Virtual Seminar – Growing Up on Ice: Early Development in Weddell Seal Pups – September 30

 

Heather Liwanag, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Hosted by the Vertebrate Ecology Lab

Presenting: "Growing Up on Ice: Early Development in Weddell Seal Pups"

MLML Virtual Seminar | September 30th, 2021 at 4pm

Watch the Live Stream here or here

About the speaker:

Heather Liwanag is an Associate Professor of Biology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is interested in the physiological adaptations of animals to their environment, and the evolutionary processes involved in those adaptations. Much of her research has focused on thermoregulation (the regulation of body temperature) and energetics (metabolic rates) in vertebrate animals, including seals, sea lions, and even lizards. She has been fortunate to work with an amazing group of people (Team B-030) on this recent project, studying the early development of Weddell seal pups in Antarctica.

MLML Quilt Guild featured in Monterey County Weekly

Did you know that at Moss Landing Marine Labs we have our very own Quilt Guild?!

The MLML Quilt Guild was founded in 2001 by a group of dedicated SJSU/MLML community members who came together to design and create a few colorful fabric panels to dampen the echoing sounds in a conference room at the lab. Together they designed an amazing series of quilted panels that featured boats, whales, and the Point Sur Lighthouse. Their finished creation was beautiful and effective, but they didn’t stop there! It’s now been over two decades since the Quilt Guild was founded and over the years our dedicated MLML quilters have made over 30 quilts! 

Learn more about the incredible history of the MLML Quilt Guild in this new article in the Monterey County Weekly.

Virtual Seminar – Fire + Flood = Beach: Observations of Coastal Change in Big Sur, California – September 23rd

 

Jonathan Warrick, USGS - United States Geological Survey

Hosted by the Physical Oceanography Lab

Presenting: "Fire + Flood = Beach: Observations of Coastal Change in Big Sur, California"

MLML Virtual Seminar | September 23rd, 2021 at 4pm

Watch the Live Stream here or here

About the speaker:

Dr. Jonathan Warrick is a Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Santa Cruz, California, where he studies the movement of sediment in rivers and in the sea.  Jon has led efforts to characterize the outcomes of the world’s largest dam removal project on the Elwha River, and his work has been featured in multiple media outlets, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Outside Magazine, and the nationally broadcast CBS Evening News.  Jon received a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the UCSB in 2002 and has authored or co-authored over 90 peer reviewed science articles, reports and book chapters and has contributed to or presented over 150 scientific presentations and guest lectures.

Jonathan Warrick Presents: Fire + Flood = Beach Observations of Coastal Change in Big Sur, California

Sea Otter Savvy researchers organize Sea Otter Awareness Week 2021

Sea Otter Awareness Week 2021 is here! All week we’ll be partnering with SJSU/MLML research affiliates Sea Otter Savvy to share information about these unique marine mammals. This year’s Sea Otter Awareness Week theme is Ecosystem Mosaic, which highlights the idea of the sea otter’s ecosystem as a mosaic of tiny parts in which the removal of key elements or damage to the system’s structure renders the ecological picture incomplete. This theme is celebrated in the amazing SOAW2021 logo designed by SJSU/MLML alumna Heather Barrett ’19!

Follow along on MLML social media all week for more sea otter posts and check out the Sea Otter Awareness Week 2021 Schedule to learn more.

Virtual Seminar – North Atlantic right whales-Documenting extinction with precision, or saving the ecosystem? – September 16

 

Sean Hayes, NOAA - National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast

Hosted by the Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab

Presenting: "North Atlantic right whales-Documenting the extinction with precision, or saving the ecosystem?"

MLML Virtual Seminar | September 16th, 2021 at 4pm

Watch the Live Stream here or here

About the speaker:

After growing up on a sheep farm in upstate NY, Sean received undergraduate degrees from SUNY Cobleskill and Cornell and his PhD from UC Santa Cruz, where he studied marine mammal physiology and behavior. After years in academia, Sean found his true passion lies in civil service when he joined the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2001. He has since worked on a broad range of challenges and species from pinnipeds to salmon to seabirds and cetaceans. His science experiences have taken him across the country from NMFS offices in Hawaii, California and Oregon, to serving under the NOAA Chief Scientist in Washington DC. In 2016, Sean became the Protected Species Branch Chief at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he works with teams leading the center’s ESA and MMPA research portfolio which includes salmon, marine mammals and sea-turtles. He is currently enjoying a ‘sweet spot’ in his career, where he remains engaged with the science but is able to affect change at higher levels. In this capacity, he is working to focus scientific effort on the ecological challenges of our marine resources in order to remove the ambiguity around stakeholder concerns, thus enabling managers and stakeholders to make scientifically informed decisions to ensure sustainability of our marine resources. He is also enjoying being much closer to his family farm in NY and exploring life in his home on beautiful Cape Cod with his pups, wife, and new daughter.

Sean Hayes Presents: North Atlantic right whales – Documenting extinction with precision, or saving the ecosystem?

Virtual Seminar – The Past, Present, and Future of Kelp in Washington – September 9

 

Thomas Mumford, University of Washington, Friday Harbor

Hosted by the Phycology Lab

Presenting: "The Past, Present, and Future of Kelp in Washington"

MLML Virtual Seminar | September 9th, 2021 at 4pm

Watch the Live Stream here or here

About the speaker:

Tom received a BA from Wabash College (1966) and served in the US Army from 1966-1969. He received a PhD in Botany from the University of Washington (1973) then spent three years at UBC on a postdoctoral fellowship before joining the Washington Department of Natural Resources in 1976. At WDNR he researched the cultivation of seaweeds for the production of phycolloids and food, and developed and managed programs for management and inventory of seaweeds and seagrasses on state-owned aquatic lands. He served on the Nearshore Science Team for the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project. He has taught in various universities and consulted overseas in seaweed aquaculture. Since his retirement in 2011, he is focusing on researching marine algal biodiversity, the role of kelp in marine ecosystems, on kelp restoration, and on teaching. He was lead biologist for an ARPA-E project to grow kelp for biomass and currently is the biologist for the ARPA-E grant “ UNrealized Critical Lanthanide Extraction via Sea Algae Mining (UNCLE-SAM): Domestic production of critical minerals from seawater”. He helped in developing the Puget Sound Kelp Conservation and Recovery Plan, and acts in an advisory role for the NW Straits Commission and Pew Trust grant “Kelp conservation through coordinated management and science”. He sits as an alternate on the Strategic Advisory Council for the OCNMS and is on the Science Advisory Committee for the NW Straits Initiative.

Check out his websites here and here.

Tom Mumford Presents: The Past, Present, and Future of Kelp in Washington

Virtual Seminar – From Cellular Omics to Phenomics: The Role of Sirtuins in the Cellular Stress Response – October 21

 

Lars Tomanek, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Hosted by the Invertebrate Zoology Lab

Presenting: "From Cellular Omics to Phenomics: The Role of Sirtuins in the Cellular Stress Response"

MLML Virtual Seminar | October 21st, 2021 at 4pm

Watch the Live Stream here or here

Talk synopsis:

Sirtuins are regulators of the proteome by modifying metabolic enzymes, chaperones and anti-oxidative stress proteins to improve the response of organisms to several environmental stressors.  We tested their role in two marine mussel species that vary in their response to heat and salinity stress.  A key question for integrative biology is if these molecular differences affect phenotypes at higher levels of organismal organization.  We tested this assumption while simultaneously monitoring the molecular changes accompanying changes in ciliary activity, particle velocity of the gill, a feeding organ in mussels, and whole organism filtration rates.  The presentation will discuss the challenges of doing integrative biology.

 

Dr. Jim Harvey celebrated at San Francisco Giants game

After 32 outstanding years of service to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San José State University, last week Dr. Jim Harvey retired from his position as MLML Director.

As a show of thanks to their former advisor, a group of Jim's students arranged for a special congratulatory message to be displayed on the jumbotron at Oracle Park during a recent San Francisco Giants game. Jim attended the game with his wife Mary Yoklavich, SJSU/MLML professor Dr. Mike Graham, and Mike's wife Erica Graham (all pictured below). We can't think of a better way to celebrate Jim's incredible career!

Dr. Jim Harvey retires from SJSU/MLML after 32 years

After 32 outstanding years of service to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and San José State University, today marks Dr. Jim Harvey’s last day as our Director. Please join us in congratulating Jim on his well deserved retirement!

Jim first came to SJSU/MLML as a graduate student in 1974 and has since served as a course instructor, professor, and ultimately lab director for the last decade. He led the Vertebrate Ecology Lab for 20 years, during which time he advised 82 students and served on 132 total thesis committees. Broadly, Jim’s research interests include the ecology, morphology, and behavior of marine mammals, birds, and turtles, with a special focus on the harbor seal population of Elkhorn Slough.

Jim’s contributions to the MLML community over the course of his long career are innumerable and we will miss his steadfast leadership, collegial spirit, and commitment to research and teaching excellence. While Jim is officially retiring from his position as director, he will continue his research and looks forward to spending more time in the field. Current MLML professor and department chair Dr. Ivano Aiello will serve as Interim Director of Moss Landing Marine Labs until a permanent Director has been appointed.