Tag Archives: Shellfish

Fact Sheet: ACER Education & Outreach Fact Sheets

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The  Alabama Center for Ecological Resilience (ACER) Consortium fact sheet series highlights the project’s research groups and their scientific focuses. These materials can be used as a classroom resource for science teachers on in the northern Gulf Coast research and for those with a general interest in oil spill research.

Introduction to ACER

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A brief introduction to ACER and what they do. Click on the image or here to open the publication.

ACER’s Consumer Group

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The Consumer research group focused on the top predators of the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Click on the image or here to open the publication.

ACER’s Wetland Group

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The Wetland research group focused on the flora and fauna of coastal wetlands. Click on the image or here to open the publication.

ACER’s Oyster Group

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The Oyster research group focused on the intertidal and subtidal oyster reefs along the northern Gulf Coast. Click on the image or here to open the publication.

ACER’s Nitrogen Cycling Group

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The Nitrogen Cycling research group focused on the processes that convert nitrogen from one form to another in coastal habitats. Click on the image or here to open the publication.

ACER’s Microplankton Group

The Microplankton research group focused on how plankton, specifically plankton between 0.02 – 0.2 mm in size, are affected by oiling and the response to oiling (i.e. the use of dispersants). Click on the image or here to open the publication.

Smithsonian Highlights Research on Oyster Resilience During Oil Spills

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Oysters, credit Louisiana Sea Grant College Program Oyster Art 2004.

The Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal published an article that describes how oysters (that filter up to 50 gallons of water a day) fare under hazardous environmental conditions. One such hazard was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident that was followed by several riverine freshwater releases in an attempt to keep oil away from vulnerable Louisiana shores, which support several seafood industries.

Read the article How to Survive an Oil Spill: Oyster Edition featuring scientist Sean Powers (University of South Alabama and the Alabama Center for Ecological Resilience or ACER). Powers has uncovered three key factors – salinity levels, genetic diversity, and presence/absence of dispersant – that affected whether oysters exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil died or survived.

For more information:

  • Read the recent Sea Grant oil spill science brochure Oysters and Oil Spills.
  • View this short video (an excerpt from the film Dispatches from the Gulf by Sreenscope Productions) where Sean Powers describes his oyster research.

By Nilde Maggie Dannreuther. Contact maggied@ngi.msstate.edu with questions or comments.

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GoMRI and the Smithsonian have a partnership to enhance oil spill science content on the Ocean Portal website.

The GoMRI is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies.  An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research.  All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available.  The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP.  For more information, visit https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.

© Copyright 2010- 2019 Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) – All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is encouraged with acknowledgement to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Please credit images and/or videos as done in each article. Questions? Contact web-content editor Nilde “Maggie” Dannreuther, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University (maggied@ngi.msstate.edu).

New Sea Grant Publication on Oysters and Oil Spills

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The Sea Grant Oil Spill Outreach Team released a publication about how oysters, which play a critical role in a healthy coastal wetland, fare when faced with oil exposure. The outreach publication also discusses how the Deepwater Horizon incident and subsequent response efforts affected oysters, a vital part of Louisiana’s seafood industry which is the nation’s second-largest seafood supplier.

Read Oysters and Oil Spills to learn about how oysters and oyster reefs respond to extreme natural and manmade events. The publication also highlights oyster restoration projects.

By Nilde Maggie Dannreuther. Contact maggied@ngi.msstate.edu with questions or comments.

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The Sea Grant Oil Spill Outreach Team synthesizes peer-reviewed science for a broad range of general audiences, particularly those who live and work across the Gulf Coast. Sea Grant offers oil-spill related public seminars across the United States. 

Information about upcoming Sea Grant science seminars and recently-held events is available here. To receive email updates about seminars, publications, and the outreach team, click here.

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GoMRI and the Sea Grant programs of the Gulf of Mexico (Florida, Mississippi-Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas) have partnered to create an oil spill science outreach program.

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.

© Copyright 2010- 2018 Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) – All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is encouraged with acknowledgement to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Please credit images and/or videos as done in each article. Questions? Contact web-content editor Nilde “Maggie” Dannreuther, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University (maggied@ngi.msstate.edu).

Fact Sheet: GoMRI Science Featured by Science Journal for Kids

4553Recent research into Deepwater Horizon’s impacts on salt marsh fiddler crabs has been adapted for the journal’s Environmental Science Journal for Teens publication. The research team included researchers from two Louisiana State University-led projects (1, 2) and the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

Read the article.

Additional materials can be accessed here..

Oceanography Highlights Findings from Deepwater Horizon Research

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Cover of the September 2016 Oceanography Magazine, Volume 29, Number 3

7th year of the largest coordinated research endeavor around an ocean event.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and subsequent response efforts raised concerns about impacts on the Gulf of Mexico’s ocean and coastal environments. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI), in response to the spill, initiated an unprecedented 10-year scientific research program funded by BP. Seven years into the program, we know more than ever before about the Gulf’s complex environment, dynamic processes, and response to stressors.

Oceanography magazine dedicated a special issue to this research, GoMRI: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science, and below are highlights from 13 papers it featured.*

WHERE OIL WENT

Surface oil covered a cumulative area of 149,000 km2 in the northeastern Gulf. Wind and currents transported surface slicks towards land, affecting approximately 1,800-2,100 km of shoreline, a third of which were moderately to heavily oiled including 1,075 km in Louisiana. Macondo oil was visually evident at the edge of Louisiana marshes and up to 10 m inland.

Subsea oil and gas rose through the water column and formed an underwater oil plume that covered an area of approximately 930 km2 and made direct contact with continental slope sediments. A significant proportion of surface oil returned to the deep seafloor primarily through an extensive marine oil snow sedimentation event known as a “dirty blizzard,” forming a 0.5-1.2 cm thick floc layer.

Cleanup efforts removed oil from 73% of beaches affected by the spill, but residual oil remained as surface residue balls (SRBs), submerged oil mats, and in marsh plants and sediment, and is subject to continued weathering, biodegradation, and possible resuspension.

HOW OIL CHANGED

Crude oils contain thousands of compounds that, upon entering a marine environment, undergo significant compositional changes from weathering processes such as evaporation, dissolution, emulsification, dispersion, sedimentation/flocculation, microbial degradation, and photooxidation.

Most crude oil compounds are readily biodegradable and generally follow a clear degradation pattern: n-alkanes first followed by branched alkanes, lower molecular weight aromatics, higher molecular weight aromatics, and cyclic alkanes. Anaerobic biodegradation is a slower process than aerobic degradation, and crude oil compounds can remain relatively unaltered in reduced sediments and environments for long time periods and may appear as relatively fresh oil compared to surface oil exposed to aerobic conditions.

MICROBIAL RESPONSE AFFECTING OIL FATE

Macondo oil had a relatively low content of persistent resins and asphaltenes, and warm temperatures supported geochemical and biological degradation. The prevalence of oil-degrading bacteria generated a prompt response from the microbial community and subsequent biodegradation. Microbial communities in the plume were different from those in non-plume waters and exhibited a significant enrichment of hydrocarbon-degrading metabolic genes. Aerobic oxidation of short chain alkanes, propane, and butane caused up to 70% of oxygen depletion observed in the oil plume.

Residual oil trapped in Pensacola Beach sands showed a progression of microbial populations linked to hydrocarbon degradation. Early-responder microbes were followed by populations capable of aromatic hydrocarbon decomposition. Microbial abundance in oiled sands was 10-10,000 times that in clean sands in the first four months after oil came ashore.  A typical beach-environment microbial community returned after one year but differed significantly from pre-spill communities.

DEEP OCEAN IMPACTS

Carbon from the spill was likely incorporated into the mesopelagic (200-1,000 m depth) food web through consumption of prey rich in depleted carbon. The nature of microbial communities in the deep sea likely changed. An 80-93% decline in benthic foraminifera was related to reducing conditions and increased polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) concentrations.

Deepsea megafauna had lower diversity and abundance near the spill site relative to regions farther away, though blue marlin, Atlantic sailfish, blackfin tuna, and dolphinfish showed no significant reduction in larval abundance. Bottom-dwelling golden tilefish had the highest concentrations of naphthalene metabolite levels in bile measured in fishes globally. Tunas and jacks collected near the spill site exhibited developmental crude oil cardiotoxicity, suggesting a possible loss of early predator recruits that spawn in open waters. Sperm whale acoustic activity decreased near the spill site by a factor of two and increased farther away, suggesting they relocated.

Hard-bottom communities, including natural and artificial reefs, suffered injuries that were severe and long-lasting. Macrofauna and meiofauna diversity had not recovered after four years, and community structure differences still persist. Deep-sea colonial corals, in particular octocorals near the spill site, showed visible evidence of impact, and flocculent material covering the coral contained chemical fingerprints associated with Macondo oil and DOSS (dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate). Researchers returned to these coral eight times and observed continued impacts such as tissue death with some coral skeletons secondarily colonized by hydrozoans.

Field measurements showed that planktonic community abundance and species composition returned to pre-spill conditions within a year. Laboratory experiments indicated that zooplankton exposed to sublethal crude oil levels bioaccumulated five PAHs, which could increase their susceptibility to predation and enhance trophic transfer of toxic PAHs.

MARSH IMPACTS

There were immediate negative impacts in moderately to heavily oiled marshes in southeastern Louisiana. The average concentration of total alkanes and PAHs in June 2013 was 20 and 374 times pre-oiled conditions, respectively. Total alkane concentrations were on a trajectory to be near baseline levels by 2015, but this did not occur likely a result of multiple resuspension events from storms.

Some damaged marsh shorelines showed precipitous shoreline erosion at least 2.5 years after oiling due to damaged root systems. Marshes lost due to oiling and shoreline erosion will not return without human intervention. Forty-two months after the spill, heavily oiled marshes showed near-complete plant mortality, and live aboveground biomass was 50% of reference marshes. Decreased living marsh vegetation and population levels of some fauna were obvious for 2-5 years. Meiofauna density was lower along with S. alterniflora grasses in heavily oiled areas.

Fiddler crab average size declined and there were proportion shifts in two species composition. Periwinkle snails density declined, and a slow recovery in abundance and size distribution was related to habitat recovery. Worms, seed shrimp, and mud dragons had not recovered to background levels 48 months post-spill. Killifish showed little evidence of spill impacts. Horse fly abundance declined sharply. Arthropods were suppressed by 50% in 2010 but had largely recovered in 2011. Seaside Sparrow nests on unoiled sites were more likely to fledge than those on oiled sites. Loons varied in frequency with PAHs by year and exhibited reduced body mass as PAH concentrations increased.

These effects are expected to continue – possibly for decades – to some degree, or the marsh ecosystem will reach a new baseline condition in heavily damaged areas.

FISH & SEAFOOD IMPACTS

Commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries were closed in fall 2010 in areas where oil was observed and predicted to travel and reopened by April 2011. Impacts on fisheries productivity were relatively short-lived, with landings and their values returning to pre-spill levels or greater for most fishery species. However, long-term effects are yet to be determined. Laboratory studies indicate that early life stages of fish are generally more sensitive to oil and dispersant’s sublethal effects (with some resulting in reduced swimming performance and cardiac function) than adults.

Public health risks from exposure to crude oil residue through seafood or coastal beaches returned to pre-spill levels after the spill dissipated. Seafood from reopened areas was found to be safe for consumption, with PAH levels comparable to those found in common local processed foods. PAH concentrations detected in many seafood samples during and following the spill were at least 2 orders of magnitude below levels of public health concern. DOSS was detected in less than 1% of samples and at levels below public health concern.

Tests on SRBs showed that Vibrio vulnificus were 10 times higher than the surrounding sand and up to 100 times higher than seawater, suggesting that SRBs can act as reservoirs for bacteria including human pathogens. Coquina clams initially showed higher PAH levels relative to the surrounding sand, but levels decreased continuously and were undetectable in sand (one year) and Coquina tissues (two years).

DISPERSANT EFFECTS & FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Dispersant increased the oil fraction that spread within the water column and laterally displaced oil that reached the sea surface. Dispersants reduced droplet sizes and rise velocities, resulting in a more than tenfold increase in the downstream length of the surface oil footprint.

Chemical dispersants may be more toxic to some marine organisms than previously thought, and small oil droplets created by dispersant use and directly consumed by marine organisms are often more toxic than crude oil alone. Dispersant effects on microorganisms might be taxa-specific, and some studies suggest that dispersants stimulated biodegradation while others conclude the opposite. Degradation rates of hexadecane and naphthalene were more rapid in the absence of dispersants, as was the overall removal of the water-accommodated oil fraction.

Dispersant applied at the broken riser pipe helped form a deep water oil plume. DOSS was likely transferred to the plume and was later detected in surface sediments, on corals, and within oil-sand patties.

A future option is development of plant-based materials for efficient chemical herding of compact oil slicks into layers that are sufficiently thick to enable oil burning or skimming. Opportunities exist for new dispersants that work in synergy with current dispersants and mitigate some of their disadvantages. Examples include a system containing soybean lecithin and the surfactant Tween 80, substitution of lecithin for DOSS, and using carbon-based particles and silicas to stabilize emulsified droplets. Laboratory research needs to be conducted at concentrations and under conditions relevant to marine environments.

MODELING CAPABILITIES

Model improvements provide a better understanding of droplet formation in the turbulent plume above the wellhead. No model during the spill could predict droplet size distribution, which dictates rise times, dissolution, and biodegradation. Oil spill models now include the ability to simulate the rise of a buoyant oil plume from the seabed to the surface. Consideration of oil’s 3D movement permits the prediction of oil spreading through subsurface plumes. Our understanding of the near-surface oceanic layer and atmospheric boundary layer, including the influences of waves and wind, has also improved.

Oil spill modeling routines will likely be included in Earth system models, linking physical models with marine sediment and biogeochemical components. Advances in coupled nearfield-farfield dynamic modeling together with real-time, seven-day circulation forecasts allow for near-real-time tracking and forecasting of oil dynamics. This is the most promising approach for rapid evaluation of blowout predictions to support first response decisions.

* Overton, E.B., T.L. Wade, J.R. Radović, B.M. Meyer, M.S. Miles, and S.R. Larter. 2016. Chemical composition of Macondo and other crude oils and compositional alterations during oil spills. Oceanography 29(3):50–63

Socolofsky, S.A., E.E. Adams, C.B. Paris, and D. Yang. 2016. How do oil, gas, and water interact near a subsea blowout? Oceanography 29(3):64–75

Passow, U., and R.D. Hetland. 2016. What happened to all of the oil? Oceanography 29(3):88–95

Özgökmen, T.M., E.P. Chassignet, C.N. Dawson, D. Dukhovskoy, G. Jacobs, J. Ledwell, O. Garcia-Pineda, I.R. MacDonald, S.L. Morey, M.J. Olascoaga, A.C. Poje, M. Reed, and J. Skancke. 2016. Over what area did the oil and gas spread during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill? Oceanography 29(3):96–107

John, V., C. Arnosti, J. Field, E. Kujawinski, and A. McCormick. 2016. The role of dispersants in oil spill remediation: Fundamental concepts, rationale for use, fate, and transport issues. Oceanography 29(3):108–117

Passow, U., and K. Ziervogel. 2016. Marine snow sedimented oil released during the Deepwater Horizon spill. Oceanography 29(3):118–125

Tarr, M.A., P. Zito, E.B. Overton, G.M. Olson, P.L. Adhikari, and C.M. Reddy. 2016. Weathering of oil spilled in the marine environment. Oceanography 29(3):126–135

Joye, S.B., S. Kleindienst, J.A. Gilbert, K.M. Handley, P. Weisenhorn, W.A. Overholt, and J.E. Kostka. 2016. Responses of microbial communities to hydrocarbon exposures. Oceanography 29(3):136–149

Rabalais, N.N., and R.E. Turner. 2016. Effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal marshes and associated organisms. Oceanography 29(3):150–159

Murawski, S.A., J.W. Fleeger, W.F. Patterson III, C. Hu, K. Daly, I. Romero, and G.A. Toro-Farmer. 2016. How did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affect coastal and continental shelf ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico? Oceanography 29(3):160–173

Buskey, E.J., H.K. White, and A.J. Esbaugh. 2016. Impact of oil spills on marine life in the Gulf of Mexico: Effects on plankton, nekton, and deep-sea benthos. Oceanography 29(3):174–181

Fisher, C.R., P.A. Montagna, and T.T. Sutton. 2016. How did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact deep-sea ecosystems? Oceanography 29(3):182–195

Dickey, R., and M. Huettel. 2016. Seafood and beach safety in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oceanography 29(3):196–203

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The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.

© Copyright 2010- 2017 Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) – All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is encouraged with acknowledgement to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Please credit images and/or videos as done in each article. Questions? Contact web-content editor Nilde “Maggie” Dannreuther, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University (maggied@ngi.msstate.edu).

Video: It Was Just A Scary, Scary Time

Dispatches_LogoLouisiana waterman David Chauvin describes how the shrimping community in the Gulf is used to dealing with and recovering from natural disasters like hurricanes, but the man-made disaster that was Deepwater Horizon has left them unsure of how to move forward. The unknown duration and depth of the oil spill’s impact has instilled fear among those who work the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.


The creators of award-winning environmental series Journey to Planet Earth (hosted by Matt Damon) present Dispatches from the Gulf – an upcoming documentary film and educational outreach initiative highlighting exclusive scientific discoveries in health, ecosystems, innovation and recovery in the post-oil spill Gulf of Mexico.

Share your thoughts at the following “Dispatches from the Gulf” Social Media links:

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“Dispatches from the Gulf” is a new Journey to Planet Earth (J2PE) episode showing how scientists confront the challenges of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The documentary also investigates the impact of the event on the ecosystems and communities along the Gulf of Mexico.

J2PE dramatizes new ways of looking at the delicate relationship between people and the world they inhabit. The series is designed to help viewers understand and cope with the most important environmental issues of the 21st century.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, these programs reach beyond the physical sciences and draw connections to politics, economics, sociology, and history. A common thread runs throughout — the necessity to achieve a balance between the needs of people and the needs of the environment. Though photographed on different continents and focusing on different sets of problems, audiences come to see why all of these stories are connected, providing a dramatic mosaic of how the Earth works as an interrelated system.

Grad Student Robinson Follows Little Blue Crabs for Bigger Food Web Picture

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Elizabeth Robinson enjoys field work in Terrebonne Bay studying blue crab in their natural habitat. (Photo provided by E. Robinson)

Elizabeth Robinson studies blue crab’s role in the northern Gulf of Mexico food web, looking closely at how Deepwater Horizon oil might have affected the natural predator-prey balance.

Many people who hear the phrase ‘marine life’ typically think first about big ocean animals like whales and dolphins. Elizabeth explained why smaller marine animals – like crabs – mean just as much to ocean health, “The little guys are what feed the bigger guys. If you lose the little guys, those bigger guys are going to disappear.”

Elizabeth is a GoMRI Scholar with the Coastal Waters Consortium, pursuing a Ph.D. in Oceanography and Coastal sciences at Louisiana State University with research centered at  Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).

Her Path

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Elizabeth created a mesocosm experiment station to get a better understanding of how crabs behave in their natural environment. (Photo provided by E. Robinson)

Elizabeth credits childhood visits to museums, aquariums, and nature centers and having home aquariums with sparking her interest in marine science. Her parents involved Elizabeth and her hearing-impaired brother in hands-on science learning opportunities whenever possible, encouraging them to learn using all their senses. These early experiences helped Elizabeth feel comfortable around water.

Elizabeth considers Louisiana and its water-rich environment as home even though her family moved many times. Living in Louisiana added a different dimension to her growing interest, as she explained, “The politics around wetlands loss and fisheries have also influenced why I’m in science.” She stayed in the region, earning a bachelor’s degree from Centenary College of Louisiana and a Master’s degree in Biology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Her thesis was on invasive cold water crab species.

One of Elizabeth’s undergraduate courses was a video conference class from LUMCON, where she worked as a summer intern in Dr. Nancy Rabalais’ lab. Several years later, Elizabeth jumped at the chance to work with Rabalais again, this time as a Ph.D. student. Rabalais leads a multi-year grant studying effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Louisiana marshes.  Elizabeth felt this would be the perfect opportunity to learn how the spill might have impacted crabs.

Her work

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Each mesocosm recreates as accurately as possible conditions in the wild, serving as important tools in ecosystem studies. (Photo provided by E. Robinson)

Elizabeth explained why she chose these marine animals for her dissertation experiments, “Blue crabs are a keystone species. They link benthic and pelagic environments together, are important as a food source, and serve as a control on so many other different species.”

Elizabeth is concurrently running field and lab studies to determine local crab distribution and their response to oil. She scrutinizes snail, oyster, and mussel populations at designated transects in Terrebonne Bay to understand how residual oil might be affecting their population distributions and morphology. Blue crabs eat these species, and Elizabeth explains why this work is the foundation for understanding potential food web changes: “If I’m seeing a high population of snails, is it because crab predators are avoiding certain marshes because of oil? Or can they not find the snails because their behavior has been altered by oil?”

Seeking answers to these and other questions, Elizabeth releases minnow traps to lure juvenile blue crabs and uses scoop nets to catch them. She sizes her catches and then runs various lab experiments to determine oil exposure’s impact on their survival and behavior. One experiment involves exposing crabs to oiled water and then tethering them back in the bay to see if that increases their vulnerability to predation. Healthy crabs bury themselves to escape predators, but Elizabeth is finding that oil-exposed crabs are not responding to threats in a typical manner.

Elizabeth conducts lab experiments to determine how oil affects predator-prey behavior of crabs and snails. She uses oil-exposed crabs in flume experiments to see if oil impacts their ability to find food using chemical cues. Preliminary results show that oil reduces the crab’s chemosensory ability. She also conducts mesocosm experiments – a mini-ecosystem in a controlled chamber – to study crab-snail interactions in oiled sediment.  Her initial findings suggest that in this situation, oil makes blue crabs unusually aggressive and they successfully forage for snails. However, crabs in the mesocosm experiments are dependent on visual cues and not utilizing chemical cues as they did in the flume experiment. The oil also reduced snail climbing behavior making them more susceptible to crab predation.

Her learning

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Elizabeth Robinson tests the shell strength of periwinkle snails. She is trying to determine if snail strength differs between locations along the coast. (Photo provided by CWC)

Elizabeth said the diverse projects that GoMRI funds provide a bigger-picture context and raise the bar for everyone involved in oil spill research. “Conferences are a lot to take in,” she explained, referring to the annual meetings where scientists studying the oil spill and the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem gather. “It helps you as a biologist to learn from physicists, chemists, and others what you need to focus on in your experiments.”

She credits the hands-off management style of her advisor Nancy Rabalais with instilling confidence in her own abilities: “She’s taught me a lot about independence, that I can trouble-shoot problems by myself and not rely on anyone to hold my hand.”

Her Future

Elizabeth knows her work will always focus on crabs, even though her career path after graduation isn’t certain. Her aspirations vary from opening up her own marine research facility to serving in regulatory roles in government and/or industry.

Science can be stressful, so Elizabeth cautions those considering pursuing it to have a passion for it. Having that love, she says, creates the tenacity to get scientists through the long hours of frustrating or tedious work often necessary to reach important findings.

Praise for Elizabeth

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Elizabeth wants to spend her career focused on ‘little guys’ like blue crabs that play such an important role in overall marine health. (Photo provided by E. Robinson)

Nancy Rabalais describes Elizabeth as a dedicated and creative researcher: “She has an exceptional command of experimental biology. She is persistent, modifying as necessary, and thinking through alternative explanations for results in her complex experiments.”

Elizabeth, she says, is an active graduate student who takes advantage of every opportunity. She collaborates with her lab mates, participates in Coastal Ecology informal talks, and attends and presents at professional meetings annually, including the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference, representing CWC and LUMCON well. Finally, she is active in LSU’s Coast and Environment Graduate Organization, serving as president for the 2013-2014 academic year.

“She has all the qualifications for completion of her Ph.D. —good course performance, writing skills, presentation skills, critical thinking, and a collaborative attitude,” summed up Rabalais.

The GoMRI community embraces bright and dedicated students like Elizabeth Robinson and their important contributions. The GoMRI Scholars Program recognizes graduate students whose work focuses on GoMRI-funded projects and builds community for the next generation of ocean science professionals.

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This research was made possible in part by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). The GoMRI is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.

Fact Sheet: Fiddler Crabs of the Gulf of Mexico

2860aWant to know more about the fiddler crab? Click here to download the Coastal Waters Consortium (CWC) Fact Sheet on the Fiddler Crab’s habitat, food sources, behavior, cultural common name, and many more interesting facts.

Over the years, students who have participated in Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) Estuarine Awaremess and Discovery (LEAD) Camp and Field Marine Science Camp have been conducting ongoing research of fiddler crab burrows.

Visit CWC’s website for more fact sheets and printable resources.

Grad Student Timm Tracks Crustacean’s Oil Spill Recovery

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Laura Timm keeps careful records of collected species, including the number of individuals and how they are preserved. (Photo credit: Dr. Dante Fenolio)

Laura Timm examines connections among shellfish ecology and evolution to help scientists understand how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affected certain Gulf of Mexico species: “My work focuses on establishing pre-spill baselines and comparing them to samples taken 3-7 years after the oil spill, providing a timeline of crustacean recovery.”

Pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at Florida International University (FIU), Laura is a GoMRI scholar with the DEEPEND consortium. She talks about her journey from her landlocked childhood to a life exploring Gulf health and resilience.

Her Path

A Minnesota native, Laura credits summer trips to California with igniting her passion for marine science: “I would spend hours exploring tide pools, completely enthralled by the biodiversity I saw there, which was unlike anything I had seen in my home state.”

A high school genetics class inspired her to pursue a deeper, molecular-level understanding of organisms and systems, which she did at Texas A & M University at Galveston. There, she completed a research project on the Sipunculan worms’ genetic connectivity in the Sea of Japan, working in Dr. Anja Schulze’s phylogeny and population genetics lab. “Studying genetics in marine invertebrates was the perfect combination for me,” said Laura.

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Laura holds samples of A. purpurea and S. robusta, two shrimp species she is studying, and prepares them for ddRAQseq analysis. (Photo credit: Dr. Dante Fenolio)

Laura spent a year after graduation as a volunteer coordinator for a local nonprofitSMART Family Literacy program and as an after-school programs instructor for the Galveston Independent school district. She coached soccer, led a film class, tutored, and developed enrichment courses. These experiences sparked her desire to further others’ learning.

Laura wanted to continue her marine genetics studies and her newly-discovered education interest, so she searched graduate programs that might offer both. She and Dr. Heather Bracken-Grissom at FIU began communicating after learning they had similar interests in Gulf health and marine education. Laura began her Ph.D. program and assisted Dr. Bracken-Grissom in writing the DEEPEND grant proposal for oil spill research, which GoMRI funded in 2015.

Her Work

Laura studies nine crustacean species to explore Gulf genetic diversity and population connectivity, seeking answers to several questions: What kind of genetic diversity can be found in the deep Gulf? How well are the distinct populations connecting and communicating throughout the larger ecosystem? How has the oil spill impacted diversity and connectivity? What recovery, if any, can be seen since the spill? And, is the Gulf a genetically closed system or is there migration into and out of the Gulf?

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A.purpurea, a Gulf shrimp species that that spews a glowing bioluminescent cloud from its mouth when attacked, is one of the crustaceans Laura and Team Crusty are studying. (Photo credit: Dr. Dante Fenolio)

“I’m particularly interested in diversity because this can be a good proxy for health of the population and the ecosystem,” Laura said. Genetic connectivity can indicate species’ recovery and resilience potential, as she explained, “If crustaceans are migrating, they have an adjacent gene pool that may be capable of genetically rescuing their population. If it’s not there, recovery potential is substantially reduced.”

Laura, together with science teams at the Bracken-Grissom’s and Dr.Tamara ‘Tammy’ Frank’s labs, leads the crustacean sample collection and processing protocols for the DEEPEND project. Their group, known as ‘Team Crusty,’ uses large sampling nets to collect crustaceans then identifies species and preserves samples for population genetics studies. Back onshore, the Bracken-Grissom team processes the samples and extracts DNA.

That’s when the fun and patience begins. Laura uses a new method, ddRADseq (double digest Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing) for genetic analysis. Traditional methods allow scientists to sequence hundreds to thousands of base pairs in one organism, whereas this protocol does so across many individuals at once. It can take Laura a month for ddRADseq sample preparation, another month to six weeks for sequencing, and an additional month or more for data analysis. The time and effort involved are worth it to Laura as she gets a thorough genetic analysis for her research and optimizes the next-generation sequencing protocol for others’ use.

Her Learning

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Laura presents her research at the 2016 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystems Science conference in Tampa, FL. (Photo credit: April Cook and Nina Pruzinsky)

Laura credits DEEPEND researchers with showing her the strength of multi-disciplinary studies, “Our team includes labs working on stable isotopes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in our biological samples,” she said. “Only recently have I truly realized how much that adds to the ‘story’ my data will tell.”

The comradery among their diverse group makes the work enjoyable, too. Laura describes her genetic sequencing work with graduate student Ms. Emily Warschefsky, “Together we have crawled through the theory behind the method and conceptualized nearly every aspect of the protocol. Many a-ha moments have occurred during this process.”

Laura particularly enjoyed meeting Jonathan Puritz and Shannon O’Leary, who are at the forefront of ddRADseq, at the recent Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference. She plans to use one of their data processing programs and is happy to have had this opportunity to network with experienced scientists who are asking the same questions.

Her Future

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Laura Timm, Florida International University, works with the DEEPEND consortium to learn how Deepwater Horizon oil may have impacted the Gulf’s crustacean population. (Photo credit: Joseph Ahrens)

Laura’s dissertation is taking shape. She would like to continue working in science, either in academia or industry. Her earlier work in K-12 education, coupled with DEEPEND’s Education & Outreach program, has made her passionate about furthering STEM education wherever her career path goes.

“I was fortunate to have skilled, enthusiastic teachers throughout my education who fostered my excitement for learning,” Laura reported. “Too often, I meet students who have lost that passion. I would like to work toward improving STEM education through teacher workshops, classroom activities, school visits, and relationships with professional scientists.”

Praise for Laura

Dr. Bracken-Grissom recalls that Laura joined her lab as a Ph.D. student in 2013 and received the prestigious FIU Presidential Fellowship to support herself during graduate school. “I am honored to have Laura selected as a GOMRI scholar,” she said.

Bracken-Grissom describes Laura as “the full package,” pursuing important research linking ecosystem health to population diversity and connectivity.  She credits Laura with optimizing a next-generation sequencing technique that will allow other scientists to advance this research using cutting-edge techniques in population genetics. She states that Laura puts as much energy into mentoring undergraduate students as she does into her own research, helping her excel as a teacher, student, and scientist.

“Laura has become a leader in my research group and is making great progress,” said Bracken-Grissom.  “She has completely immersed herself in the DEEPEND consortium, participating on EVERY research cruise and going above and beyond to take full advantage of this project’s opportunities.”

The GoMRI community embraces bright and dedicated students like Laura Timm and their important contributions. The GoMRI Scholars Program recognizes graduate students whose work focuses on GoMRI-funded projects and builds community for the next generation of ocean science professionals.

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This research was made possible in part by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). The GoMRI is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.

Video: Deep Sea Amphipod

The short video depicts a small crustacean called an amphipod, which uses large claws to not only eat its prey but also use their resources to build a gelatinous home around itself. You can watch the video and read a bit more about amphipods.

Deep sea amphipod! Here we have a video of a deep sea amphipod! Amphipods are interesting little creatures! They are considered crustaceans. This amphipod species uses its large claws to prey on zooplankton, jellies, and siphonophores. The amphipod not only eats these creatures, but collects resources from them to build the barrel we see. The barrel we are referring to is the gelatinous portion around the amphipod! The barrel turns into the amphipod’s home and provides protection and camouflage! This is also where the idea for the movie Alien came from! Pretty sweet, huh?

Posted by DEEPEND_gom on Tuesday, January 19, 2016