The MEES Program Office is hosting an OPEN HOUSE on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 from 11:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. The venue will be the MEES Program Office, Room 0105 Cole, University of Maryland College Park.

LUNCH & REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED!

This is an enjoyable opportunity to learn more about your program, faculty, & students. This event falls on the 1st day of class! The open agenda will allow you to come & go as your schedule permits and meet with friends & faculty within your area of specialization. All returning and new students are urged to attend! This is a great opportunity to see new faces as well as renew old acquaintances! Come on in! Bring a friend!

If you have questions, please contact the MEES Program Office, 301-405-6938.






Save the date! The annual MEES Colloquium will be held at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, MD on October 17th - 18th, 2008. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available!




Congratulations to May 2008 MEES Graduates:

Ph.D.: Larry Alade, Alicia Berlin, Tsyr-Huei Choi, Rebecca Holyoke, Jose-Luis Izursa, Michael Liddel, Annette Meredith, Janet Nye, Cynthia Stine, George Waldbusser
M.S.: Rachel Borgatti, Sean Cooney, Annette Elmore, Terry Jordan, Gabriel Ladd, Ji Li, Allegra Schafer

Fellowships and Scholarships:

Terra Lederhouse, MEES M.S. student working with Dr. Kennedy Paynter, is a 2008 Fellow. Terra is working in the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Affairs Division, Office of International Affairs.

Adam Peer, a MEES doctoral student working with Dr. Thomas Miller, was awarded the first annual Steven Berkeley Marine Conservation Fellowship from the American Fisheries Society.

Recent Student and Alumni Publications:

Alexander, J.A. D. K. Stoecker, D. W. Meritt, S. T. Alexander, A. Padeletti, D. Johns, L. Van Heukelem and P. M. Glibert. Differential feces and pseudofeces production by the oyster Crassostrea ariakensiswhen exposed to diets containing harmful dinoflagellate and raphidophyte species. J. Shellfish Res. In press.

Ball, W.P., D.C. Brady, M.T. Brooks, R. Burns, B.E. Cuker, D.M. Di Toro, T.F. Gross, W.M. Kemp, L. Murray, R.R. Murphy, E. Perlman, M. Piasecki, J.M. Testa, I. Zaslavsky. 2008. A Prototype System for Multi-Disciplinary Shared Cyberinfrastructure - Chesapeake Bay Environmental Observatory (CBEO). Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, ASCE. (In Press).

Biers, E.J., K. Wang, C. Pennington, R. Belas, F. Chen, and M.A. Moran. 2008. Occurrence and expression of gene transfer agent genes in marine bacterioplankton. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74:2933-2939.

Boynton, W.R., J. Hagy, J. Cornwell, W.M. Kemp, S. Greene, M. Owens, J. Baker, R. Larsen. 2008. Nutrient budgets and management actions in the Patuxent River estuary, Maryland. Estuaries and Coasts 31(4): 623-651.

L.S. Craig, M.A. Palmer, D.C. Richardson, S. Filoso, E.S. Bernhardt, B.P. Bledsoe, M.W. Doyle, P.M. Groffman, B.A. Hassett, S.S. Kaushal, P.M. Mayer, S.M. Smith, and P.R. Wilcock. 2008. Stream restoration strategies for reducing river nitrogen loads. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6, doi:10.1890/070080.

Eshleman, K.N., K.M. Kline, R.P. Morgan II, N.M. Castro, and T.L. Negley. 2008. Contemporary trends in the acid-base status of two acid-sensitive streams in western Maryland. Environmental Science and Technology, 42:56-61.

Geng, H., J.B. Bruhn, K.F. Nielsen, L. Gram, and R. Belas. 2008. Genetic dissection of tropodithietic acid biosynthesis by marine roseobacters. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74:1535-1545.

Grim, C.J., Taviani, E., Alam, M., Huq, A., Sack, R.B., Colwell, R.R. 2008 Occurrence and expression of luminescence in Vibrio cholerae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 708-715.

Hall, N.S., R.W. Litaker, E. Fensin, J.E. Adolf, H.A. Bowers, A.R. Place and H.W. Pearl. 2008. Environmental factors contributing to the development and demise of a toxic dinoflagellate (Karlodinium veneficum) bloom in a shallow, eutrophic, lagoonal estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 31(2): 402-418.

Hopfensperger, K.N. and K.A.M. Engelhardt. 2008. Annual species abundance in a tidal freshwater marsh: germination and survival across an elevational gradient. Wetlands 28: 521-526.

Hopfensperger, K.N., C.U. Soykan, T.R. Lookingbill. 2008. The quest for an ecological post-doc. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6: 49-50.

Jordan, N. S., C. Ichoku and R. M. Hoff, 2008. Estimating smoke emissions over the US Southern Great Plains using MODIS fire radiative power and aerosol observations. Atmos. Environ., 42, 2007-2022, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.12.023.

Kaushal, Sujay S., Groffman, Peter M., Band, Lawrence E., Shields, Catherine A., Morgan, Raymond P., Palmer, Margaret A., Belt, Kenneth T., Swan, Christopher M., Findlay, Stuart E. G., and Fisher, Gary T. 2008. Interaction between Urbanization and Climate Variability Amplifies Watershed Nitrate Export in Maryland. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 10.1021

Nagel, J.L., S. Henson, B. Jacobson, W.M. Kemp. 2008. Influence of the submersed plants, Ruppia maritima and Potamogeton perfoliatus, on sediment biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series (In press).

Simmons, J.A., W.S. Currie, K.N. Eshleman, K. Kuers, S. Monteleone, T.L. Negley, B.R. Pohlad, and C.L. Thomas. 2008. Forest to reclaimed mine land-use change leads to altered ecosystem structure and function. Ecological Applications 18:104-118.

Testa, J.M. and W.M. Kemp. 2008. Variability of biogeochemical processes and physical transport in a partially stratified estuary: a box-modeling analysis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 356: 63-79

Testa, J.M., W.M. Kemp, W.R. Boynton, and J.D. Hagy III. 2008. Long-term changes in water quality and productivity in the Patuxent River estuary: 1985 to 2003. Estuaries and Coasts. (In Press).

Utz, R.M., R.H. Hilderbrand, and D.M. Boward. In Press. Identifying regional differences in threshold responses of aquatic invertebrates to land cover gradients. Ecological Indicators.

Weber, T. C., P. J. Blank, and A. Sloan. 2008. Field Validation of a conservation network on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA, Using Breeding Birds as Bio-indicators. Environmental Management 41:538-550.

Other Student News:

Kimberly Anderson, a doctoral student of Kevin Sowers at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, was awarded a student platform presentation at the Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Basis of Microbial One-Carbon Metabolism (July 20-25) for her talk entitled: A 5' UTR Regulates Expression Of Methanosarcinal Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase (Cdh).

Christopher Moore, a MEES doctoral student working with Dr. Mark Castro at the Appalachian Laboratory, spent the month of June at the Greenland Environmental Observatory Station (http://www.summitcamp.org/) located on the Greenland Ice Sheet atop 10,500 feet of ice and nearly 500 miles from the nearest point of ice-free land. Moore is part of a group of scientists monitoring atmospheric gases and examining how the area's cold temperatures affect the way mercury moves from the snow to the atmosphere.

Alumni News:

Congratulations to Sean Conney, M.S. May 2008, on the birth of his son Dylan Raul Cooney-Barrera.

Jacques Ravel was recently appointed as a tenured Associate Professor in the Institute for Genome Sciences, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Jacques was co-advised by Frank Robb and Russell Hill during his MEES doctoral studies at COMB. Information on Jacques and his work can be found at: Web Site: http://www.bacillusgenomics.org/jravel/; Blog: http://microbialgenomics.blogspot.com.

George Waldbusser, MEES Ph.D. May 2008, has been selected to participate in the Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences (Eco-DS) VIII symposium (formally called DIALOG), October of this year in Hawaii. This is a competitive multi-agency funded program aimed at recent PhDs and intended to foster cross-disciplinary interactions while increasing professional success of new researchers. Information on the symposium at http://cmore.soest.hawaii.edu/eco-das/index.htm.




Student Awards and Recognition:

Yen-Jung Lai, a doctoral student working with Dr. Jennifer Becker, has been awarded a Maryland Water Resources Research Center Summer Fellowship for 2008. Yen-Jung's project is entitled "Integrated experimental and mathematical evaluations to improve the fate of the important groundwater contaminant tetrachloroethene (PCE) at contaminated sites."

Recent Student and Alumni Publications:

Chadwell, T. and K. A. M. Engelhardt. 2008. Effects of pre-existing submersed vegetation and propagule pressure on the invasion success of Hydrilla verticillata. Journal of Applied Ecology, available online.

Hoffman, J.C., Bronk, D.A. and J.E. Olney. 2007. Contribution of allochthonous carbon to American shad production in the Mattaponi River estuary, North Carolina. Estuaries and Coasts 30(6): 1034-1048.

Hopfensperger, K. N. and K. A. M. Engelhardt. In press. Annual species abundance in a tidal freshwater marsh: germination and survival across an elevational gradient. Wetlands.

Nees, H.A., T.S. Moore, K.M. Mullaugh, R.R. Holyoke, C.P. Janzen, S. Ma, E. Metzger, T.J. Waite, M. Yucel, R.A. Lutz, T.M. Shank, C. Vetriani, D.B. Nuzzio, G.W. Luther III. 2008. Hydrothermal vent mussel habitat chemistry, pre- and post-eruption at 9o50' North on the East Pacific Rise. J. Shellfish Res. 27(1): 169-175.

Pecher, W., M. Alavi, E. Schott, J. Fernandez-Robledo, L. Roth, S. Berg and G. Vasta. Assessment of the northern distribution range of selected Perkinsus species in easter oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) using PCR-based detection analysis. J. Patasitology DOI: 10:1645/GE-1282.

Stribling, J.M., J.C. Cornwell and O.A. Glahn. 2007. Microtopography in tidal marshes: ecosystem engineering by vegetation? Estuaries and Coasts 30(6): 1007-1015.

Ulrich, P.N. and A.G. Marsh. 2008. Proteome assay of temperature stress and protein stability in extreme environments: groundwork with the heat stress response of the bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria. J. Shellfish Res. 27(1): 241-246.

Other Student News:

Peter Blank, doctoral candidate working with Dr. Galen Dively, received a UMCP College of Chemical and Life Sciences Travel Grant and The Wildlife Society Student Travel Grant to present research at The Wildlife Society Annual Conference held in September 2007 in Tucson, Arizona. The presentation title was "Mowing of CREP grass buffers in late summer or fall reduces wintering bird habitat."

Alumni News:

Nicholas A. Baer, MEES 2004 Ph.D. under Dr William Lamp, was awarded the Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching at Colby-Sawyer College's 170th Commencement on May 10. The highest faculty award at the college, the Jack Jensen Award recognizes the fundamental importance of teaching in determining the value of the educational process, celebrates the teaching profession and supports faculty in their pursuit of excellence in teaching and leadership in the campus community. Baer, assistant professor of Natural Sciences, joined the college in 2004 and teaches courses in ecology, freshwater biology, conservation biology, environmental issues and other sciences, and uses the outdoors as part of his classroom.

Rebecca R. Holyoke has been awarded a Knauss Fellowship. Rebecca completed her MEES Ph.D. under Dr. Jeffrey Cornwell in May 2008.

Olaf P. Jensen has been awarded a prestigious David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship from the Society for Conservation Biology. He will use the fellowship to work with Drs. Ray Hilborn and Tim Essington at the University of Washington to look at biological, management and economic factors that have lead to failures in fishery management. Olaf received his M.S. degree from MEES working on the spatial distribution of blue crab with Dr. Thomas Miller.

After a postdoc in the Biochemistry Department of Pennsylvania State University, Larry Taylor (MEES Ph.D. under Dr. Ronald Weiner) is a staff scientist the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, working on cellulosic ethanol using cellulases and other relavent glycosyl hydrolases.




The College of Chemical and Life Sciences will hold its Spring 2008 Commencement on Friday, May 23, 2008 at Noon in the Cole Student Activities Building. CLICK HERE for details.




Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 MEES Photo Contest! CLICK HERE to see the winning photos, and learn about the 2008 contest!




Congratulations to MEES December 2007 graduates:

MS - Hyun Jin Kim, Jennifer O'Keefe, David Kidwell, William Rodney

Ph.D. - Alicia Berlin, Jinjun Kan, Peter May, Ron Miller, Naglaa Mohamed, Jessica Davis Nagel, Marina Silva, Anne Thessen, Amanda Truitt, and Kui Wang

Recent Student and Alumni Publications:

Belt, K.T., C. Hohn, A. Gbakima and J.A. Higgins. 2007. Identification of culturable stream water bacteria from urban, agricultural, and forested watersheds using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. J. Water and Health 5(3): 395-406.

Bench, S.R., T.E. Hanson, K.E. Williamson, D. Ghosh, M. Radosevich, K.Wang and K.E. Wommack. 2007. Metagenomic characterization of Chesapeake Bay virioplankton. Appl. Env. Microbiol. Doi: 10.1128. In press.

Chaudhuri, A., Mitra, M., Havrilla, C., Waguespack, Y. and Schwarz, J. (2007). Heavy metal biomonitoring by seaweeds on the Delmarva Peninsula, east coast of the USA. Bot. Mar. 50: 151-158.

Grant, E.H.C., W.H. Low and W.F. Fagan. 2007. Living in the branches: population dynamics and ecological processes in dendritic networks. Ecology Letters 10: 165-175.

Kan, J., M.T. Suzuki, K. Wang, S.E. Evans and F. Chen 2007. High temporal but low spatial heterogeneity of bacterioplankton in the Chesapeake Bay. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 73: 6776-6789.

Mattfeldt, S.D. and E.H.C. Grant. 2007. Are two methods better than one? Area constrained transects and leaf litterbags for sampling stream salamanders. Herp. Rev. 38(1): 43-45.

McKernan, M.A., B.A. Rattner, R.C. Hale, M.A. Ottinger. 2007. Egg orientation affects toxicity of air cell administered polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl) in chicken (Gallus gallus) embryos. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26:2724-2727.

Mohammed, N.M., E. Cicirelli, J. Kan, C. Fuqua and R.T. Hill. 2007. Diversity anquorum sensing signal production of proteobacteria associated with marine sponges. Environ. Microbiol. On-line early publication doi: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01431.

Neff, K.P., K. Rusello, and A.H. Baldwin. Rapid seed bank development in restored tidal freshwater wetlands. Restoration Ecology (in press).

O'Neil, J. M. and Capone, D.G. (in press) Nitrogen Cycling on Coral Reefs. Chapter X, In: Capone, D.G., Carpenter, E.J., Bronk, D.A. & Mulholland, M.R. (Eds.) Nitrogen in the Marine Environment. Academic Press.

Pendleton, F.N. and A.H. Baldwin. The effects of spraying deltamethrin for tsetse fly control on insectivorous bird populations in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. African Journal of Ecology 45(4): 566-576.

Stribling, Judith M., Jeffery C. Cornwell, and Olivia A. Glahn. 2007. Microtopography in Tidal Marshes: Ecosystem Engineering by Vegetation? Estuaries and Coasts 30(6): 1007-1015.

Other Student News:

The 2007 MEES Colloquium poster award was won by Moira A. McKernan, a doctoral candidate working with Dr. Mary Ann Ottinger, for her poster entitled "Comparative Toxicity of Polybrominated Flame Retardants in Avian Embryos." Moira also was awarded a first place poster award by the Chesapeake and Potomac Regional Chapter of SETAC.

Alumni News:

Richard "Ricky" Arnold, MEES M.S. 1992, has officially been scheduled for space flight aboard the STS-119 shuttle. This NASA mission has been set to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. NASA has classified Ricky as an Extreme Environmentalist and Science Educator. Ricky earned his masters through the MEES program under the supervision of Dr. William Dennison at Horn Point Laboratory.

Holly Bamford (M.S. 1998, Ph.D., 2002, under Dr. Joel Baker), Director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program and her program team received this year's Administrator's Award. The NOAA Administrator's Award is the agency's top personnel award, and is given annually in recognition of employees who have made significant contributions to NOAA. The Program team was presented with the award by the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, Vice Admiral Lautenbacher, Jr., on September 25th. They were awarded, "for successfully implementing an effective and nationally recognized program that supports NOAA's mission to keep the oceans free of marine debris."

Amy A. Merten (M.S. 1999 under Joel Baker; Ph.D. 2005, under Dr. Robert Mason), co-Director of the NOAA Coastal Response Research Center, has been selected to receive the National Ocean Service Employee of the Year Award. This highest award within NOS honors demonstrated exceptional and sustained efforts toward the accomplishment of the NOS mission. This award will be presented by John H. Dunnigan, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Oceans and Coasts on December 18th, 2007 at NOAA Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.

Elizabeth W. North, who received her MEES Ph.D. in 2001 under Dr. Edward Houde, is the 2007 recipient of the Estuarine Research Federation's Cronin Award for Early Career Achievement. Dr. North is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Horn Point Laboratory and a member of the MEES faculty.

Faculty News:

Dr. Rita Colwell, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Bush on July 2007. Dr. Colwell was awarded the U.S.'s highest honor for science for her remarkable career as a scientist, scientific leader, and humanist. Dr. Colwell was presented with the Medal for her in-depth research that has contributed to a greater understanding of the ecology, physiology, and evolution of marine microbes, most notably Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of pandemic cholera, and which has elucidated critical links between environmental and human health. (Photo Credit: Ryan K. Morris, National Science and Technology Medals Foundation)

The Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences Graduate Education Award was presented to Dr. Joel Baker by the MEES Graduate Student Organization at the 2007 Colloquium.

Dr. Robert Ulanowicz has been selected to receive the 2007 Prigogone Medal for outstanding research in ecological systems recognizing his research on trophic networks and ascendancy theory and ecosystem development. Dr. Ulanowicz is a Professor at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and a MEES graduate faculty member.




The 2007 MEES Colloquium will be held at UMCP on October 5-6, 2007. CLICK HERE for all MEES Colloquium information!




Congratulations to MEES August 2007 graduates:

M.S. - Todd Beser, Nicole Harlan, Elizabeth Kerin, Carolyn Klocker
Ph.D. - Anthony Dvarskas, Kristine Hopfensperger, Ron Miller, Wolf Pecher

Fellowships and Scholarships:

Karen M. Eisenreich (a MEES Ph.D. candidate, working with Dr. Chris Rowe) was awarded a 3 year EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship in support of her project "Comparative Sub-lethal Effects of Brominated Flame Retardants Following Simulated Maternal Transfer and Dietary Exposure in Two Species of Turtles."

MEES doctoral candidate Janet A. Nye has been awarded a 2007 Nell I. Mondy Fellowship from the Sigma Delta Epsilon Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) organization in support of her dissertation on "Stable isotopes as an indicator of diet in Atlantic croaker." Janet is working with Dr. Thomas Miller. GWIS seeks to advance the participation and recognition of women in science.

Recent Student and Alumni Publications:

Murrell, M.C., Hagy III, J.D., Lores, E.M. and R.M. Green. 2007. Phytoplankton production and nnutirent distributions in a subtropical estuary: importance of freshwater flow. Estuaries and Coasts 30(3): 390-401.

Reaugh, M.L., Roman, M.R. and D.K. Stoecker. 2007. Changes in plankton community structure and function in response to variable freshwater flow in two tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 30(3): 403-417.

Utz, R.M. and K.J. Hartman. 2007. Identification of critical prey items to Appalachian brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) with emphasis on terrestrial organisms. Hydrobiol. 575: 259-270.

Other Student News:

MEES Master's student Allegra M. Schafer received a $2500 grant from the Maryland/DC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Biodiversity Conservation Research Fund to support her research, "Effects of competitive dominance of an exotic crab, Carcinus maenas, over the native crab, Hemigrapsus oregonensis, on nutrient and energy acquisition by wintering harlequin ducks." Allegra is co-advised by Dr. Mary Ann Ottinger, University of Maryland-Department of Animal & Avian Sciences and Dr. Matthew Perry, U.S. Geological Survey-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The Nature Conservancy is an international, non-profit conservation organization. The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Alumni News:

Patricia M. Zerfas (M.S. 1995 under Dr. Ronald Weiner) has been selected for the U.S. national team that will compete at the 2007 International Biathlon Union Summer World Championships in Estonia. Patricia, who works at the National Institutes of Health, earned a spot on the U.S. team based on her finish at a three-day championship event held in Maine in July. Summer biathlons combine cross-country running and riflery.

The Luigi Provasoli Award from the Phycological Society of America in recognition of authoring the outstanding paper published in the Journal of Phycology during 2006 was awarded to: M.D. Johnson, T. Tengs, D. Oldach and D.K. Stoecker for: Sequestration, performance, and functional control of cryptophyte plastids in the ciliate Myrionecta rubra (Ciliophora). Journal of Phycology 42: 1235-1246. This paper was a result of Matthew's MEES doctoral dissertation research for his 2005 Ph.D.