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Sea Lab Notes
• Ph.D. student Matt Ajemian received a $5600 grant from the
Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS)/Bermuda Aquarium Museum and
Zoo (BAMZ) to conduct a pilot study entitled “Quantification
of the abundance, ecological role and benthic impacts of the
spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) in inshore Bermudian
lagoons”. His team will travel to Bermuda this May to
conduct the two week pilot study. Also working on the
project is Ph.D. student Thad Murdoch of Dr.Rich Aronson’s
lab. Matt’s advisor is Dr. Sean Powers.
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• Dr. Richard B. Aronson
became President of the International Society for Reef
Studies (ISRS) on January 1st. According to Aronson, ISRS
remains at heart a scientific society, but its focus is
shifting to include strong conservation, policy and
educational components. “The latest conservative projection
is that by 2050 we can expect 70% of the world’s coral reefs
to be completely destroyed,” Aronson says. “What a
horrifying statistic! That level of destruction will expose
coastal areas in the tropics to erosion, wipe out food
sources for billions of people, reduce our chances of
discovering therapeutic drugs in the sea, and squander tens
of billions of dollars of income for developing countries
every year. Beyond these practical |
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Dr. Rich
Aronson diving in French Polynesia |
considerations, this is a
moral issue. What are we doing to our world?” Dr.
Aronson has also published a book, Geological Approaches to
Coral Reef
Ecology. 2006, Springer-Verlag, New York.
• Dr. Just Cebrian received two grants from the Alabama
Center for Estuarine Studies – one for $30,000 for “Metal
accumulation in aquatic primary producers: ecological
consequences and potential application to early detection of
metal pollution”; and one for $30,000 for “Diversity and
abundance of fungal decomposers on seagrass beds of the
North Central Gulf of Mexico.”
• Dr. George Crozier, Executive Director of DISL, has
accepted the chairmanship of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers’ Environmental Advisory Board. This voluntary
position, which is in addition to his responsibilities as
head of the DISL, began January 2007, and will continue for
a two-year term. |
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According to its website, “The
Chief of Engineers Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) was
created over 30 years ago as a means for the Chief of
Engineers to gain outside, expert and independent advice on
environmental issues facing the Corps of Engineers.”
• Marine scientist Michael Dardeau recently accepted the
position of Chair for the Weeks Bay Advisory Committee. L.
G. Adams, Manager of the Weeks Bay Reserve, states, “Mike
has a long association with Weeks Bay having conducted
research here back in the eighties. Some of his work
involved the study of zooplankton, small marine animals that
drift with the tides. In |
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Mike Dardeau
(right) takes over the gavel from former Chair Roger Clay
(left) |
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addition, he facilitated the
beginning of a System Wide Monitoring Program at the Reserve
as well as taking a lead role as one of the editors for the
Reserve Site Profile published in 1996. “
• Dr. John Dindo received a
$65,000 grant from the No Child Left Behind/Title II Program
administered by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education,
for Marine Applications of Science and Technology, a program
designed for middle and high school teachers that
incorporates Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology.
• Dr. Monty Graham has just assumed the editorship of the
journal “Gulf of Mexico Science,” a semiannual journal
devoted to disseminating knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico and
adjacent areas.
• Beginning in September 2006, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey
and Office of Response and Restoration are surveying the
waters of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to locate
debris still submerged in fishing areas. NOAA’s Gulf of
Mexico Marine Debris Project have made available free online
maps to provide mariners with accurate and up-to-date
navigational information, available at http://gulfofmexico.marinedebris.noaa.gov/.
This web site provides users with maps of debris-laden
survey areas in the waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico,
indicating the nautical position and other physical
properties of each debris contact. |
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Dauphin
Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL 36528 / (251)
861- 2141
For
questions regarding any of these stories, please contact the editor:
lyoung@disl.org |
