Graduate Student News

Congratulations to Luciano Chiaverano (PhD student); Marcus Drymon (PhD student); Mairi Miller (M.S. student); and Allison Rellinger (M.S. student) for winning the University of South Alabama Marine Sciences Department's Nelson Awards. The Jaycees and the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo sponsor these awards, given to students whose research progress is outstanding.

The Nelson Award is named in honor of Dr. Gareth Nelson, former Curator of Fishes at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. Dr. Nelson was a frequent research presence in the ADSFR for over twenty years, collecting specimens, some of which were new species, for the AMNH. His research renown helped the ADSFR gain national prominence.

The research topics of this year's winners are:

Luciano Chiaverano. Phenotypic plasticity in jellyfish: ecological and evolutionary implications. 

Marcus Drymon.  Distributions of coastal sharks within the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Consequences for trophic transfer and foodweb dynamics.

Mairi Miller. Settlement and survival of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia sp. (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) in response to hypoxia

Allison Rellinger.   Distribution and cycling of DMSP and DMS in the deep waters of the Ross Sea, Antarctica.

In other news, Ph.D. student Matt Ajemian received an additional $8,000 grant from the Bermuda Zoological Society to continue work on spotted eagle rays in Bermuda. His team will be conducting studies there June 23-July 14.