News

Four MLML graduate students receive research grants from Myers Trust!

Lauren Cooley

We are excited to announce that four SJSU/MLML graduate students received research grants from the Dr. Earl H. Myers & Ethel M. Myers Oceanographic & Marine Biology Trust this year. Congratulations to the following students:

Congratulations to all grant recipients! We can’t wait to see the results of your exciting thesis projects.

Shelby Ziegler joins MLML as postdoctoral research associate

Lauren Cooley

We would like to extend a warm welcome to new SJSU/MLML postdoctoral research associate Dr. Shelby Ziegler! Shelby just completed her PhD at the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences where her research focused on coastal habitats and fish communities.

At MLML, she will be working with the Fisheries & Conservation Biology and Ichthyology Labs on a project evaluating the performance of the statewide Marine Protected Areas system for enhancing fisheries production and communities. Welcome to Moss Landing, Shelby!

SJSU/MLML Research Affiliate Sea Otter Savvy featured in NBC story

Lauren Cooley

SJSU/MLML research affiliates Sea Otter Savvy would like to remind everyone to continue keeping their distance from sea otters and other wildlife as social distancing guidelines are relaxed. Sea Otter Savvy director Gena Bentall was featured in a recent video by NBC Bay Area discussing this topic.

Click here to watch the video, titled "As Coronavirus Restrictions Relax, Wildlife Still Needs Social Distancing".

Ichthyology Lab alumnus Evan Mattiasen publishes results of thesis research on rockfish behavior and physiology

Lauren Cooley

MLML alumnus Evan Mattiasen recently published the results of his thesis research in the journal Global Change Biology!

This study, co-authored by SJSU/MLML Ichthyology Lab professor Dr. Scott Hamilton and CSUMB professor Dr. Cheryl Logan, examines the effects of low oxygen conditions (hypoxia) on rockfish behavior and physiology. The results of this study are particularly relevant for fish stock management in light of global climate change, which is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of hypoxia.

Read Evan’s paper, titled "Effects of hypoxia on the behavior and physiology of kelp forest fishes", here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15076

Four MLML students receive COAST Graduate Student Research Awards!

Lauren Cooley

We are excited to announce that four MLML graduate students received COAST Graduate Student Research Awards this year! Congratulations to Juliana Cornett, Gammon Koval, Lauren Cooley, and Melissa Naugle.

The CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST) provides these grants to support CSU graduate students engaged in marine, coastal, and coastal watershed research. Many SJSU/MLML students have been funded by COAST over the years, and we are always thankful for the California State University’s strong support for marine science research.

Vertebrate Ecology Lab student Sharon Hsu nominates Costa Rican sea turtle non-profit ASTOP for grant funding

Victoria Vasquez

Graduate student Sharon Hsu of the SJSU/MLML Vertebrate Ecology Lab needs your help! She has nominated the sea turtle non-profit Asociación Salvemos las Tortugas de Parismina - ASTOP for a $5000 grant that would allow their vital conservation work to continue during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sharon collaborated with this small community based organization in Parismina, Costa Rica for her thesis research on leatherback sea turtles and is now hoping to rally support for them during these unprecedented times.

The organization with the most votes wins, so please visit the link below and vote for ASTOP! You can learn more about ASTOP and leatherbacks in Sharon’s post on The Drop-In blog.

Vote for ASTOP: seaturtles.org/vote

Help Us Put the FUN in Fundraising for MLML Student Scholarships

Victoria Vasquez
MLML's annual Open House has not only been a wonderful, kid-friendly event, it has also been an opportunity for students to raise money for their own scholarships. The good news is that there's still something we can do! In the spirit of Open House (public, free, outreach), we will share videos, images and more from past open houses. In turn, we hope this encourages the public to support our students by donating to our on-line crowdfunding campaign: https://power.sjsu.edu/project/20607

German Nature Show, TerraX, film episode on ‘Kelp – What super algae can do’ features MLML experts

Victoria Vasquez

German nature show, Terra X, selects MLML for their episode on “Kelp – What super algae can do”. Phycology student, Ann Bishop, shows off her science communication skills by teaching the TerraX audience about bull kelp, the kelp canopy, the kelp forest ecosystem and the importance of kelp habitats to ocean health. Director, Ross Clark, & manager, Kevin O' Connor, of the SJSU/MLML Central Coast Wetlands Group were also interviewed. In the segment, Clark, discusses the most recent “warm blob”, that resulted in a massive purple urchin recruitment, which then decimated the North Pacific kelp forests. O' Connor then gives viewers the scoop on CCWG's latest research to feed cattle with algae. The research aims to reduce methane emissions by up to 90%!

Vertebrate Ecology Lab bioacousticians publish new rockfish study

Victoria Vasquez

Dr. Alison Stimpert and recent alumna, Brijonnay Madrigal, M.S. from our Vertebrate Ecology Lab, have applied their bioacoustic research skills from marine mammals onto rockfish.

In a recent publication for the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Stimpert and Madrigal studied noise produced by scientific equipment during fisheries surveys so as to better understand how this noise affected the general soundscape of a rockfish habitat. Anthropogenic noise, in this study, was found to be out of the expected sensitivity range for fish hearing. However, this is a largely unstudied section of fisheries research and in other cases could effect stock assessments. The open access scientific article also includes recording samples you can hear.

Two research proposals from SJSU/MLML’s Ichthyology lab are now Sea Grant funded!

Victoria Vasquez

California Sea Grant today announced funding for a total of 19 new research projects that will take place over the next one to two years. A total of $900,000 will go to 19 research projects led by California investigators and graduate students. We are PROUD to announce that our professor of ichthyology, Dr. Scott Hamilton, is one of the grant recipients. This year for the first time, CA Sea Grant solicited project proposals directly from graduate students. We are therefore doubly PROUD to announce that Dr. Hamilton's student Katherine Neylan, is also a recipient thanks to the graduate fellowship in aquaculture.

Development of techniques for the cultivation of monkeyface pricklebacks as a sustainable alternative to unagi

For this project, Dr. Hamilton is interested in using a local fish, the monkeyface prickleback, as a  farmed and sustainable alternative to unagi (the seafood cuisine of sea urchins). Co principal investigators include our phycology professor, Dr. Mike Graham, as well as, Dr. Luke Gardner both a research faculty member and the CA Sea Grant Aquaculture Specialist.

Eat your greens: Evaluating microalgae supplemented feeds for sablefish nutrition and growth

Ichthyology student, Katherine Neylan will study the nutrition and growth of sablefish given a microalgal diet. Currently, farm-raised fish rely on a diet that is heavily dependent on the use of forage fish in fish meal and fish oil. However, allocating the proper nutrients to a farmed fish via ocean resources can place a significant strain on forage fish stocks. The project therefore seeks to formulate a diet that incorporates algae and meets nutritional needs while also examining the palatability and digestibility of it for sablefish.