Marine Lab News and Announcements

9 December 2008

Congratulations to Lisa Chau, M.Sc., for successfully defending her thesis entitled "Will Symbiodinium Populations in Pocillopora verrucosa Change with Temperature? (Chris Lobban, main advisor).

22 September 2008

Assistant Professor Jason Biggs was interviewed for the History Channel documentary series Evolved!, in an episode entitled "Venoms" that examines the evolution and ecology of venoms, slated to appear this November (check local listings for times). Jason studies the ecology, physiology, genetics and pharmaceutical potential of neogastropod venoms, especially those in cone snails (Conus spp.), presently showing the most promise medically.

27 August 2008

Assistant Professor Tom Schils was awarded a $200,000 contract by the U.S. Navy to conduct an environmental assessment of algae, macroinvertebrates, corals and fishes in coral-rich areas of Apra, Guam. Apra Harbor is one of the most diverse reef environments in the Mariana Archipelago.

7 July 2008

Associate Professor Laurie Raymundo is senior editor and co-author of a new book on the etiology and management of coral diseases, Coral Disease Handbook: Guidelines for Assessment, Monitoring & Management. The book summarizes the most recently developed methods for studying the ecology, and mitigating the damage, of coral diseases. Accompanying the book is a set of identification cards for identifying diseases and syndromes known globally. Obtain a copy at www.gefcoral.org. See other books by Marine Lab personnel HERE.

28 June 2008

Associate Professor Peter Schupp and co-authors present findings in the July issue of PLoS Biology. The report is the first to show that marine biofilms persist, and that the organisms which produce and live in them avoid predation, via a chemical defense. To access this work, go to the Public Library of Science.

30 April 2008

Congratulations to Marine Lab Masters candidates on receiving travel awards from learned societies hosting conferences this summer. Susanna Whitfield will use her award to present work at the biennial meeting of the International Society of Microbial Ecology in Cairns, Australia. Brett Taylor, Jong Rojas and Ciemon Caballes will present at the quadrenniel 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

21 April 2008

Welcome to Marine Lab Marine Technician II Joe Cummings. Joe will be captaining our vessels as part of the Marine Lab's recent significant upswing in extramurally funded marine operations. A native of Guam, Joe has been fishing, diving and plying local waters since childhood, experience that the Marine Lab is now fortunate to benefit from.

14 March 2008

Assistant Professor Jason Biggs was recently recognised on the floor of the 110th United States Congress by Guam's Congresswoman, the Hon. Madeline Z. Bordallo, in an address beginning, "Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the dedication and commitment of Dr. Jason Biggs to our community of Guam." The complete address can be found in the Congressional Record, the official record of the proceedings of the U.S. Congress.

13 March 2008

The Marine Lab hosts the first talk in a year-long, monthly series of public lectures held in celebration of the International Year of the Reef, 2008. Organised by Marine Lab Manager Susanne Wilkins, the series will host informative talks on reef biodiversity, conservation and policy, with an emphasis on the scientific and management issues of Micronesia.

5 January 2008

The Marine Lab welcomes new faculty member Assistant Professor Jason Biggs. Jason joins us from the Department of Biology, University of Utah, where he was a U.S. National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow studying the pharmacological potential of venomous molluscs.

5 January 2008

Assistant Professor Jenny McIlwain (with Kevin Rhodes, University of Hawaii) was awarded a two-year grant of $115,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entitled "Assessing patterns of movement and life-history traits of the orangespine unicorn fish (Naso lituratus) in relation to marine preserves on Guam". The funding will permit assessment of the biology, and the effectiveness of marine protected areas in protecting stocks, of this species.

3 January 2008

Extension Agent IV Barry Smith received a one-year award of $140,000 from SWCA Environmental Consulting, Honolulu Hawaii to monitor the coral-reef associated biota of Orote Point, Guam. The funding will permit a baseline assessment of the abundance distribution of corals, algae, fishes and invertebrates of the fringing reefs.

3 December 2007

Assistant Professors Tom Schils and Alexander Kerr were awarded (with L Raulerson, CNAS) a two-year grant of $100,000 from the National Science Foundation entitled "Improvements to the GUAM Herbarium." The grant will provide funding to rennovate the university's Herbarium and digitise its collections, including the extensive holdings of marine plants.

29 November 2007

The Marine Lab welcomes its newest and youngest member, Ekko, who was born today in Ipan to Else Demeulenaere, her husband Assistant Professor Tom Schils and their son Bas. At left, little Ekko falls fast asleep while pumping his fists in victory over a second straight day of post partum milestones. Shhhh... Guten noct, klien Ekko.

27 November 2007

Congratulations to Nola Meyer, M.Sc., for successfully defending her thesis entitled "Fish Assemblages of Soft-Coral Communities" (Jenny McIlwain, main advisor). Nola has accepted a position as a scientist in an environmental science laboratory, Lafayette, Louisiana.

8 August 2007

Congratulations to recent Marine Lab graduate Lee Goldman, M.Sc., on winning the Best Poster Award at the the Asia-Pacific Aquaculture Conference 2007 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam for his presentation of work done while a student at the Marine Lab, entitled "Evaluation of live versus artificial food on growth of the coral Pocillopora damicornis."

26 July 2007

Graduate students Michelle Hoffman and Kris Netchy with Assistant Professor Alex Kerr survey the reefs around the western Caroline Island of Yap. At least four new species of holothuroids were discovered, including a tiger-striped Actinopyga. Technical support will be provided by the Yap State government, who have requested that Marine Lab assist with a survey of holothuroids around the main island, which has recently become exploited by foreign interests for their invertebrate resources.

24 July 2007

Congratulations to Robert Tomasetti, M.Sc., for successfully defending his thesis entitled "Global Biogeography of Marine Algae" (Tom Schils, main advisor). Robert has accepted a position as a marine biologist at the Banyan Tree Marine Laboratory, Vabbinfaru, Republic of Maldives.

24 July 2007

Congratulations to Marine Lab MSc candidate Lisa Chau for being awarded an NSF-sponsored internship at the Summer Training Academy for Research in the Sciences (STARS) held at the University of California at San Diego. Lisa was one of only 30 students selected nationwide to study at the eight-week program. The academy provides research experience and preparation for the challenges of a doctoral program in biology.

5 May 2007

Marine Lab Research Associate Andrew Halford and Assistant Professor Jenny McIlwain were awarded a three-year grant of $312,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entitled "Connectivity of Reef-Fish Populations within the Mariana Islands and Greater Micronesian Region." The funding will permit assessment of the population structure of Siganus spp., important information when developing management strategies for these heavily fished species.

19 April 2007

Associate Professor Peter Schupp was awarded a four-year grant of $410,000 from the National Institutes of Health entitled "New Approaches to Sponge-Microbial Symbioses." The grant will permit the use of new techniques to isolate and investigate new compounds of potential pharmacological significance from microbes living on sponges.

13 March 2007

The Marine Lab hosts the public during the University of Guam's Charter Day, 13 March, from 9 AM to 3 PM. Visit the Marine Lab and experience the touch tank, view static displays, posters, and videos.

27 February 2007

Welcome, participants of the Central Pacific Coral Disease Workshop: Protocols for Assessment, Monitoring and Outbreak Investigation. Participants in this NOAA-sponsored workshop will come from around the tropical Pacific to discuss new methods of investigating disease threats to reef corals. Guest speakers include, Andy Bruckner (NOAA, Wash., D. C.) and Cheryl Woodley (Coral Disease and Health Consortium, Hollings Marine Laboratory). For more information, contact the workshop organizer, Assistant Professor Laurie Raymundo and see links for participants here.

13 February 2007

Congratulations to Lee Goldman, M.Sc. for a successful defense of his thesis "Effects of interspecific competition on the growth and morphology of cultured Acropora pulchra and Porites cylindrica" (Laurie Raymundo, main advisor). Lee, with his wife Jasmine and their daughter Lorelai, are now owners and operators of S.E. Asia Kayak Tours Palawan.

12 January 2007

Assistant Professors Terry Donaldson and Tom Schils are teaching a new graduate course Advances in Biogeography.

15 December 2006

A new website, Systema Aspidochirotidae by Assistant Professor Alex Kerr will document the systematics of coral-reef sea cucumbers. This group of organisms is experiencing intense overfishing on many reefs worldwide, yet, for their size, they remain some of the most poorly known animals on the planet. The site is part of an NSF-sponsored project (with former Marine Lab faculty member Gustav Paulay, Univ. Florida) to produce monographic revisions of poorly known groups and to train students in taxonomy and phylogenetics.

6 September 2006

Assistant Professor Terry Donaldson is co-author of a new book documenting the destruction wrought by the live reef-fish food trade. From the publisher's review: "The picture that emerges from this book is extremely worrying: the LRFF trade has caused degradation of the resources on which the trade depends, and hence has to move farther and farther from the main market centers in order to continue to supply them. The book provides scientific evidence for the need to curb and manage the capture of wild live reef food fish, and proposes ways to help entrepreneurs and fishers reform the trade based on limiting fish capture and hatchery rearing the fish." Learn more at the publisher's website.

5 April 2006

The Marine Lab is featured in the University of Guam Magazine: "The Marine Lab annually pulls in grants totaling more than one million dollars for projects ranging from environmental impact studies, to studying marine organisms for possible pharmaceutical development, to creating elementary curriculum called Reef in a Box so school children learn early on to value and appreciate coral reefs. Marine Lab faculty members work with scientists at other universities around the world on a variety of projects that include the common goal of conserving, monitoring, and managing marine resources" Read more....

19 April 2006

Assistant Professor Peter Schupp was awarded a three-year grant of $193,000 from the National Institutes of Health entitled "Cultivation of microorganisms from marine invertebrates and screening of extracts and pure compounds for possible anti-cancer activities." This funding will be used to assess the culturability of microbes of potential pharmacological significance.

13 March 2006

The Marine Lab celebrated its 35th anniversary with an open house and ceremony. In addition to current Marine Lab faculty, those in attendance included the Hon. Felix P. Comacho, Governor of Guam, The Speaker and other members of the 28th Guam Legislature, University President Dr. Harold L. Allen, Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Helen J. D. Whippy, as well former faculty members Drs. Lucius G. Eldredge, Robert S. Jones, James A. Marsh, Jr., Richard H. Randall, and Roy T. Tsuda. A slideshow of the event can be found HERE.

15 March 2006

Assistant Professor Tom Schils has been awarded a three-year grant of $333,000 from the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (Research Foundation – Flanders), Belgium, entitled "Spatiotemporal variation in benthic macroalgal communities of the Arabian Sea".

1 March 2006

The Marine Lab welcomes two new faculty members: Jenny Mcilwain was an assistant professor at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and Tom Schils joins us from Ghent University, Belgium where he was a postdoctoral fellow.

2 February 2006

Affiliated faculty member Bob Richmond was selected as a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation for his work on coral reefs carried out as a faculty member of the Marine Lab. See the award announcement.

20 January 2006

The Marine Lab hosts the Workshop on Introduced Marine Species, an NOAA-sponsored meeting to increase awareness of the importance of marine invasive species. In attendance were Dr. Lu Eldredge (Department of Invertebrates, Bernice P. Bishop Museum), Dr. Roy Tsuda (Department of Botany, Bernice P. Bishop Museum) and Dr. Steven L. Coles (Hawaiian Biological Survey, Bernice P. Bishop Museum).

2 January 2006

Two new important technical reports are now available on Guam's coastal resources which will prove invaluable to area resource managers, researchers, educators, students, fishermen and recreational users of our island's waters:

Status of the Coral Reef Ecosystems of Guam by Val Porter, Trina Leberer, Mike Gawel, Jay Gutierrez, David Burdick, Victor Torres and Evangeline Lujan. 2005. University of Guam Marine Laboratory Technical Report 113. 69 pages. The most comprehensive effort yet to assess the status of our island's reefs. The report documents reef conditions, stressors to reefs, monitoring and mitigation efforts, and provides recommendations for future action.

Guam Coastal Atlas by David R. Burdick. 2005. University of Guam Marine Laboratory Technical Report 114. 149 pages. The atlas incorporates the latest information on Guam's near-shore coastal resources available via GIS and satellite imagery. Available in an 11" X 16" spiral-bound printed version and a CD-ROM.

These and other Marine Lab reports and products can be obtained by contacting the Marine Lab Director.

24 November 2005

Congratulations to Chie Takase, M.Sc., for successfully defending her thesis entitled "The toxic effect of two different herbicides, Irgarol 1051 and Roundup (Glyphosphate) on Leptastrea purpurea (scleractinian coral) planulae" (Peter Schupp, main advisor). Chie has accepted a position as a consultant at an environmental consulting firm, Tokyo, Japan.