U
pcoming Events
Wed., Oct. 10
7 p.m. only
Ocean Science Lecture Series:
"
I
ndian R
iver Lagoon National Estuary Program Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan – Looking Ahead to 2030".
Duane De Freese, Ph.D.
Executive Director, IRL Council & Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program
Sat., October 27
IRL Science Festival
Veteran's Memorial Park, Fort Pierce
Take a tour of FAU Harbor Branch!
Monitor Effects of Discharges from Lake Okeechobee with LOBOViz
Real-time data from water quality monitoring sensors in the St. Lucie Estuary is available online through FAU Harbor Branch's Land Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory network and the Indian River Lagoon Observatory.
Click here
to access LOBOViz.
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Edwin A. Link Inducted into Florida Inventors
Hall of Fame at Recent Ceremony and Gala
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Earlier this month, FAU Leaders attended the Florida Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Gala at USF in Tampa, where the late Edwin A. Link was inducted into the 2018 class and celebrated for his lifetime achievements.
Click here
to watch an excerpt from "The Quiet Genius" that was played at the ceremony.
Link was a pioneer in aviation, underwater archeology and submersibles. He is most recognized for inventing the Link flight simulator in the 1920s, which helped to train countless pilots, including more than 500,000 airmen during World War II.
Later in life, Link turned his attention from the sky to the sea. In 1971, Link helped to create Harbor Branch as an independent research institution with the financial support of founder J. Seward Johnson.
“As the visionary behind our FAU Harbor Branch, the legacy that Ed left is unmistakable, and the university continues to benefit from his generosity,” said Dan Flynn, Ph.D., vice president for research. “To have that unique connection to such brilliance is a true gift for FAU.”
Click here
for more.
Pictured Above
L-R: College of Engineering Associate Dean Dr. Javad Hashemi, Harbor Branch Research Professor Dr. Amy Wright, College of Engineering Dean Dr. Stella Batalama, HBOI Executive Director Dr. Jim Sullivan, Vice President for Research Dr. Dan Flynn.
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HBOI-IRLT Junior Scientist Program Launches Year 6 Projects
FAU Harbor Branch and the Indian River Land Trust (IRLT) have been partnering to engage high school students
in the Junior Scientist Program. The program focuses on
research and care of the environmentally sensitive 220-acre Coastal Oaks Preserve (COP) . Year 6 projects were initiated this month with 24 students from all three of Indian River County’s public high schools. The students are working with a team of HBOI scientists and educators (Dr. Dennis Hanisak, John Hart, Patrick Monaghan, Tracy Griffin, David Bradshaw, Yasmin Ortiz, Kate Beckett, and Jennifer Cutter) on 4 projects that are studying water quality in the COP, mangrove invertebrate communities along the shoreline, and the seagrass bed in the adjacent IRL, all focused on ongoing restoration of the COP by the IRLT. This year a new partner, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), is facilitating one of the projects by providing boat support. These projects and partnerships are developing a network of young people with authentic scientific research experiences that will enable the next generation to make wise decisions for Florida’s resources.
Pictured Above:
Team Seagrass returning after launching this year’s project on seagrass mapping in the Indian River Lagoon adjacent to the Coastal Oak Preserves. L-R: JonDavid Bortolotti (Vero Beach High School), Logan Votzi (Vero Beach High School), Anjaleahmae Leviste (Sebastian River High School), Alejandro Vazquez (Sebastian River High School), Jennifer Cutter (HBOI Educator), Shane Michos (Indian River Charter High School), and Dennis Hanisak (HBOI Research Professor). Photo credit: Paul Fafeita (Treasure Coast CCA)
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Degroot Receives Guy Harvey Scholarship
FAU biological sciences graduate student Breanna DeGroot, a member of Matt Ajemian, Ph.D.’s FAU Harbor Branch lab, was named one of seven graduate students in Florida to receive Guy Harvey scholarship awards, recognizing their outstanding achievement in marine fisheries science research.
The scholarship, established in 2010 through a partnership between Florida Sea Grant and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, recognizes students at Florida universities whose research focuses on the biology, ecology, habitat or management of fisheries in Florida’s marine environment. “The recipients of the scholarship are the best and brightest of Florida’s college students who are conducting research dealing with marine fish or fisheries management issues,” said Karl Havens, director of Florida Sea Grant.
Click here
to read more.
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Apply for FAU's Marine Science & Oceanography Graduate Degree Program!
Dive into a Master of Science program that puts you in an active research community of scientists, engineers and educators. A partnership between FAU's Harbor Branch and Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, this expanded classroom includes coastal Florida and one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America, the Indian River Lagoon.
WATCH VIDEO
to learn more. Areas of concentration include:
- Marine Biology
- Coastal & Geological Science
- Conservation & Ecology
- Remote Sensing & GIS
- Chemistry
For more information and to apply online, click
here
.
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Reed, CIOERT Collaborators Publish on Cuba Study
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John Reed and a team of scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology (CIOERT) at FAU Harbor Branch recently published a paper describing the deep mesophotic coral reefs and fish communities of Cuba. This resulted from their 30-day expedition last year to Cuba with the University of Miami ship
Walton Smith,
and collaboration with nine Cuban scientists from the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Havana, the Center of National Protected Areas, the Aquarium of Cuba, and GeoCuba. A remotely operated vehicle (
Mohawk
ROV), operated by UNCW, was used to document these reefs using high definition video camera, still camera, and collection gear that CIOERT (Bill Baxley) had designed and built for the
Mohawk
.
The purpose of this US-Cuba Collaboration of Cuba’s Mesophotic Coral Reefs was to map and characterize the extent and health of mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) along the entire coastline of Cuba. Total ship transit around the island covered ~2,778 km (~1,500 mi). Forty-three Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives at 36 stations confirmed the presence of MCEs habitat on all coasts of Cuba. ROV dives surveyed reefs from depths of 100 ft to 500 ft, covered 27 km, totaled 99 hours of bottom time, and resulted in 110 hours of high-definition video. A total of 21,146 digital still images documented habitat and species. Most vertical surfaces of the ‘Wall’ of these deep reefs were covered with dense sponges, coral, algae, octocorals, and black corals.
Agaricia
was the most abundant scleractinian and was observed to 122 m. A total of 477 taxa of benthic macrobiota and 178 fish taxa were identified from the ROV video/photo surveys and from the specimens collected. These included 296 sponge taxa, 46 Scleractinia, and 63 macroalgae. Several new species of sponges have been described already (Busutil et al. 2018). FAU Harbor Branch researcher Joshua Voss, Ph.D., and his students, in collaboration with the Cuban scientists, will be comparing the genetic connectivity of the corals in Cuba with reefs downstream including the Flower Gardens Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Click here
to visit CIOERT's new website dedicated to Cuba's mesophotic coral reefs, where you will find in-depth study information and
see beautiful images and videos from the May-June 2017 research cruise.
Reed, John K., Patricia González-Díaz, Linnet Busutil, Stephanie Farrington, Beatriz Martínez-Daranas, Dorka Cobián Rojas, Joshua Voss, Cristina Diaz, Andrew David, M. Dennis Hanisak, Juliett González Mendez, Alain García Rodríguez, Patricia M. González- Sánchez, Jorge Viamontes Fernández, Daniel Estrada Pérez, Michael Studivan, Felicia Drummond, Mingshun Jiang, Shirley A. Pomponi. 2018. Cuba’s mesophotic reefs and associated fish communities. Revista de Investigaciones Marinas 38 (1): 56- 125. ISSN: 1991-6086. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Contribution Number 2151.
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O'Corry-Crowe Leads International Research Collaboration on Beluga Whales in Northern Canada
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FAU Harbor Branch's Population and Behavioral Ecology team, led by Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D., recently initiated an international research collaboration on beluga whales in Canada’s far north. The program is in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the Fisheries Joint Management Committee (FJMC), and the Inuvialuit Game Council (IGC), and was initiated to address community-driven research questions and concerns about the future impacts of increased ship traffic and climate change on belugas and the Beaufort Sea ecosystem.
Pictured Above:
The 2018 ISR Beluga Tagging Team: [Back row, L-R]: Joseph Felix Jr. (THTC), John Noksana Sr. (THTC), Shannon MacPhee (DFO), Ben Lamglait (CWHC/UMontreal), Greg Elias (ARI), Jeremy Hansen (DFO), Dwaye Benoit (AHTC); [Front Row, L-R]: Lisa Loseto (DFO), Patrick Akhiatak (OHTC), Linly Day, (IHTC), James Pokiak (THTC), Dennis Arey (AHTC), Mikkel Panaktalok (Girl) (THTC), Greg O’Corry-Crowe (HBOI-FAU), Lawrence Kaglik (IHTC); [Not shown]: Emilie Couture (CWHC/Granby Zoo), Nigel Hussey (UWindsor).
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Studivan, Voss Publish Findings in
Coral Reefs
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This study was funded by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, and is a product of a collaborative effort led by the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (
CIOERT
) headquartered at FAU Harbor Branch.Collaborators and partners include:
Flower Garden Banks
and
Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuaries, UNCW
Undersea Vehicle Program
,
Smithsonian Marine Station
and
Carrie Bow Cay
Field Station, and UM Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (
CIMAS
).
Click here
to read more.
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RAD-LIDAR Conference at HBOI, Nov 5-6
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The
R
ecent
AD
vances in LIDAR (RAD-LIDAR) Conference aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of scientists to exchange ideas and results on theoretical, technical developments, and applications in the field of laser light scattering in the presence of scattering media.
Event INFO
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Ajemian Collaborates to Look at At-Risk Scalloped Hammerhead Movement and Habitat Use Patterns
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Matt Ajemian, Ph. D.,
assistant research professor specializing in ecology and conservation of targeted fisheries and vulnerable species, recently co-authored a publication in
Frontiers in Marine Science
titled “
Movement, Behavior and Habitat Use of a Marine Apex Predator, the Scalloped Hammerhead,” by R. J. David Wells, Thomas C TinHan, Michael A Dance, J. Marcus Drymon, Brett Falterman, Matthew J Ajemian, Gregory W Stunz, John A Mohan, Eric R Hoffmayer, William B Driggers III, Jennifer A McKinney.
According to the publication: “Conservation and management efforts of marine apex predators are more reliable when information on movement and habitat use patterns are known. The scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) was the first shark species to be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and has life history characteristics that make this species particularly at risk for local depletion. Consequently, the goal of this study was to better understand the movement dynamics of this species in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) where discards through the longline fishery can be substantial.”
Click here
to view the full publication.
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4Ocean Helps Garner Support for HAB Research
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Two FAU alumni, Andrew Cooper and Alex Schultze, are assisting FAU with their powerful social media presence via their company,
4Ocean.
Dr. James Sullivan and Dr. William Louda are featured in their newest promotional video designed to raise awareness and support of FAU Harbor Branch research on harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Click here
to view.
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Mejri Presents at International Conference
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FAU Harbor Branch postdoctoral researcher Sahar Mejri, Ph.D., team member for Paul Wills, Ph.D., recently attended the World Aquaculture Society's international conference, "We R Aquaculture 2018." Mejri was selected to present on gaining better insight into the reproductive physiology and early life development of bonefish in a special section titled "Biodiversity, Conservation, Alien Species."
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Ocean Science Lecture Series
Presents: Duane De Freese, Ph.D.
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Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan – Looking Ahead to 2030
Duane De Freese, Ph.D.
Executive Director, IRL Council & Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program
Wednesday, October 10
7 p.m.
FAU Harbor Branch
Johnson Education Center Auditorium
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