Colloquium Schedule

2024 Schedule 

Friday, November 8:

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm: Registration and Welcome (Light refreshments)
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm: Introductory Remarks (Eric McElroy)

Session 1 - Student Talks (2:15 pm - 3:00 pm):

  1. Jess Kusher – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title:  Challenges in Monitoring Blue Carbon Sequestration: DOC Increase Reduces CDOM Proxy Accuracy in Charleston Harbor, SC, USA
  2. Gabby Jones – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Characterizing the influence of temperature on microplastic uptake and depuration in Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica
  3. Evan Dunn – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Temporal differences in intertidal macroalgal microbiomes at ‘Ewa beach, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i vary by macroalgal host species

3:00 pm - 3:15 pm: Break

Poster Session 1 (3:15 pm - 4:15 pm):

  1. Mikayla Baird
    Title: Diet of the Silver Perch, Bairdiella chrysoura (Sciaenidae), an Estuarine Species of the Southeastern United States.
  2. Zoe Golden
    Title: Using unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) technology to understand the relationships between microhabitat characteristics and economically- and ecologically- important estuarine fish species in the ACE Basin, SC
  3. Peter Gibson
    Title: Assessing the Role of Salt Marsh Relicts in Supporting Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) Populations: A Focus on Bivalve Prey Availability
  4. Ashley Bobnar
    Title: Fish population responses to extreme thermal events (MHWs and MCSs) in coastal South Carolina
  5. Alec Heilman
    Title: Community Composition Study of Reeftop Features in the Lower Mesophotic Zone of the Northern Gulf of Mexico
  6. Adeline McCullough
    Title: Assessing Habitat Usage and Fall Movement of Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus in the Ashley River and Charleston Harbor, SC
  7. Claire Murdock
    Title: Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a method of determining age and differentiating between sexes of the Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, from otoliths
  8. Piper Zola
    Title: Making the “boring” sponge exciting: Prevalence, infection rates, and bioerosion rates of the bioeroding sponge Cliona celata on oyster reefs in Charleston, SC, USA

4:15 pm - 4:30 pm: Break
4:30 pm – 4:45 pm: Keynote Speaker Introduction, Dr. Sara McDonald, PhD, Director of Conservation, South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm: Keynote Address & Questions, Dr. Sara McDonald, PhD, Director of Conservation, South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC

Saturday, November 9:

10:30 am - 10:45 am: Arrival and Coffee

Session 2 - Student Talks (10:45 am - 11:45 am)

  1. Kelly Cusick – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Urine protein composition of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Gulf of Mexico, USA
  2. Mikayla Sonnenfeld – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Understanding phytoplankton community composition in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA using a multi-method approach
  3. Chris Carbon – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Stories from Seaweed: Characterizing the spatial and temporal variation in nitrogen and bacterial abundance of native macroalgae in Charleston Harbor, SC, USA.
  4. Maggie Knight – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Phthalate Metabolite Detection in Blubber of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Stranded Near Sarasota Bay, Florida, USA

11:45 am - 1:00 pm: Lunch Break (Taco Bar)

Poster Session 2 (1:00 pm - 2:00 pm):

  1. Schuyler Wilson
    Title: Spectral flow cytometry as a novel tool for identifying North Pacific Gyre phytoplankton under varying nutrient and temperature conditions
  2. Abigail Davis
    Title: Mat formation contributes to the success of Chondria tumulosa: a new cryptogenic invader in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawaiʻi
  3. Cole Miller
    Title: Assessing trophic interactions in freshwater communities under the effects of salinization
  4. Grace Richa
    Title: Quantifying land-based anthropogenic disturbance to strand feeding dolphins in Captain Sam’s Inlet, SC
  5. Camille Berardone
    Title: Proteomic analysis of plasma from rescued Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) exposed to two levels of oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
  6. Julia Lynch
    Title: Spatiotemporal distribution of the juvenile age classes of spot, Leiostomus xanthurus, and the Atlantic white shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, and correlation with environmental parameters.
  7. Mary Sterling
    Title: Mapping Ontogenetic Movements of Two Demersal Fishes, Mycteroperca phenax and Mycteroperca microlepis, Using Stable Isotopes from Eye Lenses 

2:00 pm – 2:15 pm: Break

Session 3 - Student Talks (2:15 pm - 3:00 pm)

  1. Ryan Ware – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Understanding the Role of Substrate Complexity on Community Composition from Customized Marine Settlement Tiles in Charleston Harbor, SC
  2. Jesi Gibbs – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: It’s not just reflex: Behavioral responses to a noxious heat stimulus in the snapping shrimp, Alpheus angulosus
  3. Matt Carr – 12 minutes + 3 minutes Q&A
    Title: Investigating potential climate-driven changes in the spatial ecology of two Southeast US reef species

3:00 pm - 3:15 pm: Break

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm: Awards Ceremony and Closing Remarks

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Lowcountry Boil dinner