Visiting Investigator Dr. Dave Coughlin is an Associate Professor of Biology from Widener University in Chester, PA. His field of research is muscle physiology. "I ask basic questions about how muscle is used to power swimming in fishes," he says. "I focus primarily on aerobic muscle (called red muscle in fishes). My work has centered on rainbow trout and I have come to DISL to start a comparative project, looking at a wide range of different fishes - fishes that vary in terms of swimming form - high speed swimmers, sluggish swimmers and "generalists" that fall in between."

Dr. David Coughlan

When asked why he chose to conduct his research at the Sea Lab, he continues, "DISL offers great facilities for my laboratory work and access to a wide diversity of fish species (once the weather warms up). I hope to collect physiological data from the muscle of 3-4 (or more) species and to collect muscle samples for protein analysis this summer (back at Widener). This will contribute to my ongoing research on how variations in muscle proteins affect muscle contractile properties and ultimately determine the locomotory performance of a given fish species."

Dr. Coughlin will be here until April 2002.

Dr. Doris Slezak	Dr. Doris Slezak comes from an even farther location – Vienna, Austria. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Austria, focusing on marine biology and microbial ecology. Working with resident faculty member Dr. Ron Kiene, she conducts her work with the "smell" of the sea, that is, sulfur, specifically dimethylsulfide or DMS. How DMS is processed through the sea and the
atmosphere has great impact on the topic of global warming, as the products of DMS’ chemical transformation in the atmosphere can budget the incoming sunlight to the Earth.

"I chose to work with Ron Kiene because of his long-term reputation in this field. Further he has developed interesting and sensitive methods which provide new insights in the complexity of the cycling of sulfur in the water column. And a new topic he recently turned to meet my interest in DMS and ultraviolet radiation," said Dr. Slezak.

"At the Sea Lab I am going to study with Dr. Kiene the effects of UV (ultraviolet) radiation on the organisms and processes driving the sulfur cycle in the sea. UV radiation inhibits the activity of phytoplankton and bacteria severely and hence will change their production, consumption and transformation of organic substances including sulfur compounds."

"Another interesting UV mediated process is a photochemical transformation of DMS. The sum of the influence of UV on these processes might change the flux of DMS to the atmosphere considerably," she continued.

Dr. Slezak is already preparing for a research cruise with Dr. Kiene and will be at the DISL for the next eighteen months.