Fort Johnson Seminar Series

The Fort Johnson Marine Science Seminar Series is held Mondays at 11 a.m. in the MRRI auditorium, unless otherwise noted.

Seminar Schedule 2024

The schedule will be updated as additional speakers are announced.
  • August 26

    Giacomo "Jack" DiTullio - College of Charleston

    An emerging paradigm shift in phytoplankton community composition in Western Antarctic Coastal Waters

    After decades of international research investigating the Ross Sea ecosystem there remains no definitive understanding of the relative importance of various physical, chemical, and biological factors that regulates the annual competition between seasonal blooms of diatoms and Phaeocystis populations. On a coastal transect from the Amundsen Sea into the Ross Sea during austral summer 2018 we measured various biogeochemical parameters to understand how phytoplankton community composition may be influenced by micro-nutrient variability and physical factors including variables directly related to climate change processes (e.g. glacial meltwater). Bioassay incubation experiments conducted at a few stations on the coastal transect revealed the potential for the ecosystem to become prone to fluctuating multiple co-limiting nutrients. Results from these micronutrient bioassay studies performed on the expedition will be presented and used as a framework for describing and understanding the spatial variability of Phaeocystis antarctica and diatom blooms along the coastal transect. We posit that a new biogeochemical paradigm is emerging wherein transitory alleviation of iron and light limitation from glacial ice melt can trigger significant biogeochemical changes that will facilitate and trigger new co-limiting nutrients in the region. These changes will directly impact the phytoplankton community structure and carbon export efficiency in coastal waters of the western Antarctic region. Hence, physical factors (e.g. stratification, salinity), circulation patterns and biogeochemical studies investigating the potential interactive effects of multiple co-limiting micronutrients such as cobalt, zinc, manganese, and Vitamin B12 will become increasingly more relevant in the coming decades as the impacts of climate change processes accentuate changes in ecosystem dynamics in the Ross Sea and coastal waters of western Antarctica.

  • September 23

    Randy Singer - Augusta University

    "Seaing" the Potential of Natural History Collections in Marine Research, Education, and Outreach

    Natural history collections have been the primary way that we have documented changes in the biota of our planet through time. Recently, these data became widely available due to a massive international effort to increase the use and visibility of biodiversity collections. In doing so, we have enabled their use in broadscale research projects and broader impacts efforts with what could be described as humanity’s first and only "time machine." In the past, these data have mainly been used as supplemental data to corroborate observational data, but more recently we have begun to really unlock the power of large data in biodiversity sciences. With millions of specimens with painstakingly collected data at our fingertips, what's stopping us from shooting for the moon?

  • September 30

    CJ Schlick - SCDNR MRRI

    How many is too many: Age structure sampling strategies to support stock assessments for two important North Carolina fishes

  • October 7

    Kelly Filer Robinson - UGA

    Making Hard Decisions: Accounting for Uncertainty and Climate Change in Aquatic Conservation and Management

    Making decisions for aquatic conservation and management is often
    challenging because of ecological and social uncertainty, a need for multijurisdictional collaboration, and potentially large-scale ecosystem changes that
    threaten the resource or ecosystem. In particular, invasive species, land use /
    landscape change, and climate change affect decisions made for natural resources
    across the globe. Decision analysis (i.e., structured decision making and adaptive
    management) provides a framework to allow decision makers and stakeholders
    to transparently and deliberatively work through these difficult decisions. I
    provide two examples of applications of decision analysis to aquatic
    conservation and management that are currently in progress. The first example is
    a framework for responding to climate and land use change in cold water
    streams, with a focus on the Au Sable River, MI. The second example discusses
    decisions for prioritizing barrier removal and remediation projects on tributaries
    to the Great Lakes, accounting for multiple ecological, economic, and social
    objectives. Although these examples are focused on systems in the Great Lakes
    region, they provide a framework for decision making that is being implemented
    more frequently for fisheries and wildlife concerns.

  • October 21

    Catherine Min - SC Office of Resilience

    TBA

  • October 28

    Brian Shamblin - UGA

    Loggerhead turtle nesting

  • November 4

    Alec Cooley - Busch Systems

    How Recycling Works and Why It's (Still) Worth the Effort

  • November 18

    Annie Bourbonnais - University of South Carolina

    The role of vegetation, including harmful benthic algae, for nitrogen removal and transformations in South Carolina stormwater detention pond and lake sediments.

  • November 25

    Tyler Cyronak - Georgia State University

    TBA

  • December 2

    Corey Dunn - NCSU, Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee 

    TBA