Rising Tides Newsletter - April 2023

Scientists identify 2022 sea urchin killer

Congrats to Mya Breitbart and the team she assembled. They put an end to the search for the 2022 killer that decimated long-spined sea urchins in the Caribbean and along Florida’s East coast. The story was reported in Science Advances and made its way into news reports around the world. Here’s a sampling:

• Tampa Bay Times story, by Matt Cohen
• AP story, by Maddie Burakoff
• The Atlantic story, by Ed Yong 

Impressive SHELF-life! 

Chris Stallings will lead this third phase of the “Spawning Habitat and Early-Life Linkages to Fisheries” (SHELF) project. Funded at $1.2 million, over the next 3.5 years the team will advance technologies used to collect and barcode fish eggs to improve our understanding of seasonal spawning dynamics. Ernst Peebles led SHELF I and II. The project was first awarded in 2016.

SPECIAL EVENT: Join us TODAY, 3pm!

Brad Rosenheim and his former PhD student Ryan Venturelli participated in a historic expedition to sample Subglacial Lake Mercer beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Join us today, Friday, 3pm, in the MSL Conference Room to watch the film, The Lake at the Bottom of the World.

CMS lands an REU

Congrats, Ana Arellano and team! They landed an NSF award for “Making Waves: Science Communication and Interdisciplinary Ocean Research Experiences at USF, College of Marine Science.”

Trace metals in the North Pacific

Tim Conway’s lab published two studies about cadmium and zinc that were born from the North Pacific GEOTRACES work he’s been involved in since arriving at CMS.

USF joins NOAA’s Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network

CMS is one of nine institutions in a five-year NOAA-funded program that will work directly with communities in the Caribbean region to work on how best to prepare for and “adapt” to higher risks of climate-related disasters. Frank Muller-Karger leads the charge for CMS.

• But wait, there’s more: Muller-Karger was recognized by Research.com with an Earth Science Leader Award for 2023 and placed 99^th in their ranking of best Earth Scientists in the US. He’s joined on the list by several other CMS faculty as well.

Tracking student & staff successes 

• Congrats to Christina Chadwick, who graduates this semester (May 7). She will be featured as a Boundless Bull for USF’s ongoing series.
• Natalia Lopez-Figueroa recently published a paper in the Journal of Plankton Research, on zooplankton variability in the South Atlantic. She also got a mentoring award from NOAA!
• Angelique Rosa Marin has won a 2023 Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Travel that covers the travel costs to present her research at the FORAMS 2023 International Symposium on Foraminifera in Perugia, Italy.
• Bella Ritchie not only co-starred with Mya Breitbart in USF’s urchin video (and the discovery itself!) but she also landed an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
• Carlyn Scott was one of this year’s winners of the 2023 USF Graduate Research Symposium. Carlyn’s work shines a light specifically on the population of larvaceans in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, where they are about 300 times more abundant than previously thought!
• Cheryl Hapke was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Geology and Environmental Science. 

Diving with JaiAlai

Go ahead and jump in while you read a short update on the glider fleet managed by Chad Lembke and team! Video is courtesy of grad student Sean Beckwith.

South St. Pete youth become Guardians of the Gulf

CMS remains pretty busy over Spring Break, and that was the case for the Guardians team that led a three-day camp for members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast.

In Memoriam: CMS remembers Alum Oscar “Butch” Ayala (1963-2023)

Chris Stallings, Butch’s former advisor, shared the sad news that Butch passed away recently. He is remembered for his one-of-a-kind selflessness, passion for fish and fishing, and so much more. A celebration of life will be held tomorrow, April 29^th, at Ferg’s, 4-8pm. Read more about Butch’s work and legacy.