Lab Updates (best viewed on Chrome)
December 13, 2023: YAY!! Congrats Sara Gerckens (GS#21) on defending your MS thesis today! Reproductive tradeoffs in kelps settling on turfs or rock! Amazing work and great work in the field underwater! Thank you Dr. Vince Breslin & Dr. Emma Cross for your committee membership!
December 9, 2023: New PUB!! Congrats Sophia Kelly! This pub took a bit but fantastic work and thank you Colette Feehan, Kenneth Hamel, Carla Narvaez and Thomas Armstrong!
August 11, 2023: Has Sargassum filipendula become the dominant canopy-forming macroalga in shallow Narry Bay &/or southern NE? S. latissima pops have declined dramatically and L. digitata has been absent for years! Some S. filipendula were 0.5m in length.
July 20, 2023: @Werth_Center @SCSU Sara Gerckens @saragerckens collecting data on kelp at its southern-most range in New England! Kelp epiphytes! 24C today! Plus Kerry Bresnahan @NU_ThreeSeas examining corals on vertical substrates/crevices. Nice work!
June 23, 2023: Turf's a plenty/sparse kelp attached to turf! Transects, quadrats & good data collection at FW! Nice work Werth Fellow Sara Gerckens @saragercks & Kerry Bresnahan (@NU_ThreeSeas) also collecting data on corals in turf dominated habitats!
June 15, 2023: Do kelp attached to turf instead of rock produce less sorus materials, due to so much energy going to holdfast morphology? Go Sara Gerckens @saragercks (IBD MS thesis student) and SCSU Owls! Foggy but productive dive!
April 29, 2023: Very proud of my lab’s undergraduate researchers! Shatha Khashab, Alina Tran and Mia Varney for their respective presentations! at the SCSU Undergraduate Research & Creativity conference today!
April 15, 2023. Mia Varney (undergraduate researcher) did a fantastic job presenting her research today at the Northeast Algal Symposium! Very proud of you! Thank you Carla Narvaez Diaz for your excellent mentoring! NEAS is always such a good meeting! Kelp holdfast morphology (number of bifurcations, stipe diameter, and weight) is dependent at attachment substrate. Those grown on line (aquaculture) are most similar to those attached to rock and dissimilar to those attached in groups or to turf macroalgae!
January 18, 2023: 6.7C & no quiescence yet…. Interesting year! What could they be feeding on? Fort Wetherill, Jamestown, RI kelp collection day!
December 2: Congrats to MS student Sophia Kelly who successfully defended her incredible MS! We now have more information on the importance of Arbacia punctulata's feeding preference and its effect on macroalgal populations in southern New England! Way to go!! A huge thank you to committee members Dr. Colette Feehan (Montclair State University) and Dr. Vince Breslin (SCSU-EGMS)!
August 22-August 24: Who says you can't repurpose an old fort for science? Sophie and Tom Armstrong collected turfs, kelps and urchins. Buoyant weighed the urchins and salad spun/weighed the macroalgae, and then placed them all in their proper treatments. Ran for two days and re-collected and weighed! Great short term experiment with what we hope will be some interesting results. Good work Sophie and Tom! Tom saved the day by having a table with him in his truck and bringing a paddleboard for collections.
August 1, 2022: Placed out the blocks containing tops at the FW site! Rained all day! Good work Sophie! We added two of the tops to see how they would fair in the shallo
July 10, 2022: Building urchin/kelp/turf hotels to be used in Sophia Kelly's experiment examining urchin feeding preferences in situ. The bottom's block/inverted lids will be place in the field on 8-1-22 prior to collecting all the critters, etc..... Solid day's work, drilling, cutting, cable tying and scienceing!
Turfs a plenty!
Corals and Urchins!
May 2, 2022: First field day of the season! Some simple collections with a LOT of kicking!! Nice work Nicole Woosley and Tom Armstrong (first dive with us and figuring out a project)!! Not a quiescent coral was found!
April 13, 2022: Congrats to current MS students Leah Hintz and Sophia Kelly for securing GSAC (Graduate Student Affairs Committee) grants to support their summer research plans! Way to go! Nice writing, now let's get that research started!
April 4, 2022: Congrats to Nicole Woosley on the successful defense of her MS thesis! Fantastic work Nicole! Thank you Dr. Lisa Rodrigues (Villanova University) and Dr. Emma Cross (EGMS) and for serving on the committee!
March 31, 2022: Nice work Montclair State University MS student Kenneth Hamel presenting at the 50th Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting in New Hampshire! Poster with Sophia Kelly, Carla Navraez (Friday Harbor Laboratories), myself and Colette Feehan from MSU!
December 3, 2021: Great day! Congrats Wolf Trumbauer (MS: Villanova University) on publishing your second chapter and to Lisa J. Rodrigues (Ph.D.) for your amazing mentoring! That both chapters were published within a year of defending and during a pandemic is incredible! Nice work!
December 3, 2021: Great showing of the Grace Lab at the Fall Research Symposium! All speakers were from our lab! Nice work Rebecca, Nicole, Leah and Sophia!
October 18, 2021: Congrats to Rebecca Hedreen on the successful defense of her MS thesis! Way to go Rebecca, such amazing work!! Thanks Dr. Vincent Breslin (EGMS) for serving on the committee!
September 24, 2021: YAY! We got the CT Sea Grant along with our Co-PI Colette Feehan (Ph.D.) at Montclair State University! This restoration effort is the first use of green gravel in the USA!! Cannot wait to get started on this project!
July 25, 2021: This is an amazing collaborative effort by researchers throughout the world examining the transformation of kelp forests to diminutive turf algal states! So cool to be a part of this study!
July 2021: NEW LAB MEMBER!
Sophia Kelly (RWU Alum and current MBL research technician) has joined the lab and will be defining Arbacia punctulata algal feeding preferences in Southern New England and their potential role as ecosystem shift drivers. Welcome Sophie!!
May 12, 2021: What a good collaboration! Congrats Wolf Trumbauer (MS: Villanova University) on publishing your first chapter and to Lisa J. Rodrigues (Ph.D.) for your amazing mentoring!
May 4, 2021: Thank you for the invite Dr. Kathy Morrow at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA and the Fairfax County Public School System! It was great presenting to your honors class on Climate Change and potential range expansions for corals! What an interactive group!
April 19, 2021: What a great way to end the academic year! Thank you so much Capital Community College for the invite to come present and talk to your amazing group on Corals! The Coral Reef Project group at CCC is amazing, keep up the good work!
April 2, 2021: Field season begins with a rather frigid dive testing out the Underwater PAM (Waltz) with past honor's student Sarah Koerner (MS) and new graduate student Nicole Woosley! Awesome dive and day!
August 2020: Pandemic Promotion to Full Professor! YAY!!
August 2020: Worldwide collaboration with some amazing researchers! Marine Heatwaves and Kelp Decline
July 2020: Some cool press from the Alumni Magazine from SCSU! Go Owls!
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April 2020: Corals, kelp, turf algae and urchins, all of my favorites! ESA EcoPics are great!
January 2020: NEW LAB MEMBER!
Leah Hintz (RWU Alum) has joined the lab and will be examining the lunar effects on the feeding behavior of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata. Welcome Leah!!
December 2019: Collaborative work with NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Lab in Milford, CT highlighted by NPR's Patrick Skahill!
July 2019: NEW LAB MEMBER!
Nicole Woosley has joined the lab and will be examining the effects of depth, light and polyp orientation on the fluorescence of the symbiont Breviolum psygmophilum in Astrangia poculata. Welcome Nicole!!
May 2019: 5th Annual Astrangia Working Group Research Conference hosted by Roger Williams University with co-organizers Drs. Koty Sharp and Randi Rotjan. Excellent presentations by undergraduate students Nicole Woosley and Sarah Koerner!
April 2019: The Decline of Kelp at it's Southern New England Limit is Alarming! You can farm it fine, but does it grow on natural substrates? Check out this new pub with amazing collaborators Colette Feehan and Carla Navraez
April 2019: Congrats to Gabriella DiPreta on the successful defense of her MS thesis! Way to go Gabby!
March 15, 2019: Congrats to undergraduate Werth Center Fellow Cassandra Bhageloo for her presentation at the Long Island Sound Research Conference in Danforth, NY!
March 2019: Government Report Submitted: What's fouling the first ever wind-mill structures off of Block Island, Rhode Island, CT... Fantastic collaborative effort with Monica LaFrance and John King (URI-Oceanography).
January 2019: Great poster session and meeting at NACE in Boston, MA! Go Aquaculture! Here is the posted submitted by myself, Dave Veilleux, Colette Feehan and Carla Navraez!
September 2018: Reef Encounter published..... Astrangia poculata and crabs! A good collaboration now exists with Dave Hudson and the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium to examine the occurrences of corals on crabs!
February 2018: Thank you so much to Dr. Kathy Morrow and the Department of Environmental Science and Policy for the seminar invitation! It was great seeing past colleagues and talking quiescence and science with you all!
July 2017: Rebecca Hedreen, SCSU's FT Biology/Science Librarian has joined the lab and will be examining the Creation of a gamefish occurence dataset from public-focused informational newsletters. Welcome Rebecca!! You are going to be so busy!!
July 2017: Gabriella DiPreta has joined the lab and will be examining ecological factors that affect the settlement and growth of Astrangia poculata in situ. Welcome Gabby!!
Press release for Second Astrangia poculata conference to be held at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI in early August 2017! Koty Sharp (RWU) and Randi Rotjan (Boston University) are co-organizers! https://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/nations-top-marine-scientists-gather-rwu-investigate-coral-reef-conservation-strategies
May 2017: Article published: Grace, S.P. (2017). Winter quiescence, growth rate and the release from competition in the temperate scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata (Ellis & Solander 1786). Northeastern Naturalist (Special Winter Ecology Issue) 24: 119-134. https://www.eaglehill.us/NENAonline/articles/NENA-sp-7/18-Grace.shtml
April 2017: Past undergraduate student-researcher and Werth Center Fellow Gabriella DiPreta and I presented her poster entitled: Seasonal growth of the temperate, aposymbiotic coral Astrangia poculata from 1974 to 1979 using historical photographs at the Benthic Ecology Meeting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Additionally, I presented a poster that was initiated by data collected by Todd Massari (In Memoriam). Todd's work will be continued by my lab and we are prepping part of this work for publication!
September 2015: Temperature recordings at FW in Jamestown, RI continue! Moved tanks set up and flume to the New Academic Science Building at SCSU. Having space in the Aquarium room will be key to examining the quiescence of corals.
July 2015:
Gabriella DiPreta joined the lab to examine historical growth in Astrangia poculata from photographs from Wes Pratt! Additionally, the lab has offered its assistance to the KEEN network. Gabby is here getting a tour of the Salem State University Marine Lab where KEEN training was held.
June 2015:
Welcome back Todd Massari! Todd has participated in dives in the past and is coming back to SCSU to complete an MS in the lab. Excited to have you back Todd!
May 2015:
Congrats to two recent lab alumni for completing their MS Thesis work and Undergraduate Honors Thesis in my laboratory.
Melissa Krisak (Completed Spring 2015): Master's Thesis: Defended March 25, 2015, submitted May 20, 2015. TROPHIC RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE EASTERN OYSTER, CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA, IN THE LONG ISLAND SOUND ESTUARY: A MULTI-METHOD ASSESSMENT. Thank you Dr. Gary Wickfors, NOAA for being the second reader.
Sarah Koerner (Completed Spring 2015): Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Defended April 13, 2015, submitted May 4, 2015. THE EFFECTS OF WATER FLOW SPEED ON THE FEEDING HABITS OF THE TEMEPERATE SCLERACTINIAN CORAL ASTRANGIA POCULATA. Thank you Drs. Breslin and Tait for being on the committee.
April 18, 2014:
Intertidal coral day. All corals dormant with small amounts of coral death along edges of encrusting colonies. Surrounding tunicates also diminished along edges.
March 20 - April 12 2014:
Nice cold water dive at Fort Wetherill, Jamestown, RI. All corals still dormant! Great visibility!
March 16, 2014:
Intertidal Corals still exhibiting dormancy with no overgrowth measured. Coral 39's polyps are retracted and it appears the neighboring tunicates tissue has retreated some.
February 17, 2014:
Intertidal Coral Day at Bass Rock in Narragansett, Rhode Island. All corals well into their dormant state! Some total loss of tissue on most peripheral polyps for encrusting colonies only and no overgrowth of corals by neighboring tunicates, sponges, or macroalgae. Joseph Grace assisting!
Januray 2014: Emily Hauk, Director of the Cedar Island Marine Marine Lab, joins the lab examining the mutualistic relationship between the spider crab and temperate corals. Congrats to Emily for graduating in May 2015!!
October 2013: SCSU undergraduate Honors student Sarah Koerner completed her first research dive in Rhode Island!
May 2013: Congrats to Heather Firn for succesffully defending her MS thesis entitled Bacterial Survey of the scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata in Long Island Sound. Heather has moved to Texas and is currently working at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, TX. Excellent work!
Congrats to Lauren Ventrella for successfully defending her MS thesis entitled Early successional community development in wave-swept habitats. Lauren is currently teaching middle school science in CT. Good job!
May 2012: Congrats to Callie Gecewics for successfully defending her MS thesis entitled Effects of temperature on lipofuscin concentrations on known-age juvenile lobsters from the Gulf of Maine. Good work! Callie is currently an educator with Project Oceanology on the Avery Point Campus in Groton, CT.
September 2011:
Lauren Ventrella joins the lab examining the early successional community structure of coral colonies in a temperate intertidal habitat.
May 2011:
Congrats to Dana Peitrisimone for successfully defending her MS thesis! Excellent work Dana!
September 2010:
Heather Firn joins the lab and begins her examination of Bacterial Survey of the scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata in Long Island Sound. Welcome to the lab Heather!
Dana Peitrisimone is awarded the competitive Graduate Research Graduate Assistantship! Excellent writing and proposal Dana!
August 2010:
Congrats to Adam Rudman for successfully defending his MS thesis! Great work Adam, your Y channel design was a big hit with the committee. Thanks to Sacred Heart University's Dr. Mark Beeky as a second reader!
May 2010: Congrats to Beth Patrizzi for successfully defending her MS thesis! Beth is now the acting director of the Cedar Island Marine Lab in Clinton, CT. Good job Beth!
April 2009: Congrats to Melissa Krisak for being awarded the competitive Graduate Research Fellowship! Excellent work Melissa!
September 2009: Dana Pietrisimone and Callie Gecewicz joins the lab studying the Effects of temperature on lipofuscin concentrations on known-ago juvenile lobsters (Callie) and adult lobsters (Dana) from the Gulf of Maine.
December 2008: Congrats to Miguel Reyes for successfully completing his MS thesis! Miguel completed his PhD at Clark University in the Foster and Baker Lab examining the postglacial adaptive radiation of threespine stickleback fish. He is currently an assistant professor at Clayton State University in Georgia!
Adam Rudman joins the lab studying Behavioral responses of juvenile horseshoe crabs. Welcome to the lab Adam!
Melissa Krisak joins the lab and begins her studies on rehabitation of historical oyster beds in LIS. Welcome to the lab Melissa!
Summer 2008: Congrats to Bethann Balazsi for successfully defendning her MS thesis! Congrats Bethann!
May 2008: Congrats to Michael Gilman for successfully defending his MS thesis and turning this research around for a quick publucation in Northeastern Naturalist! Congrats Mike! Mike is also the new director of the Cedar Island Marine Lab in Clinton, CT.
Fall 2007: Congrats to Michael Gilman for being awarded the competitive Graduate Research Fellowship! Excellent work Mike!
Summer 2007: Congrats to Michele Guidone for successfully defending her MS thesis! Michelle completed her PhD to URI in Dr. Carol Thornber's Lab! Go Rams!! Also, she has recently been granted tenure and promotion at Atlantic Armstrong University (now a part of Georgia Southern University)! Great job Michele!
May 2007: Congrats to Jennifer Adolfsen for successully defending her MS thesis! Excellent presentation Jen! Also picture demonstrating the less than stellar vis in LIS!
Spring 2007: Bethann Balazsi joins the lab and is beginning her studies on the question: Does group living affect the attachment strength of the Northern Kelp, Laminaria saccharina.
Beth Patrizzi joins the lab and is beginning her studies on the natural diet of the temperate scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata.
Miguel Reyes joins the lab and begins his research on the Male:female ratios of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) Populations on the Connecticut Coast.
Fall 2006 semester: Michael Gilman joins the lab and begins his studies on Population and Diet Change In a Long Island Sound Subtidal Community After 19 Years. Specifically addressing the presence of the invasive crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus in the gut contents of LIS fish.
July 2006: Congrats to James Reinhardt for successfully defending his MS thesis! Now off to UCONN for his PhD working in the lab of Dr. Robert Whitlatch! Great work GS2!
Michelle Guidone begins work as an MS student examining The G:T ratio of intertidal Chondrus crispus in the Long Island Sound, Connecticut.
May 2006: Dave Veilleux successfully defending the MS thesis! Excellent work GS1!
March 2006: James Reinhardt presents his research at the Benthic Ecology Meeting. Quebec, Canada.Opening up those doors for a PhD program!
Fall 2005 semester: James Reinhardt is awarded the very competitive Graduate Research Fellowship from SCSU with my self as his mentor. Congrats James!
Jennifer Adolfsen begins work as an MS student examining The effect of low temperature on the respiratory and photosynthetic rate of Northern star coral (Astrangia poculata) with high and low densities of zooxanthellae.
Fall 2004 semester: James Reinhardt joins lab, begins his studies on The effects of epibiota on the attachment strength of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis.
June 2004: Dave Veilleux and I place out his nets on the submerging dock off the NMF Milford Lab in Milford, CT. Great dock, emerged at low tide and submerged at high tide! Good work Dave!
