RESEARCHER BIOS
Jamie Baldwin •
Tamara Frank, Ph.D. •
Holly Hoier •
Sönke Johnsen, Ph.D.
Justin Marshall, Ph.D..•
Mikhail Matz, Ph.D. •
Erika Raymond
Mark Schrope•
Beth Whitehill•
Edith A. Widder, Ph.D.
Jamie Baldwin
Graduate Student
Duke University
Jamie Baldwin is a graduate student at Duke University under the advisement of
Sönke Johnsen. Jamie is interested in visual ecology, particularly visual
communication and signaling of marine organisms. She is also interested in
pursuing how increasing water turbidity influences such visual signals. Jamie
has a BS in Biology from Illinois State University. Her previous marine
research includes a long-term project based out of the Mount Desert Island
Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine, investigating osmoregulation of
the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus. Deep Scope III is her first research
cruise. Jamie will be assisting Dr. Johnsen with SCUBA operations and also
with capturing still images from submersible dive films for later analysis.
Tamara Frank, Ph.D. •
frank@hboi.edu
Scientist
Visual Ecology Research - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Frank is currently the head of the Visual Ecology Department in the division of
Marine Science at HBOI. She is studying how downwelling light controls the behavior
and distribution patterns of midwater animals during the day as well as how it triggers
their vertical migrations at night. Her work combines in situ studies from the Johnson-Sea-Link
submersible to quantify animal distribution patterns with shipboard based laboratory studies
on the photosensitivity of animals brought up with midwater trawl nets. She is particularly
interested in the adaptations of animal eyes to dim light environments, and on this expedition,
will be working on benthic crustaceans retrieved from depths of up to 700 m. She has
participated in over 70 research cruises, both as chief scientist and lucky hitchhiker,
conducting work in the Gulf of Maine, and off the coasts of the Bahamas, Cuba, California,
Hawaii and the Canary Islands. Her educational background includes a B.A. from California
State University, Long Beach, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from University of California,
Santa Barbara, and post-doctoral fellowships from the University of Connecticut Medical
School, Hatfield Marine Science Center in Oregon, and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
Holly Hoier
Teacher@Sea
Holly Hoier was an aquaculture research tech and then education specialist at
Harbor Branch between 1994 and 1998, but this will be her first extended
research cruise. She will be working as the Teacher@Sea. Holly received her
bachelor's degree in education from the University of Florida and holds a
Master of Science in Wildlife Management from West Virginia University. A
Florida resident of nearly 30 years, Holly is a Florida certified teacher of
science, currently working at Sebastian River High School. Since returning to
Florida following her work at WVU (1990), she has worked with the Indian River
Lagoon National Estuary program in its early years; was the first Education
Director at the Environmental Learning Center of Vero Beach; via National Fire
Plan funding she worked a term position with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
as a consultation biologist; team-taught in the Lincoln Park Academy - HBOI
Harborside partnership science program as IB teacher of biology; and has taught
in the science department at Vero Beach High School. Her current focus in
teaching is helping high school science students understand and experience the
fun and sense of accomplishment one can have through a disciplined journey from
exploration to experimentation. . . Certainly a promise of this research cruise
mission!
Sönke Johnsen, Ph.D.
Scientist
Assistant Professor, Duke University
All my life, I never wanted to be a biologist. After choosing a college based
solely on the fact that a family friend's hardware store was in the same town,
I began a major in physics. An algebra professor who danced and told funny
stories about pathological geniuses convinced me to change my major to
mathematics. I added a major in art, mostly abortive because I refused to take
art history, and left college disenchanted with education.
I then worked as a daycare provider and kindergarten teacher for Quakers, a
freelance carpenter, and a dance teacher for three-year-olds. It was during
this last job that I met Sarah, the daughter of Scott Gilbert, who wrote the developmental
biology textbook used by most colleges. After hitchhiking across the Pacific
Northwest, I decided that I needed more education. A friend and I went through
the alphabet. Deciding that a career in art was likely to be a raw deal, I
settled on biology and met with Scott Gilbert and Rachel Merz. Rachel suggested good places to go
to graduate school and Scott got me a job with a friend of his, Stuart Kauffman.
Luckily, the job with Stu required no knowledge of biology and several graduate
schools admitted me despite the same lack. I went to UNC, and after a year
of reading and drawing pictures of bugs on the lawn, I decided that biology was
"okay". With little knowledge but high enthusiasm, I chose a high-risk,
low-benefit project that I left behind the moment I handed in my thesis. My
advisor, Bill Kier, pointed me to
oceanic zooplankton, we both thought about transparency, and I applied to two
oceanographic institutions, both of which turned me down. I cleaned fish tanks
for a year, applied again, and both then accepted me. I went on my first
research cruise to the Gulf of Maine with Edie Widder. It was stormy, the ship smelled,
and I was seasick. It was the best time of my life. Nine years later, I have
yet to look back.
Justin Marshall, Ph.D.
Scientist
Marine Biologist, Vision Touch and Hearing Research Centre
QBI, University of Queensland, Australia
Justin Marshall has been a marine biologist from the age of 2. His interest in the sea came from following father
and mother to different countries and oceans as they researched the deep-sea and the animals living there. After
this early career decision he studied zoology at St. Andrews University in Scotland and then went on to specialize
in sensory neurobiology of marine animals during his doctorate at Sussex University in England. He has one principle
aim in his research, to understand how other animals perceive their environment. As humans we tend to assume we
are the pinnacle of evolution, however, certainly in sensory terms this is far from true. By taking an approach to
sensory systems which is based around ecology but also includes physiology, anatomy, behaviour and neural integration,
the signals that animals use and their intention are slowly being revealed. One of the animal groups he has worked on
extensively are the stomatopods (mantis shrimps), reef-dwelling crustaceans with the world's most complex color
vision system. These lowly crustaceans possess 4 times as many colour receptors as humans, 4 of which sample the
UV, a region of the spectrum to which we are blind. A major component of his work at present is studying the way in
which UV and polarization (another feature of light to which humans are blind)
are used in animal communication. Justin and his colleagues are currently
preparing for a major submersible expedition in the southern hemisphere dubbed
Deep Downunder 2008. For more information, visit http://www.deepoceanquest.com.
Mikhail Matz, Ph.D.
Scientist
Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida
In 2001 Mikhail ("Misha") Matz became a faculty member of the Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida.
He received his BA and MS in molecular biology from Moscow State University, Russia, and
has been trained as a top-level gene hunter during his graduate program and subsequent work as
research scientist at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia. His research
(which he defines as "molecular oceanography") involves screening various marine organisms
for genes and proteins that could become potential tools and/or models for basic biomedical
and marine biology studies, and pursuing the most promising of the new directions that arise
as a result. His current project (funded by NIH) is cloning and characterization of fluorescent
proteins homologous to the green fluorescent protein (GFP). To learn more about
Misha's work, visit http://www.bio.utexas.edu/research/matz_lab/matzlab.
Erika Raymond •
eheine@hboi.edu
Graduate Student
Johns Hopkins University/ Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Currently Erika is pursuing a doctorate degree in Oceanography at Johns Hopkins University.
She bases her research out of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution under the guidance of
Dr. Edith Widder. Erika is primarily interested in the spatial and temporal distribution of
coastal bioluminescence and plans to take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the
mechanisms for creating and maintaining bioluminescent communities. Erika worked at Hopkins
Marine Station researching the population genetics of threatened salmonid populations in
California after completing her BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University
(Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo. She retuned to Cal Poly for her MS in biology, completing her
thesis on phytoplankton communities and costal bioluminescence. During this time, she
participated in collaborative efforts at Rutgers Marine Station and MBARI. This summer Erika
is researching the relationship between bioluminescent flash kinetics in dinoflagellates and
their toxicity. On the cruise Erika will be assisting with the studies of benthic bioluminescence,
as well as collecting potentially bioluminescent and toxic species of dinoflagellates for
testing and culturing.
Mark Schrope
@Sea Correspondent
Open Water Media
Mark Schrope is a freelance writer and editor based in Florida. He specializes
in ocean topics-everything from marine biology to saltwater sports-but also
covers a broad range of subjects under the general headings of science,
technology, travel and adventure. Mark has written hundreds of articles for
publications such as Nature, New Scientist, Outside, and Popular Science. His
work has taken him into laboratories throughout the U.S.; on a flight into the
eye of a hurricane; to the seafloor 1,700 feet deep by submersible; and around
the world-from a remote Nicaraguan beach to the coral reefs of Indonesia.
Mark is also the founder of Open Water Media, a communications group that
produces and edits a wide range of educational and commercial print, video, and
web materials. He received a BS in Biology from Wake Forest University and an
MS from Florida State University in Chemical Oceanography, before working for
several years as a research technician at the Virginia Institute of Marine
Science in Gloucester Point, Virginia. To transition into a writing career, he
completed a one-year graduate program in Science Writing at the University of
California, Santa Cruz. As both writer and researcher, Mark has taken part in
research cruises to the Southern Ocean, the North Pacific, the Gulf of Maine,
and the Bahamas, among other areas. To learn more visit http://www.markschrope.com and
http://www.openwatermedia.com.
Beth Whitehill
Graduate Student
Clemson University
Beth Whitehill is a graduate student transitioning from working on
(and recently finishing) her master's degree in Dr. Tammy Frank's lab
to starting her Ph.D. work at Clemson University. This will be her
first submersible cruise, and she is both excited and honored to have
the opportunity to participate. Her job on the cruise will be to
assist Dr. Frank in preparing the eyes of the animals for
electrophysiology and histology studies in order to get a better idea
of how the eye itself is put together. She received her bachelor's
from Illinois Wesleyan University and just this month was awarded her
master's degree from Florida Atlantic University.
Edith A. Widder, PhD
Scientist
Ocean Research & Conservation Association
Edie Widder received her Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1982.
She joined Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in 1989, where she was a senior scientist and director
of the Bioluminescence Department before departing to become a cofounder of the new
Ocean Research & Conservation Association. There, she focuses on designing instruments and high-tech
processes to better observe and analyze the condition of marine ecosystems and the species within them,
with the overall goal of improving ocean conservation efforts.
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