January 14, 2002 Friends of Long Marine Lab awards student research grants By Kristin Cobb The Friends of Long Marine Lab Student Research Awards will support 12 student research projects at in the current academic year. The projects cover a range of topics, including the immune function of seabirds, the diving of sea otters and sea lions, and the detection of the neurotoxin domoic acid in local fish. A total of $8,598 was awarded to 12 graduate students. The Friends of LML Awards come from the interest generated by six different endowments: The Jane McHenry Student Awards Fund, the Lillian McPherson Rouse Student Award Fund, the William Baye Heald Scholarship Fund, the Friends of LML Student Support Fund, the Mark T. MacMillan Memorial Prize Fund, and the Ken Norris Marine Mammal Research Award. Special recognition was given to graduate students Seth D. Newsome, Kit C. Clark, Victoria Welborn, and Martha Overton Burford for having the top four proposals. An awards ceremony and reception will be held at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Friday, January 25, at 4 p.m. Individual awards are listed below: Martha Overton Burford, Biology: "Genetic Population Structure and Year-Class Formation in Two Nearshore Species of Rockfish (Sebastes)." Mary Cashman, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: "Diving Energetics and Biomechanics in the Southern Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris." Kit C. Clark, Marine Sciences: "Larval Ecology of Developmental Variants: Effects of Extreme Climatic Forcing on Monterey Bay Euphausiids." Myra Finkelstein, Ocean Sciences: "Effects of Contaminants on Immune System Function in Seabirds." Spencer Fire, Marine Sciences: "Detection of Domoic Acid in Santa Cruz Wharf Fish." Shannon Fowler, Marine Biology: "Development of Diving in Californian and Australian Sea Lions: A Comparison of Foraging in a Nutrient-Rich Environment." Marla M. Holt, Marine Sciences: "Pinniped Localization of Airborne Sounds." Darren Johnson, Marine Biology: "Evaluating Density-Dependent Regulation in a Temperate Reef Fish: A Multifactorial Approach to Investigating Species Interactions between Giant Kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, Juvenile Kelp Rockfish, Sebastes atrovirens, and Predatory Adult Rockfish, Sebastes spp." Carey Kuhn, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: "Assessing the Foraging Behavior of Pinnipeds: A Comparative Investigation." Seth D. Newsome, Earth Sciences: "Holocene Shifts in Climate and Ecology on the Central California Coast." Victoria Welborn, Ocean Sciences: "Pseudo-nitzschia in nearshore sediments and entry of domoic acid (DA) into benthic communities." Shayne Wolf, Marine Sciences: "Reproductive Strategy in a Marine Predator in Response to Oceanographic Variability." Return to Front Page