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MISSION RESOURCES
RELATED WEB LINKS
Department of Visual Ecology - HARBOR BRANCH OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
National Science Foundation (NSF)
@SEA - FATHOMING THE GULF STREAM - Nature's Pharmacy and Eyes In The Sea
@SEA - THE UPS AND DOWNS OF SEALIFE - Fathoming the Mysteries of Vertical Migration
CRUISE PARTICIPANTS
Dr. Tamara Frank is currently the head of the Visual Ecology Department in the marine
science division at HBOI. Her research focuses on how light controls the daytime distributions
and vertical migrations of mid-water animals. 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 mid-water trawl nets.
She is particularly interested in animal-eye adaptations to dim light environments. She has
participated in over 70 research cruises, both as chief scientist and lucky hitchhiker. She
received a BA from California State University, Long Beach; an MA and PhD from University of
California, Santa Barbara; and postdoctoral fellowships from the University of Connecticut
Medical School, the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Oregon, and HBOI.
Dr. Jon Cohen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at HBOI, working in the Department of Visual Ecology.
He received his Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College, and his Ph.D. from Duke University. Jon
is a comparative physiologist whose major research focus is to better understand the sensory world
of marine animals, particularly copepods - a group of tiny arthropod crustaceans thought to be the most abundant animals on the planet. He is particularly interested in copepod visual systems because several copepod groups have evolved unusual eye designs, all of which are quite different from one another. At Harbor Branch, he is using electrophysiological techniques to study these odd little copepod eyes. On the cruise, Jon will be exploring the photosensitivity of midwater bioluminescent copepods.
Elizabeth Whitehill, graduate student, HBOI Dept. of Visual Ecology, will start her Master's Thesis research, examining structural differences between the eyes of shallow living juveniles and deep-living adults
Katie Olds, undergraduate, summer intern, HBOI Dept. of Visual Ecology, will be collecting material for her summer intern project.
Carole Berthiaume - undergrad volunteer, FAU, 2005 Semester By The Sea Student
Kimberly Fuchs - undergrad volunteer FAU, 2004 Semester By The Sea Student
Noelle Notarnicola - undergrad volunteer, FAU, 2004 Semester By the Sea Student
Steve Shotola received a B.A. in Biology and a M.S. in Plant Ecology from Southern Illinois University. The love of the ocean, sailing and scuba diving brought him to Florida in 1984. He has been a secondary school teacher for 22 years, spending 21 of those years in St. Lucie County, Florida. He currently teaches marine biology and advanced placement biology at St. Lucie West Centennial High School in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Passionate about finding novel ways of teaching science and communicating the discoveries of science to our next generation of scientists, he is the Science Fair Coordinator and Academic Ocean Bowl Sponsor for Centennial High School. This is his first research expedition, and his students will be keeping track of his exploits while on the high seas via E-mail and the HBOI @SEA website.
Dr. Elizabeth Balser, University of Illinois, Wesleyan, will be collecting and culturing invertebrate larvae, looking for the first example of cloning of echinoderm (sea stars) larvae in these waters
Dr. William Jaeckle, University of Illinois, Wesleyan, will be collecting and culturing invertebrate larvae, as well as looking for pelagic nemerteans (ribbon worms) to study novel mechanisms of nutrient transport in their bodies
Amy Slott, undergraduate volunteer, University of Illinois, Wesleyan
Dr. Brad Seibel is an assistant professor of biology at the University of Rhode Island. His primary research interest concerns the physiology of squids and octopuses living in extreme environments such as the deep-sea. Of particular interest are species that migrate each day into a layer of low oxygen at about 700 meters depth, returning each night to shallower water to feed. The jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas is an extreme example. It reaches nearly 2 meters in length and 50 kg. Its active lifestyle in shallow-water cannot be maintained at its deeper daytime habitat due to oxygen limitation. Exactly how these amazing animals survive at depth is one question being addressed on this cruise.
Dr. Megan Porter, Brigham Young University, will compare the expression of opsins in the visual pigments of juvenile and adult stages of several species of deep-sea crustaceans
Prof. Hans-Joachim Wagner, International Max Planck Research School, University of Tuebingen, Germany, will be studying the pineal glands in deep-sea fish
Dr. Ron Douglas, Dept. Zoology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, will be studying pupil movements of midwater octopus and squid
Dr. Julian Partridge, Dept. Zoology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, will be studying pupil movements of midwater octopus and squid
John Ruthven - freelance producer/director, United Kingdom, will be doing interviews for possible broadcast on BBC Natural History Radio, as well as shooting footage to be used to communicate the research work to a broader audience
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