Research opportunities are increasingly offered to undergraduate students and recent graduates to help them understand marine and aquatic sciences and offer them an opportunity to consider career options. This session will provide a venue for undergraduate and post- baccalaureate research in a general session that highlights the wide variety of student research. Presenting at meetings is an opportunity for students to engage with the science community and for interested faculty to discuss potential projects. This session is designed for students who are presenting for the first time at a scientific meeting and for mentors looking for possible graduate students. Students are not limited to this session, and we encourage any student who wishes to submit an abstract to a specialized science session in the subject of their research to consider that option as well.
Lead Organizer: David Fields, Bigelow Labs for Ocean Sciences (dfields@bigelow.org)
Co-organizers:
Lisa ROM, NSF (elrom@nsf.gov)
Hayley Schiebel, Suffolk University (hschiebel@suffolk.edu)
Presentations
04:30 PM
AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF VARIOUS STINGRAY SPECIES IN TAMPA, FLORIDA (9127)
Primary Presenter: Josephine Hoffman, University of Tampa (josiehoffman12@gmail.com)
Studies on stingrays are lacking in elasmobranch research, leading to a higher risk of extinction of the species. Using remote sensing techniques will lead to thorough stingray research. Unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are a non-invasive method to gather in-situ data on stingrays including behavior, which can define the stingray’s ecological niche. Incorporating deep learning (DL) into ecological research is beneficial because it automatically detects the subject of the research being done. This study aims to use UAVs to collect footage of stingrays in their habitat and train a DL program to correctly identify three stingray species within Tampa Bay, Florida; spotted eagle rays, southern stingrays, and Atlantic stingrays. Drone flights will be conducted between November 2024 and January 2025. UAV footage is analyzed and notated using the Labelbox program. GPS coordinates recorded during each flight are used to estimate an individual’s location. The annotated footage will train the DL program in TensorFlow and will provide valuable insight into the usability and effectiveness of DL in identifying aquatic species. Ultimately, the methods developed throughout this study will help monitor the populations of other at-risk elasmobranch species and help improve species identification, population monitoring, and management efforts.
04:45 PM
ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC CARBON AND N-ALKANES IN THE GUAYMAS BASIN (9452)
Primary Presenter: Kylee Hutchinson, UT Marine Science Institute (khutchi585@gmail.com)
The Guaymas Basin is tectonically active with sediment enriched in organic matter due to extreme hydrothermal-heating, producing petroleum-like compounds, like n-alkanes. The sediment is highly heterogeneous and ideal for studying organic carbon (OC) and n-alkanes and their interactions with microbial communities. In this study, four shallow sediment cores (<20 cm) were collected across three sites in the Guaymas Basin area, including Sonora Margin, Cathedral Hill, and Tay Mpaan. We analyzed OC content and its del13C percent, and concentrations of C9-C39 n-alkanes in the sediment samples. Our results showed that the Carbon Preference Index (CPI), derived from the n-alkane data, was close to 1.0 in these sediment samples, suggesting the key contribution of pyrolytic processes in modifying or transforming the sedimentary organic matter. There was an inverse relationship between del13C and OC content among the surveyed sites, with the most pronounced correlation found in the Sonora Margin depth profile. The Sonora Margin samples generally had depleted del13C values of OC (about -40 ‰) compared to the other sites (-25.7 to -21.5‰), suggesting a contribution by methanotrophs to the organic matter in this location. Furthermore, the high concentrations of short-chain n-alkanes (C13-C16) in some cores may have resulted from active microbial degradation. Ongoing metagenomic analyses targeting the microbial community and rate measurements, such as sulfate reduction, will provide more information on the interactions between the microbial community and sedimentary organic matter.
05:00 PM
The Varying Effects of Temperature and Viscosity on the Kinematics of Three Congener Species of Marine, Carnivorous Copepods (8748)
Primary Presenter: Cassandra DeBlois, Rhode Island College (cdeblois_7355@email.ric.edu)
Copepods live at the interface between viscous and inertia-dominated realms meaning that even slight changes in the fluid dynamics around them can alter the detection of prey, predators, and mates. Euchaeta is a genus of marine, carnivorous copepods that can be found in all oceans of the world but vary greatly in size. In particular, E. rimana from Hawaii, E. norvegica from Maine, and E. antarctica from Antarctica have prosome lengths of 2.12 mm, 4.86 mm, and 6.19 mm respectively. Evolved size differences are assumed to be from metabolic mechanisms adapting to thermal differences in their environment, but viscosity may play a role in shaping appendage motion and swimming speed adaptations at intermediate Reynolds numbers. As increasing temperatures have decreasing viscosities, this study investigated the independent effects of temperature and viscosity Euchaeta escape responses by using polyvinylpyrrolidone to increase seawater viscosity while the temperature, and corresponding metabolic processes, remained constant. For the smallest species, E. rimana, increases in temperature led to increases in escape responses, but so do increases in viscosity at the same temperature showing that viscosity may be an evolutionary driver for copepods at lower Reynolds numbers. The larger two species, E. norvegica and E. antarctica, did not show escape response speed dependence on temperature nor viscosity, instead exhibiting high adaptability to changing water parameters.
05:15 PM
SEASONAL CYCLES IN THE CARNIVOROUS CALANOID COPEPOD EUCHAETA NORVEGICA (9018)
Primary Presenter: Claire Fecteau-Volk, University of New England (volkclaire@gmail.com)
Copepods are the most abundant metazoan on the planet. They serve as a trophic conduit between primary production and some secondary consumption in the marine food web. Their seasonal abundance and distribution directly influence the productivity of higher trophic levels, including fish populations and marine mammals. While much is known about herbivorous calanoids, little is known about seasonal cycles of carnivorous copepods. For this study we collected monthly samples in the Gulf of Maine at approximately 30 nautical miles from shore. We conducted integrated net tows from approximately 170 meters to the surface using a bongo net with a 200 micron mesh. Samples were processed to identify and enumerate developmental stage, number of egg-bearing females, and female/male ratio. The data shows peaks in egg production during April, July and October. Peaks in the CII-CIII stage abundances indicate that eggs potentially hatched in October require 2 to 3 winter months for development to copepodite stages. The data shows a strong correlation between the abundance of egg-bearing females and the female/male ratio. We found no relationship between the abundances in E. norvegica and the total zooplankton biomass sampled.
05:30 PM
Coupling Harmful Algal Blooms to the West Florida Shelf Benthos (8762)
Primary Presenter: Ariana Cory, Eckerd College (abcory@eckerd.edu)
The relationships between Karenia brevis blooms and the benthos of the West Florida Shelf are little known, as harmful algal bloom studies focus on impacts in the water column. This study continues a collaborative effort with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s Harmful Algal Bloom (FWRI-HAB) group. Existing data was expanded on to explore relationships between K. brevis and benthos via a multipronged approach: 1) continuing to establish a sedimentary context of the sea floor, 2) creating seasonal and interannual baselines of benthic health through foraminifera assemblages, 3) exploring relationships between K. brevis and foraminifera and 4) investigating historical context and flux through short lived radioisotopes. These efforts will assist in developing systems for bloom prediction. Links have been established between changes in benthic foraminifera and the initiation and termination of K. brevis blooms. One of the primary developments is a marine biotic index of benthic health (f-AMBI) that will be calibrated to various K. brevis indicators such as total organic carbon and K. brevis cyst counts. In addition, a better understanding of the relationships between other environmental parameters and changes in benthic foraminifera assemblages has been developed through advanced statistical analysis. This study presents more than three years of monitoring data along with historical profiles from the last 100 years, linking benthic foraminifera indicators of seafloor health with potential red tide indicators.
05:45 PM
COASTAL CAPTURE: QUANTIFYING MICROPLASTIC ACCUMULATION ON NATIVE ROCKWEED ASCOPHYLLUM NODOSUM (8760)
Primary Presenter: Annabelle Warren, Colby College (annabelle.warren99@gmail.com)
Global annual production of plastic is on a trajectory of exponential increase, with plastic waste not far behind. While much attention has been paid to larger macro-plastics, there is growing evidence that smaller plastics, such as microplastics (particles < 5 mm in size), may pose the greatest risk of harming the environment and the organisms that depend on it. Microplastics can be ingested, transferred, and bioaccumulate up the food web through trophic interactions. One recently proposed way by which microplastics do this is by adhering to the viscous mucosal layer of macroalgae at the base of the food web. To test this hypothesis, we compared the distribution of microplastics captured by Ascophyllum nodosum populations in five locations along the coast of Maine. A. nodosum populations located near Bigelow Beach, Portland Public Boat Ramp, and Searsport Public Pier show clear microplastic contamination. However, significant variability was observed within and between sites. This is especially true for Mosman Park and Searsport Public Pier, which are approximately fifty meters apart but showed distinct microplastic concentrations. Searsport Public Pier had higher concentrations which may have been associated with high port activity. Although microplastic:macroalgal associations have only recently been discovered, higher resolution spatial and temporal surveys of microplastic accumulation in impacted locations may clarify the drivers of local distribution patterns, specifically the roles of water circulation, shore exposure, land/water use, and changing population density.
SS02B - Undergraduate Research in Marine and Aquatic Sciences
Description
Time: 4:30 PM
Date: 29/3/2025
Room: W201CD