Friday, December 8, 11:00 am, In-person, Zoom
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Mapping the 'Invisible Forest' and Its Role in Carbon Cycling in the Southern Ocean"
Yajuan Lin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Seminar summary: The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in global ocean productivity and carbon cycle, driving by microscopic marine plankton. In order to predict future changes, a holistic survey on the Southern Ocean plankton community and their functional roles is pressingly needed. Here we use an intensive sampling effort Antarctic Circumpolar Expedition, including both underway biogeochemical rates and DNA metabarcoding, to explore the surface ocean plankton biodiversity, biogeography and biological carbon exports across the entire Southern Ocean. We show that temperature is the first order factor shaping the plankton community structure. From a diverse array of members (0.25 million ASVs), 12 unique plankton co-occurring networks (bio assemblages) emerge, with unique regional or circumpolar biogeography. The hub spaces of those networks are occupied by zooplankton and mixotroph ASVs, suggesting a major role of top-down control. Furthermore, using a machine learning modeling approach, we can predict up to 83% surface ocean carbon export variability.
Host: Dr. Zhanfei Liu
Friday, November 17, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Species Interactions and Ecosystems in a Changing World"
Amanda Koltz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin.
Biography: Amanda Koltz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines the conditions under which animals influence ecosystem functioning and how animal impacts are shifting as a result of global change. Much of Amanda’s work has focused on top-down effects of invertebrate predators and parasites in arctic tundra, but she is interested in similar questions across a range of taxa and ecosystems. Amanda is also committed to strengthening the role of science in decision-making processes. She is currently a lead author on the Nexus Assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, and health with the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Prior to joining the faculty at UT Austin, Amanda was a Senior Scientist at Washington University in St. Louis and a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow with the Biological Diversity Program at NASA Headquarters.
Host: Dr. Jordan Casey.
Friday, November 10, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Belonging Matters: Creating Inclusive Learning Environments"
Sandi Everlove
Committee for Children
Biography: Sandi Everlove has spent her career exploring ways to apply research and technology to benefit learning for all students. During her time as a high school chemistry teacher, she received the Washington State Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching and Leadership. She has written and piloted a series of innovative science courses including an award-winning high school science ethics class. Sandi’s past experience includes serving as the Chief Learning Officer at Enlearn, a nonprofit education technology company and Chief Learning Officer at Washington STEM, where she led efforts to generate and share innovations in teaching and learning to increase the number of women and minorities in STEM. Most recently she was the Director of Instructional Design at the Committee for Children, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the safety and well-being of teachers and students through social-emotional learning and development.
Friday, Octobe 27, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
SPEAKERS: The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Graduate Research Students.
“Linking sea level rise with seagrass loss: A case study in the Western Gulf of Mexico"
Kyle Capistrant-Fossa
"The effect of hurricane disturbance on benthic microalgal communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico”
Sabrina Heiser
"Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in South Texas mangrove-salt marsh sediments following a lethal freeze event”
Kody Barone
"Long term drivers of marsh community composition in the Nueces Delta”
Berit Batterton
"A first look at seagrass populations in Baffin Bay, a semi-arid estuary in South Texas”
Sofia Armada Tapia
Host: Dr. Sharon Herzka.
Friday, October 20, 11:00 pm, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"GCOOS and Ocean Observing Needs in the Gulf of Mexico"
Jorge Brenner, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS)
Seminar summary: The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) is the Gulf of Mexico regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). We are the only certified, comprehensive data collection and dissemination center for coastal and ocean data in the Gulf. Our mission is to provide on-demand information about the Gulf’s coastal and open ocean waters that is accurate, reliable, and benefits people, ecosystems, and the economy. GCOOS leverages a budget — just $4 million — into big results by coordinating information gathered by federal, state, and private partners running more than 16,000 sensors in coastal waters to the deep ocean. We ensure that all data is timely, reliable, accurate, and available to everyone — from weather forecasters to Coast Guard first responders — to ensure a healthy, productive ocean and resilient coastal communities for the Gulf. Instead of operating our in-water assets, such as buoys, autonomous vehicles, radar systems, and water-quality monitoring tools, we collaborate with and provide grant support to on-the-ground investigators who develop and implement data collection using their systems. This allows us to leverage our limited dollars to increase partnerships with Gulf and state organizations that use professional tools and citizen scientists to develop a comprehensive data system that benefits users and supports jobs and local economies.
Friday, October 6, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Modeling Non-Equilibrium Dynamics in the Anthropocene"
Timothy Keitt, Ph.D.
Professor, Affiliated Faculty, Oden Institute, Department of Integragive Biology, The University of Texas at Austin.
Biography: Dr. Keitt studies dynamic spatial ecology and biogeography. As a systems scientist, his work examines how predictions from simple models change when embedded in a complex environment. He has investigated extensively the influence of landscape heterogeneity and environmental change on population and community processes. These problems have motivated his development of methods to detect scale-dependency in processes and patterns, especially habitat connectivity and community dynamics. Recent projects in the Keitt Lab have modeled complex patterns of human-mediated dispersal in zebra mussels, studied the ecological genomics of the recent range expansion of Green Jays in Texas, and investigated ecological responses to climate change using novel machine learning methods. He has also developed a model for autonomous monitoring of biodiversity that when realized will greatly enhance our ability to track the rapid changes occuring in the anthropocene.
Friday, July 14, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
Speakers: The University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
"Is Salt Marsh Ecosystem Resilience Driven More By Changes In Space or Time"
Kyle Runion, Doctoral Student.
"Thermal Slicing Ramped Pyrolysis (TSRP) Coupled With GC/MS as a Unique Tool for DOM Analysis"
Kaijun Lu, Postdoctoral Fellow.
Friday, June 9, 11:00 am, Zoom only.
"Revealing Environmental Patterns of Asgard Archaea Genomic Diversity"
Kathryn E. Appler
Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
Friday, March 24, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"In It Together: Multi-partner Interactions With Threatened Coral Hosts and Reef Ecosystems"
Adrienne M.S. Correa, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biosciences Department, Rice University.
Seminar summary: This seminar will describe research that bridges micro- and macroscopic realms to understand the factors that influence coral health, with implications for improving the resilience of reef ecosystems to climate change stressors.
Biography: Dr. Adrienne Correa is an Assistant Professor in the Biosciences Department at Rice University. She first learned to scuba dive in graduate school, while in the Hawaiian Islands to collect invasive ants. Dr. Correa's research turned to the ocean shortly thereafter, and today she explores the role of microorganisms in the health of coral reefs, which are threatened by rapid environmental change. Dr. Correa served for seven years on the Advisory Council for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, home to Texas’s own coral reefs. She is also a Fellow of the Kavli Frontiers in Science and was a National Academy of Sciences Gulf Coast Research Program Early Career Fellow. Dr. Correa's research and teaching have taken her to coral reefs around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Belize, Panama, and the South Pacific.
Host: Dr. Jordan Casey.
Friday, March 10, 11:00 a.m., In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Recurrent Variations in Hydrology and Nutrient Loading Stoichiometry Influence Phytoplankton Community Emergent Properties, Including Resistance to Harmful Algal Blooms"
Daniel Roelke, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University Galveston.
Seminar summary: Inland and coastal zone water bodies have experienced increased incidence and duration of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Bloom-forming processes that are often studied address direct mechanisms, such as decreased hydraulic displacement with diminished inflows or altered nutrient loading stoichiometries with anthropization of watersheds. Both conditions favor slower-growing taxa that produce toxins and other deleterious chemicals. There is a need, however, to also study indirect mechanisms. For example, our recent research demonstrates how recurrent variations in hydrology and nutrient loading stoichiometry can robustly lead to plankton assemblages characteristic of lumpy coexistence. This condition is characteristic of coexisting species clusters where species within a cluster are competitively similar, while competition between clusters is intense. Thus, the condition of lumpy coexistence reconciles classic niche theory with neutrality. Our research also shows that species invading into “lumpy” assemblages face steep competition, thereby reducing the chances of invasion success and HAB incidence. To extend these concepts into practice, self-organizing computational tools are needed that capture the diversity and functioning of plankton assemblages. Our research is developing such tools. These include the Spatially Explicit Multinutrient Multi-Species Plankton Model (MUMPs) and the PEG numerical model, which is based on the conceptual model posed by the Phytoplankton Ecology Group that describes seasonal succession patterns in temperate systems. Calibrating and validating complex models such as MUMPS and PEG require large empirical data sets. Our Twenty-Lakes project produces such data, characterizing plankton assemblages and important ecosystem functioning using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. There is a need to mirror this research effort in the seven major bay systems of Texas.
Host: Dr. Kenneth Dunton.
Friday, March 3, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Estuarine Research Center.
"One Health: Ecotoxicology at the Human-Animal-Ecosystem Interface"
Kristin Nielsen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
Friday, February 10, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Population Ecology of West Indian Manatees in Northern Gulf of Mexico"
Ruth H. Carmichael, Ph.D.
Senior Marine Scientist, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Professor of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama.
Host: Dr. Kenneth Dunton.
Friday, February 3, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Implications and Indications of Recent Sea Level Variations on the Texas Coast"
Randy Bissell, Ph.D.
Texas Professional Geoscientist and Texas Master Naturalist.
Host: Dr. Ryan Hladyniuk.
Friday, January 20, 11:00 am, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Deep Sea Mining: Environmental Baselines and Knowledge Gaps"
Beth N. Orcutt, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist, Interim Vice President for Research Geomicrobiologist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Host: Dr. Mark Lever.
Friday, January 13, 4:00-5:00 pm, In-person & Zoom.
UT Marine Science Institute, Patton Center, Auditorium.
"Dredge or Die: The Race to the Bottom on the US Gulf Coast"
Dr. Joshua Lewis
Tulane University, New Orleans
Ben Depp, Photographer and National Geographic Explorer
Seminar summary: The US Gulf Coast is experiencing a dredging revolution. Shallow estuaries, lagoons, river mouths and deltas from Tampa Bay to Brownsville are being reworked to accommodate larger ships. Simultaneously, dredging is increasingly being used for coastal protection and climate adaptation projects as flooding risks take on new spatial contours and intensities. Dredging has emerged as a tool to resolve the very problems it can create. How is this wave of new dredging projects playing out in different settings across the Gulf Coast? How are scientists, policymakers, industries, and community activists informing how projects are pursued? How might we expand research into dredging to move beyond its current highly disciplinary and regulatory-centric confines? This seminar draws on examples of dredging programs in the region to begin to unpack some of these questions, and is intended to provide ample time for input from researchers on the Gulf Coast to share their own reflections on the science and politics of dredging. Accompanying Dr. Josh Lewis on this research trip is photographer Ben Depp, who takes a unique approach to aerial photography summarized in his bio. With much of their previous work based in Louisiana, the two are exploring ways to collaborate on textual and visual representations of environmental change along the Texas Coast.
Host: Dr. Mark Lever.
Seminar tabs are listed in the order of upcoming dates, followed by past seminars (most recent first).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.