July 2018
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, August 1
Harbor Branch Immersion Tour | Ocean Discovery Visitors Center | 10:30 a.m. [ More info ]

Ocean Science Lecture Series:   Did you miss out on the exciting 2018 lecture series? Don't worry! You can watch them all here.

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. 
Where Baby White Sharks ‘Hang Out’ in the North Atlantic
Using cutting-edge satellite and acoustic technology, a researcher from FAU Harbor Branch is among a team of scientists who are the first to confirm the movement patterns and seasonal migrations of baby white sharks in the north Atlantic Ocean. Until now, there has been little information on their habitat during this vulnerable early stage of life.   

In a study published in Scientific Reports, Matt Ajemian, Ph.D., an assistant research professor at FAU’s Harbor Branch and a former Long Island resident, Mike McCallister, research coordinator in Ajemian's lab, and collaborators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries, OCEARCH and others, put the New York Bight shark nursery theory to test by deploying satellite and acoustic tags on 10 baby white sharks (less than 1 year old) off Long Island’s coast. Their habitat use was monitored and characterized based on bathymetry, sea surface temperature, and distance from shore. Read more here .

Photo Caption: A baby white shark’s (Carcharodon carcharias) migratory patterns in the north Atlantic are tracked using satellite and acoustic technology. (Photo credit: R. Snow, OCEARCH)
Harbor Branch In the News
Harbor Branch Talks Toxic Algae
FAU Harbor Branch scientists are often called upon as experts locally and regionally to talk about environmental issues. Malcolm McFarland, Ph.D. appeared on a recent tv broadcast in Tampa to discuss toxic algae on Florida's west coast. Click here to watch the story.
Seaweed on Florida Beaches
“It’s a big part of global change we’re seeing before our eyes,” said Brian LaPointe, research professor with Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, who has been studying the seaweed since the 1980s. And it's turning the usually beneficial seaweed into 'too much of a good thing,' he said." Click here to read the full story .
Sullivan Talks Blooms, Lake Okeechobee Reservoir
Ryan Dailey, WFSU radio, recently spoke with FAU's interim director of FAU Harbor Branch, Jim Sullivan, Ph.D., to talk algae and what a projected reservoir- designed to take overflow from Lake Okeechobee elsewhere- stands to do to help. Listen here .
LCS Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Package Test at HBOI
"The U.S. Navy -- Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) Public Affairs -- recently announced the successful completion of two antisubmarine warfare (ASW) mission package testing milestones ... The Dockside-1 test saw littoral combat ship (LCS) sailors overseeing and operating the DART Mission System at the Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute’s waterside product integration, assembly, and test complex." Click here to read full story.
Photo above of USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Independence (LCS-2) Courtesy of USNI news.
Research
Wright Elected Fellow of American Society of Pharmacognosy
FAU Harbor Branch research professor Amy Wright, Ph.D. was recently honored with being chosen as a fellow of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP). Pharmacognosy is the study of natural product molecules (typically secondary metabolites) that are useful for their medicinal, ecological, gustatory, or other functional properties.
Fellows of the ASP are chosen because of their continuing, high level contributions in the field of natural products and records of sustained achievement within their sub-disciplines. 
Reed and Farrington Team Up with NOAA Fisheries to Study Southeastern U.S. Marine Protected Areas
FAU Harbor Branch and Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research & Technology scientists John Reed and Stephanie Farrington recently completed a three-year collaborative study of the shelf-edge marine protected areas (MPAs) off the southeastern coast of the United States. Teaming up with NOAA Fisheries scientists, the group of researchers used remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys, CTD casts, and multibeam sonar mapping to document and characterize the benthic habitats, benthic macrobiota and fish populations within and adjacent to the marine protected areas.
The cruise and research resulted in a rich set of new data, discovering and characterizing deepwater MPA sites and fish populations off the southeastern United States within the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Another three-year grant has been awarded to this team to continue to collect valuable information on these MPAs and their surrounding areas to better evaluate the efficacy of the closed areas.
Measuring Nutrients In the Lagoon with a Benthic Lander
Jordon Beckler, Ph.D., tests a benthic lander as part of a collaboration with Georgia Tech. Over the next few months, the lander will be deployed to the seafloor of the lagoon for 12-hour periods to determine not only the magnitude of the nutrient fluxes that may be contributing to harmful algae blooms, but also their causes. By understanding the biogeochemical processes leading to nutrient generation and fluxes to the overlying water column, it may be possible to develop more effective, efficient, and sustainable solutions. Click here for more about Dr. Beckler.
Adams Co-Authors Papers on Bonefish Research
Welcome!
Welcome: Aditya Nayak, Ph.D.
Aditya Nayak, Ph.D., will be joining FAU as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering with a joint appointment at Harbor Branch, where he will be primarily based, starting August 11. 

Nayak has been a postdoctoral research associate at Harbor Branch since June 2015. He joined Harbor Branch from Johns Hopkins University where he got his masters and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 2010 and 2015 respectively. Prior to that, he got his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering in 2007 from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, India.

Nayak's research interests lie at the interface of oceanography and experimental fluid dynamics, with a special focus on micro-scale ocean biophysics, marine particle characterization, small-scale turbulence and coastal processes. He is also involved with marine instrumentation design, specifically in the context of applying laboratory based flow/particle diagnostic techniques to in situ oceanic measurements in diverse aquatic environments.
Mission: Ocean Discovery
DNAngler Project Launched: Citizen Science for Fishermen
DNAngler, a new outreach project that invites local anglers to help FAU Harbor Branch scientists inventory and monitor fish in the Indian River Lagoon, was recently launched.
Did you know that scientists can detect the different types of fish that swim through an area just by analyzing a water sample? The program's goal is to learn more about the fish living in the lagoon— and volunteers are needed!  Click here to learn how to get involved!
Notes from FAU Harbor Branch ODVC Aquarist Brandon McHenry
What does it take to set up and maintain the educational aquarium displays at the Ocean Discovery Visitors Center (ODVC)? Harbor Branch aquarist, Brandon McHenry, recently shared his expertise with the Reef2Reef Forum. This feature highlighted the unique aquarium that is part of the center’s Marine Biomedical and Biotechnology exhibit. The featured tank contains sponges and soft corals like the ones used by our scientists to discover new cancer therapies and antibiotics. Read post here.