

"Ecosystem Ecology of the Sulfur Microbiome and Virome"

Karthik Anantharaman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Google Scholar

Friday, November 22, 1:00 pm

"Environmental and Structural Drivers of Fish Distributions Among Petroleum Platforms Across the U.S. Gulf of Mexico"

Derek Bolser
Graduate Research Assistant
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, November 22, 1:00 pm

"Evaluating Organic Contaminants Associated With Nurdles Along Beaches of South Texas"

Xiangtao Jiang
Graduate Student, Doctoral Candidate
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, November 22, 1:00 pm

"Molecular Level Analysis Reveals Changes in Recalcitrance and Isomeric Composition of Dissolve Organic Matter From South Texas Rivers After High Flow Events"

Kaijun Lu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Thursday, November 14, 1:30 pm, ERC Seminar Room

"Introduction to the Collaborative Escape Room Project, a Planet Texas 2050 Project"

Sven Ortel (Co-director of the Escape Room Project): Sven is a projection designer with 16 years of experience in his field, and currently a Professor for the Center for Arts and Entertainment Technologies at UT Austin. He works internationally and nationally, creating projections and imagery for theatre, opera, dance, musicals and beyond. His work has been recognized with a Tony Award nomination in 2012 for Disney’s Newsies and in 2014 with a Drama Desk nomination for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He's worked at the National Theatre, London's West End, Broadway, European Opera Houses, Pub theaters, Las Vegas and regional theaters in far away lands.

J.E. Johnson (Technical Director for the Escape Room): J.E. is the Scenic Studio Supervisor at Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin where he teaches digital and traditional fabrication courses. Johnson specializes in an emergent pedagogy to create safe, dynamic learning environments to unleash student creativity and capability and support employment readiness. Johnson has enabled a generation of inexperienced students to fabricate professional quality scenery for over 100 productions and has served as a fabricator and consultant for feature films, startups, and international sculptors. 

Chris Conard (Production Designer): Chris is a MFA student at UT Austin, leading production design for the Escape Room and working with J.E. Johnson's Fabrications class. Chris, in the lead-up to the Escape Room project, developed 3D renderings and set drafts to lead student learning in the construction of the Escape Room. For his achievements in scenic and set design, Chris is the recipient of the 2017 Austin Critics Table Award Winner for Best Set Design and 2017 B. Iden Payne Award Winner for Outstanding Scenic Design. 

Project information: Resilience Sentry: Saving the Future (working title), is a "Collaborative Escape Room Project" (CERP) funded and driven by the missions of The College of Fine Arts and Planet Texas 2050. The preliminary scenario, narrative, and design of the Escape Room has been developed by College or Fine Arts faculty, students, and alumni and is inspired by campus-wide collaborative research made possible by the Bridge Barriers initiative, which was launched by President Fenves in 2016 with one overarching mission: break down academic silos and foster research that addresses the toughest questions facing humanity and the world.

In this course students will build and test a full-scale escape room that will transport players to a distressed research station on the Gulf Coast in the year 2042. Students will cross-collaborate between these courses: Video Game Prototyping, Scenic Painting, and Interactive Lighting Environments. All to design, fabricate, program, install, and test a working escape room. This experience will build portfolios, resumes, and leadership skills for career paths in design, architecture, live entertainment, film, gaming, and engineering.

Projects are student-driven and dependent on student research and planning. Students will have opportunities to specialize on specific areas within the project including fabrication, testing, and operations. Students will research player safety, puzzle effectiveness, the evolution of the escape room industry, and the role of immersive entertainment in education.

Hosted: by Dr. Tracy Villareal

Friday, November 15, 1:00 pm

"Impacts of Oil Exposure, Low Oxygen, and Temperature on Aerobic Performance of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)"

Kerri L. Ackerly, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, November 1, 1:00 pm

"Influence of Drought, Storm Events, and Hurricane Harvey on Estuarine Particulate Organic Matter Composition"

Sarah Douglas
Graduate Student, Doctoral Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, November 1, 1:00 pm

"The Effects of Environmental Stressors on Cell Death Responses of Toxic Dinoflagellate Karenia brevis and Potential Bloom Decline Processes"

Yida Gao
Graduate Student, Doctoral Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, November 1, 1:00 pm

"Influence of Nutrient Concentrations and Forms on Phytoplankton Communities in Tidal Freshwater Zones of Rivers"

Hengchen Wei
Graduate Student, Doctoral Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, November 1, 1:00 pm

"Tidal Freshwater Zones As Hotspots For Nitrogen Retention and Removal in Two Texas Rivers"

Xin Xu
Doctoral Student, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, September 27, 1:00 pm

"Ecophysiology and Food Web Dynamics of Spring Ecotone Communities in the Edwards Aquifer, USA"

Parvathi Nair, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, September 20, 1:00 pm

"Towards a New Hydrodynamic Approach For Modeling Mangrove Responses to a Changing Climate"

Ashley Matheny, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences,
The University of Texas at Austin

Google Scholar

Friday, September 13, 1:00 pm

"Laboratory Safety and Beyond"

Ryan Hladyniuk, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Core Facilities Lab Manager
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, August 16, 11:00 am

"Influences on the Distribution of Petroleum Platform-Associated Fishes in the Gulf of Mexico"

Derek Bolser
Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, August 16, 11:00 am

"Expanding Microbial Biodiversity and Metabolic Potential in Deep-Sea Sediment"

Xianzhe Gong, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, August 16, 11:00 am

"The Role of Hemoglobin Multiplicity in Acclimation of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) to Prolonged Environmental Hypoxia"

Ben Negrete
Doctoral Student, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Thursday, August 8, 11:00 am

"Hurricane Harvey Disturbance Effects on Seagrass Communities"

Jenelle Estrada
Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Thursday, August 8, 11:00 am

"Impacts of Regional Climate Change and Climate-Mediated Vegetation Shifts on Coastal Avian Community Dynamics"

Spencer Keyser
Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Monday, June 24, 2:00 pm

"Additive Effects of Oil Exposure and Hypoxia on Aerobic Performance in Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)" 

Kerri Ackerly, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Monday, June 24, 2:00 pm

"Does Red Blood Cell Carbonic Anhydrase Affect Oxygen Delivery?"  

Angelina Dichiera
Doctoral Student, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Monday, June 24, 2:00 pm

"Impact of Crude Oil Exposure on Teleost Personality Behaviors"     

Alexis J. Khursigara
Doctoral Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, June 14, 1:00 pm

"Brockarchaeota, a New Archaeal Phylum Containing Unique Pathways For Hydrogen-Dependent Methylotrophy" 

Valerie De Anda, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, June 14, 1:00 pm

"Expansion of Deltaproteobacteria Biodiversity"

Marguerite Langwig
Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, June 14, 1:00 pm

"Adaptive Immune Systems of Uncultured Microbial Lineages Across the Tree of Life"

Ian M. Rambo
Doctoral Student (Discovery Fellowship), The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2736-2832

Friday, May 31, 11:00 am

"Top Predator Recovery: Not a Simple Conservation Story"

Jennyfer Cruz Bernal, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Google Scholar 

Wednesday, May 1, 9:00 am

"Chemical Communication in Affiliation, Aggression, and Mating of Decapod Crustaceans"

Charles Derby, Ph.D.
Regents Professor, Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University

Research interests: sensory biology, chemical senses, neuroethology

Google Scholar

Friday, April 26, 11:00 am

"Are Indicators Useful in Assessing the Condition of Seagrass Ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico?"

Victoria Congdon
Doctoral Student, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, April 26, 11:00 am

"ZIP9 Mediates Multiple Androgen Actions in Fish Ovaries"

Aubrey Converse, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, April 12, 11:00 am

"We're All in This Together: Interdependence and the Importance of Coordinated Action in Sea-Level Rise Adaptation"

Michelle Hummel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington

Research interests: environmental fluid mechanics, coastal hazards & resilience, urban flood modeling, compound flood events, sea-level rise adaptation, interdependent infrastructure modeling

Google Scholar

Friday, February 8, 11:00 am   

"Insights Into the Stress-Related Death Processes at Different Growth Stages and Diel Cycle of Cell Death Marker in Toxic Dinoflagellate Karenia brevis" 

Yida Gao
Doctoral Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Friday, February 8, 11:00 am

"Spatial and Temporal Variations in Carbonate Chemistry Parameters on the Alaskan Arctic Coast and Implications For Crustose Coralline Algae Distribution"

Arley F. Muth
Senior Student Associate, Lecturer, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Google Scholar

Friday, January 25, 11:00 am

"Enhancement of Fungicide Toxicity By Photo-Degradation"

Wei Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Marine Biomedical Science, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

Welcome!

Seminar tabs are listed in the order of upcoming dates, followed by past seminars (most recent first).

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.