Student Research
Both undergraduate and graduate student research projects are an integral part of the ECOHAB-PNW program. Student research includes such topics as Pseudo-nitzschia macronutrient uptake kinetics, use of microsatellite DNA to determine genetic relatedness of strains, and the role of iron and copper in domoic acid production. Most ECOHAB-PNW students perform their research both on cruises and in the land-based laboratories.
Nick Adams
Nick Adams is pursuing a Master of Science degree in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington. He is using microsatellite DNA to investigate the genetic diversity of strains of Pseudo-nitzschia pungens that he isolated from samples collected during ECOHAB-PNW cruises. Additionally, the microsatellite data for P. pungens from the ECOHAB-PNW samples will be compared to data from North Sea P. pungens to determine the degree of relatedness between these two geographically distant populations.
Rozalind Antrobus
Rozalind Antrobus is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz working with Dr. Mary Silver. Her research interest is Alexandrium catenella, which is the organism responsible for Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) along the west coast of North America and elsewhere. Her research focus is both the bloom ecology of A. catenella and the transfer of the produced toxins (e.g. PSP toxins) through marine food webs. Rozalind participated in a study of Dr. Kathi Lefebvre's examining the transfer of domoic acid (DA) to anchovies during a toxic Pseudo-nitzschia event on the September 2005 ECOHAB V cruise.
Maureen Auro
Maureen Auro is a second-year graduate student at the San Francisco State University's Romberg Tiburon Center working with Dr. William Cochlan. Maureen participated in both the July and September 2005 ECOHAB-PNW cruises. Her research focuses on nitrogen preference and toxicity of Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata.
Benjamin Beall
Benjamin Beall is a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario working with Dr. Charles. G. Trick. His Master's thesis examined the role of sedimentation in the creation and persistence of Pseudo-nitzschia blooms during the ECOHAB 3 field survey in the fall of 2004. Ben is currently using flow cytometry to study the distribution and physiology of marine bacteria and protists.
Tom Connolly
Tom Connolly is a physical oceanography graduate student working with Dr. Barbara Hickey at the University of Washington. Tom graduated from Stanford University in 2002 with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering. He is returning to school after working as a marine naturalist in Monterey, CA. He participated in the September 2005 ECOHAB-PNW cruise, operating the CTD and monitoring drifters.
Jessica Hendrickson
Jessica Hendrickson is a fourth year student at Hampshire College. In the summer of 2005, she received an internship with NOAA/NWFSC through the Five College Coastal and Marine Sciences program in Amherst, MA. Jessica participated in the July and September 2005 ECOHAB cruises working under the supervision of Dr. Vera Trainer. Jessica continued her internship during the fall of 2005 at the NWFSC performing growth studies with Pseudo-nitzschia isolates to analyze for domoic acid production.
Lauren Kuehne
Lauren Kuehne is an undergraduate student at The Evergreen State College, majoring in Marine Science and Education. Her research interest is using scanning electron and light microscopy to image phytoplankton species found in Puget Sound, to assist other students doing research and identification. Lauren hopes to extend this research over the next two years into an ongoing Puget Sound phytoplankton identification project which high school and college students can participate in. This will be her first research cruise.
Liza McClintock
Liza McClintock has recently completed her M.Sc. degree with Dr. Charles Trick at the University of Western Ontario. She joined the ECOHAB-PNW team in September 2002 to study the physiological role of iron and copper in Pseudo-nitzschia spp. bloom formation. Liza has continued her involvement with the ECOHAB-PNW working with Dr. Trick and is pursuing a career in marine and environmental education.
Brady Olson
Brady Olson is a PhD candidate at the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography where he is investigating zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions. The focus of his current research is the grazing of Pseudo-nitzschia by zooplankton. Brady has been on every ECOHAB cruise thus far, totaling more than 100 days at sea.
Lisa Pickell
Lisa Pickell is a PhD graduate student in Oceanography at the University of Maine. She is studying iron availability to different phytoplankton in natural communities. On three ECOHAB cruises, she has conducted experiments using a continuous culture incubator, exploring real-time physiological effects of various forms of iron on the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia.
Eric Roy
Eric Roy is a Ph.D. student at The University of Maine, where he is pursuing research in Chemical Oceanography and Surface Science/Nanotechnology with Dr. Mark Wells. Prior to starting at the U of Maine, Eric received his Bachelor of Science degree from Colby College, where he helped develop and optimize analytical methods for shipboard and environmental analysis. Eric's major role on the ECOHAB PNW cruise is to collect seawater samples for ultra low trace metal analysis. The object of this work is to determine if there is a correlation between trace metal concentration (primarily iron) and domoic acid levels. Eric has also used his time at sea to work on one of his own projects, photochemical cycling of trace metals in surface waters.
