February 2, 2004

Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards support 14 projects

By Tim Stephens

Fourteen undergraduate and graduate students in the marine sciences received valuable support and recognition for their research projects this year from the Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards.

The awards will provide a total of $9,400 in research funding for the student projects, which were selected by a proposal review committee.

The award recipients were recognized last week at a special ceremony and reception held at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.

Also this year, for the first time, the Friends of Long Marine Lab will honor the top two student research award recipients--graduate students Morgan Bond and Veronica Vigilant--with a special award to be presented at the Global Oceans Gourmet Dinner, a fundraising event for the Friends of LML that will take place in March at the Bittersweet Bistro.

Bond is studying the growth and survival of steelhead trout on the central California coast. His advisers are Mark Carr, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Bruce MacFarlane, a researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Vigilant is studying domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by certain marine algae, and how it affects marine life in Monterey Bay. Her adviser is professor of ocean sciences Mary Silver.

The Friends of LML provides funding for public education, marine mammal programs, and student research, as well as the development and operation of the Seymour Center. The Student Research Awards come from the interest generated by six different endowments: The Jane McHenry Student Awards Fund, the Lillian McPherson Rouse Student Award Fund, the William Baye Heald Scholarship Fund, the Friends of LML Student Support Fund, the Mark T. MacMillan Memorial Prize Fund, and the Ken Norris Marine Mammal Research Award.

The winning student researchers and their projects are as follows:

Katie Alt (graduate student, ocean sciences)
"The Effect of Salt Marsh Nutrient Dynamics on Host-Parasite Relationship at Elkhorn Slough"

Jessica Jarman Bella (undergraduate, environmental studies)
"Brittle Star: Studies of Response to Light Color, Possible Predatory Behavior, and Displaying Project for Educational Purposes"

Gena Bentall (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"Foraging Ecology of the Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) on San Nicolas Island: Using a Population with Abundant Food Resources to Examine Food Limitation in the Sea Otters of the California Mainland"

Melissa Blakely (undergraduate, marine biology)
"Fluorescent Marking of Otoliths of Intertidal Sculpins"

Morgan Bond (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"Importance of Estuarine Habitat to Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Growth and Survival on the Central California Coast"

Spencer Fire (graduate student, ocean sciences)
"HAB Impacts on Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) "

Marla M. Holt (graduate student, ocean sciences)
"Directional Hearing and Calling in Pinnipeds: Localization of Aerial Pure Tones by Three Pinniped Species and Directional Calling Behavior of the Male Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) "

Carey Elizabeth Kuhn (graduate student, biology)
"Feeding Events Revealed to Understand Foraging Ecology of the Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) "

Birgitte I. McDonald (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"The Development of Foraging and Diving Behavior in Northern Elephant Seal Pups"

Heather E. Mostman (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"Fur vs. Blubber: What is the Insulation of Choice for a Marine Mammal"

Dawn Alexandra Osborn (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"The Effects of Different Rock Types on Intertidal Community Structure"

Anna Pfeiffer-Hoyt (graduate student, marine science)
"Modeling Barnacle Larval Transport in the Context of Monterey Bay Hydrography"

Samantha Simmons (graduate student, ecology and evolutionary biology)
"A Novel Way to Measure Primary Production Within the Water Column: Diving Mammals as Oceanographic Sensors"

Veronica Vigilant (graduate student, ocean science)
"The Fate of Domoic Acid in Benthic Food Webs in Monterey Bay, CA"

For more information about the Friends of Long Marine Lab, e-mail Lisa M. Rose or call (831) 459-3694.

Return to Front Page