MEES IN THE NEWS

september 2024 - NATIONAL preparedness month

NEWS ARCHIVE

MEES RESEARCH CENTER

fish ecology, biogeography & Trophic networks: a MathematicaL approach to natural systems

luis abarca-arenas (Ph.D., 2000)

Luis Abarca-Arenas (Ph.D., 2000) is currently a Researcher at the Institute of Biological Research (IIB) and a faculty member in the Department of Marine Ecology and Fisheries at the University of Veracruz in Xalapa de Enríquez, Mexico; teaching courses in Fish Ecology and Biogeography. Abarca-Arenas’ research interest is focused on the ecology of fishes in the reefs of Veracruz and the theoretical aspects of trophic networks and ecosystems analysis.   Luis Gerardo Abarca-Arenas obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1987 and his Master’s Degree in Marine Biology from the National Polytechnic Institute in 1991.   While at UNAM, Abarca-Arenas was involved in a research program whose main goal was to study the five most important coastal lagoons of the Veracruz State in Mexico.  During his final year as an undergraduate, Abarca-Arenas became fascinated by the way the study of ecology used mathematical tools in an effort to understand the behavior of natural systems.   After graduating with his B.S., Abarca-Arenas was offered a research assistant position at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico where his research involved studying fish community trophic structure and its dynamics in Mexican coastal lagoons which resulted in several published papers.  Abarca-Arenas was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and earned a Ph.D. in MEES at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Spring 2000.   Under the advisement of Dr. Robert Ulanowicz, who is now Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Florida, Abarca-Arenas doctoral research main objective was to use both methods - foodweb and trophic network analysis - together for the first time in an effort to increase global understanding of the ecosystem.  Abarca-Arenas’ research studied a series of different taxonomic aggregations on the trophic network model of the Chesapeake Bay and utilized a dynamical analysis along the time axis using differential equations. These equations represent population levels at different times, and the densities are driven in time by the levels of other populations and physical factors.  For the first part of the research, a trophic network for the Chesapeake Bay of 50 compartments, or groups of species that interact more with each other than with other species in the community, was implemented and reduced to 19 different models representing different kinds of compartments aggregations plus the original one were analyzed and their results compared. For the second part of this research, a set of 72 different trophic networks was compiled through a bibliographic survey where a certain latitudinal - north-south - pattern was observed with networks using carbon as flow units, and freshwater systems. The doctoral research results found that using both methodologies – food webs and networks – was useful and complementary.   In May 2022, Abarca-Arenas presented results on the dynamics and functioning of coral ecosystems: food web, development, and stability at the Eighth (8) Mexican Congress of Ecology, in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico.   Abarca-Arenas is a member of the National System of Researchers; a Mexican governmental agency which promotes and evaluates professional research activity in Mexico and aims to strengthen the quantity and quality of research in Mexico through the evaluation of the work done. Abarca-Arenas has published over fifty peer reviewed papers, chapters in books and has served as the lead investigator for several research projects and has actively and is currently advising and mentoring Master’s and Doctoral Marine Ecology students at the University of Veracruz.  Abarca-Arenas is also part of the Marine Mammal Laboratory (LabMMar), an inter-institutional group formed by academics at the Institute of Biological Research (IIB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries (ICIMAP) at the University of Veracruz. The goal of LabMMar is to train and graduate students in the fields of marine mammalogy/biology/ecology, and conduct scientific research that helps to better understand the role of marine mammals, and the consequences of human activities in the ecosystem. For more on Dr. Luis Abarca-Arenas, please click here.

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Dr. dannise ruiz-ramos

e-dna & conservation genomics: a look at population dynamics & biodiversity

Dr. Dannise Ruiz Ramos is an assistant professor of Environmental Sciences in the Department of Natural Sciences, at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Ruiz-Ramos, who has a pending MEES Faculty member nomination, is a new faculty member joining long time MEES faculty member Dr. Eric May along with other faculty members based at UMES; specializing in environmental DNA and conservation genomics at UMES and the NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC), which trains and graduates students from underrepresented communities in marine science.  Ruiz Ramos was recently featured in a June 2024 LMRCSC article on the continuing efforts to safeguard horseshoe crabs in Ocean City.  Last year (August 2023), the Maryland Coastal Bay Program requested help from UMES to identify the cause of horseshoe crab deaths in the canals near 94th street in Ocean City.  According to a local feature, in 2021, hundreds of dead horseshoe crabs washed up in bayside canals near 94th Street,  with some instances resulting in the disposal of multiple dumpsters full of horseshoe crabs.  The pilot study is aimed at identifying the cause and as monitoring continues, they are reminding residents and visitors to remain vigilant of any dead crabs found along the bayside.  Ruiz Ramos joins this research team, along with one of the faculty leads on the project,  LMRCSC Deputy Director Dr. Margaret Sexton, and will use horseshoe crab DNA samples to compare populations from the Ocean City canals, nearby estuaries and those offshore.  In the article, Ruiz Ramos explains the research’s aim:

“If we have different populations, it will imply there is little movement of individuals between the populations, and the crabs in the Bay have fewer choices of mates,” Ruiz-Ramos said. “It would also suggest the crabs are not coming from offshore to die in the canals.” (link)

Ruiz Ramos joins Dr. Eric May who serves on numerous MEES program committees, MEES alum Dr. Maggie Sexton (‘12, Ph.D.), Dr. Bill Weaver, along with our very own MEES M.S. graduate student Renee Thompson (‘23, ECOL SYS) as well as UMES undergraduates in the REU program.  Ruiz Ramos earned a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, where she studied the genetic connectivity of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico. As a postdoctoral scholar with the UC Conservation Genomics Consortium at the University of California, Merced, she used genomics to study Sea Star Wasting Disease and environmental DNA (eDNA) to characterize biodiversity in California’s coast and vernal pools. As a Biologist at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, Mo., she studied eDNA ecology and its transport and persistence in river systems. Dr. Ruiz Ramos plans to advise and mentor MEES students, as well as instruct several MEES graduate courses. For more information on Dr. Ruiz Ramos, click here. 

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MEES RESEARCH CENTER

urban stormwater management: green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) & Nitrogen cycling

Grace O’Hara is a second year MEES Master’s graduate student at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.  Under the advisement of Dr. David Nelson and Dr. Keith Eshleman at the Appalachian Laboratory, her thesis research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of stormwater mitigation techniques on nitrogen dynamics using stable isotopes. According to the 2018 United Nations World Urbanization Prospects report, 55% of the world’s population resides in urban areas, and that number is growing.  O’Hara’s research aims to better understand how Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) processes the potential sources of large loads of Nitrogen (N) encountered in urban settings during varied hydrologic conditions like storms and floods.  Excess nutrient loading into water bodies, or eutrophication, caused from land runoff into streams can stimulate harmful algal blooms downstream that, among other negative effects, reduces oxygen levels and can make aquatic ecosystems uninhabitable.  O’Hara’s thesis research aims to understand the capacity of different GSI within highway lanes (i.e., bioswales and grassed swales) and in suburban communities (i.e., bioretention cells), as there is great uncertainty about the functionality of GSI and impacts on water quality and nitrate pollution. Prior to joining the MEES graduate program, this Andover, Massachusetts native graduated in Spring 2022 with her Bachelor’s in Environmental Science with a minor in Energy Studies from Union College, making the Dean’s List for nearly every year in the program.   While at Union College, under the direction of her undergraduate mentor Dr. Donald T. Rodbell, Grace had the opportunity to participate in an summer NSF funded research project on Peruvian stalagmite paleoclimatology – documenting and dating the stable isotope climate records preserved in Peruvian caves – in an effort to develop a radiogenic-based age model and coupling that with a high-resolution record of oxygen and carbon isotopes.  More impressively, Grace developed an age model and was just beginning to interpret the data when the pandemic forced her to largely work independently.  Despite these limiting factors, Grace continued and wrote a report about the results of research, interpreting the data to create a reconstruction of the paleoclimate in Peru from approximately 122,010 to 208,738 years before present (BP).  The results further supplemented data from other stalagmite studies at Union College and Grace had the opportunity to present the research results at the Steinmetz symposium for undergraduate research at Union College in Spring 2022.  Grace’s exceptional potential for science research extends beyond her academic achievements as she also was a member of the Liberty League All-Academic Team, earning a spot as a member of the defense on Union College’s Women’s Lacrosse Team which requires full-time student-athletes to carry a 3.3 cumulative GPA.   Grace was one of only three players to start all seventeen (17) games as a senior, and was very active in university student sustainability organizations like the Union College Green Team, and was selected to participate in the C2C Fellows Sustainability Leaders Program drafting and designing the creation of low-mow and pesticide free meadow sites on Union College’s campus.   As a member of Union College’s Sustainability Committee, Grace collaborated with a professor and two other Union College students to draft a climate action proposal for, and was eventually awarded, the Presidential Green Grant; the award proceeds were used to purchase signage for the meadows to further educate the public about the purpose of the meadows on campus.  O’Hara also actively worked on creating a biodiversity webpage on Union College’s website, conducted assessments on current college policies to discover new ways to promote sustainability, and also helped educate students on developing long lasting sustainable practices that can be implemented on the Union College campus to help make it a greener space.  Grace entered the MEES program and was awarded the prestigious and highly competitive Dean’s Fellowship (2022).  While completing her coursework, Grace plans to round out her data set this Fall 24 and run another summer and fall watershed and swales paired event, analyze soil N extractions and conduct a statistical analysis to further her thesis research.  For more information on Grace, please click here.

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