April MH Blakeslee
Postdoctoral Fellow
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
April M.H. Blakeslee, Ph.D.
647 Contees Wharf Road
Edgewater, MD 21037
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
BACKGROUND & CURRENT EMPLOYMENT:
I am currently employed at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland as a postdoctoral fellow, working with sponsors Whitman Miller and Greg Ruiz. In the Marine Invasions Lab at SERC, I am using species biogeography, parasite biogeography and phylogeography to understand global marine invasions. In particular, I am using phylogenetics and parasites to help understand the many populations of the rough periwinkle snail (Littorina saxatilis), which include native, introduced, and cryptogenic populations in North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Pacific regions (Figure 1). I am also exploring parasite biogeography on the East and West coasts of North America, specifically related to two invasive West Coast hosts, Littorina saxatilis and Ilyanassa obsoleta (eastern mudsnail). With other members of the Marine Invasions Lab, I am also researching invasive populations of the marine snail, Littorina littorea (common periwinkle), on the US West Coast. We are comparing our West Coast data with its native and non-native populations to uncover the source for the introduction, and we are using historical and demographic data to piece together its probable invasion vector. My SERC fellowship was completed in October 2009 and manuscripts related to these projects are currently in progress. I recently started a Smithonian Institution Marine Science Network (MSN) Fellowship to continue my work in the Marine Invasions lab at SERC, which began in November 2009. For this fellowship, I plan to explore predicted versus observed population genetics effects related to marine invasions and how these expectations may be different for hosts versus parasites.
Figure 1: Present-day native, introduced, and cryptogenic populations for L. saxatilis
Prior to my appointment at the Smithsonian, I completed my Ph.D. in May 2007 at the University of New Hampshire with adviors, James (Jeb) Byers and Michael Lesser. My dissertation work explored the 150 year question regarding the ecological history of a highly abundant intertidal gastropod, the common periwinkle (Littorina littorea), a native of Europe, which prior to my research had been debated for over 100 years regarding its status as native or introduced to northeast North America. To resolve the snail's cryptogenic status in North America, I used mitochondrial DNA sequencing of two genes in the snail as well as two parasite analyses, a trematode species richness comparison in Europe versus North America to explore the potential for enemy escape (specifically parasite escape) in L. littorea compared to native congeners L. saxatilis and L. obtusata, and mitochondrial DNA sequencing in L. littorea's most common trematode parasite, Cryptocotyle lingua (Figure 2). I found both L. littorea and its trematode to show strong signatures of a genetic founder effect and additionally I found the snail to show signatures for parasite release in North America as opposed to L. saxatilis and L. obtusata (Figure 3). Altogether, these multiple lines of evidence point towards a recent introduction of the snail to North America from Europe. The parasite release work was published in the journal Ecology, and the genetic work was published by the journal Molecular Ecology.
Figure 2: Infection cycle for C. lingua using multiple hosts.
Figure 3: Trematode richness comparisons in Europe versus North America for L. littorea, L. saxatilis & L. obtusata. Only L. littorea shows signatures for parasite escape in North America compared to Europe.
I completed both my B.A. and M.A. in Biology at Boston University. While an undergraduate, I spent a semester with BU's marine program at Woods Hole, MA, completing graduate level courses and performing projects related to marine invertebrates. For my master's, I worked on a project related to songbirds: my thesis involved site fidelity in Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) populations in fragmented landscapes. My advisor was Fred Wasserman.
(Roscoff, France. Photo: M. Blakeslee)
CURRENT WORK & RESEARCH ACTIVITIES:
I am currently involved in several different projects related to marine parasites, marine invasions, benthic ecology, and population genetics, which are my current interests. As mentioned above, at SERC I am working on understanding the invasive tracks of a global marine gastropod. I am also involved in a population genetics project with PI Jeb Byers (UGA) and collaborators Joe Roman (UVM) and Jamie Pringle (UNH) funded by the Census of Marine Life, regarding the invasion of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas, and the spread of new genotypes from Nova Scotia into the US. Click here for more information about that project. Related to that project, we are also investigating the recent introduction of the crab to Newfoundland and are using genetics and shipping records to help piece together the source population for the introduction. I was also involved in a project initiated by an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) student (Carrie Keogh) and other collaborators, including Jeb Byers, Armand Kuris (UCSB), Kevin Lafferty (UCSB), and Mark Torchin (SI) regarding parasitism in the invading Asian shorecrab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, and the effects of parasitism load and diversity on competition with the older invader, Carcinus maenas. That work was recently published by the journal, Marine Ecology Progress Series. Finally, I worked with Susan Brawley (U Maine Orono) and collaborators to further understand the introduction of Littorina littorea to North America along with another invasive, Fucus serratus. That work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
Carcinus maenas (photo: massbay.mit.edu) Littorina littorea (photo: A. Blakeslee)
PUBLICATIONS:
Blakeslee, A.M.H., J.E. Byers, and M.P. Lesser. 2008. Resolving cryptogenic histories using host and parasite genetics. Molecular Ecology 17: 3684-3696. PDF: Blakesleeetal.2008.pdf; erratum: Blakesleeetal2008erratum.pdf
Blakeslee, A.M.H. and J.E. Byers. 2008. Using parasites to inform ecological history: comparisons among three congeneric marine snails. Ecology 89: 1068-1078. PDF: BlakesleeByers2008.pdf
Pederson, J.A. and A.M.H. Blakeslee. 2008. Fifth international conference on marine bioinvasions: Introduction. ICES Journal of Marine Science 65: 713-715. PDF: PedersonBlakeslee2008.pdf
Byers, J.E., A.M.H. Blakeslee, E. Linder, A. Cooper, and T. Maguire. 2008. Controls of spatial variation in the abundance of marine trematode parasites. Ecology 89: 439-51. PDF: Byers-etal-2008-Ecology.pdf
Chapman, J.W., A.M.H. Blakeslee, J.T. Carlton and M.R. Bellinger. 2008. Parsimony dictates a human introduction: On the use of genetic (and other) data to distinguish between the natural and human-mediated invasion of the European snail Littorina littorea in North America. Biological Invasions 10: 131-133. PDF: Chapmanetal2008.pdf
Blakeslee, A.M.H. 2008. "Native or invasive? The case history of the marine snail, Littorina littorea, in northeast North America" in Oceans Past: Management Insights from the History of Marine Animal Populations (D. Starkey, P. Holm, M. Barnard, eds.). Earthscan, London, England, pp. 7-24.
Wares, J.P. and A.M.H. Blakeslee. 2007. AFLP data provide poor resolution to the Littorina littorea puzzle. Marine Biology Research 3: 168-174. PDF: WaresBlakeslee2007.pdf
Chapman, J.W., J.T. Carlton, M.R. Bellinger, and A.M.H. Blakeslee. 2007. Premature refutation of a human-mediated marine species introduction: the case history of the marine snail, Littorina littorea, in the Northwestern Atlantic. Biological Invasions 9: 737-750. PDF: Chapman_et_al_2007.pdf
Wood, C.L., J.E. Byers, K.L. Cottingham, I. Altman, M. Donahue, and A.M.H. Blakeslee. 2007. Parasites alter community structure. PNAS 104: 9335-9339. PDF: Woodetal2007.pdf
Blakeslee, A.M.H. 2001. Site fidelity in a neotropical migrant species, the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus). M.A. diss., Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
(Wales, photo: A. Blakeslee)
TEACHING EXPERIENCES:
Spring 2010: Instructor/Facilitator, Project Dragonfly's Master's Instructional Team (MIT),
“Issues in Biodiversity” seminar, Miami University (Ohio).
I am facilitating/instructing this web-based course for graduate students involved in the Global
Field Program and Integrative Science Program at Miami University.
Fall 2009: Instructor, BIO240 (Ecology & Evolution), Goucher College (Towson, MD).
I team taught this course using active learning advocated in the FIRST IV program. I
solely developed the Evolution section of the course and co-developed the Ecology sections, as
well as shared in the full responsibility for the administration of the course.
Spr 2009: Participant, NSF FIRST IV Workshop/Program.
A two-year program for the professional development of postdocs in undergraduate instruction.
Spr 2008: Mentor to Caitlin Hamer, Internship Program, Invasions Lab, SERC.
Sum 2007: Sponsor, NSF REU Program, Shoals Marine Laboratory (Appledore Island, ME).
I sponsored Carolyn Keogh (Emory University) for her 12-week REU project.
Spr 2007: Teaching Assistant, BIOL 605 (Cellular Biology), UNH.
Fall 2006: Teaching Assistant, ZOOL 725/825 (Marine Ecology), UNH.
Overall Rating of Instructor was 4.81/5.
2002-2006: Assistant Sponsor, NSF REU Program, Shoals Marine Laboratory.
I assisted J. Byers in educating REU students for various marine ecology projects.
Spr 2006: Teaching Assistant, ZOOL 628 (Marine Invert Ecology & Evolution), UNH.
Overall Rating of Instructor was 4.81/5.
Spr 2005: Teaching Assistant, INCO 530 (Writing Consult Across the Curriculum), UNH.