News

Dr. Dustin Carroll, SJSU/MLML research affiliate, co-authors paper on subsurface glacial melt

Victoria Vasquez

In Geophysical Research Letters, Dr. Dustin Carroll, a SJSU/MLML research affiliate, co-authored the article, Distinct Frontal Ablation Processes Drive Heterogeneous Submarine Terminus Morphology. Using ship-based observations in Greenland fjords, Dr. Carroll and his collaborators mapped the subsurface, three dimensional face of a glacier to better understand how they melt from warming ocean waters.

Image: Small boat work in west Greenland by Dr. Dustin Carroll

Small boat work in west Greenland. Image by Dr. Dustin Carroll

Professor of Invertebrate Ecology, Dr. Amanda Kahn, Studies the Behavior of Benthic Invertebrates of the Abyssal Plain

Victoria Vasquez
For her latest research SJSU/MLML invertebrate ecologist, Dr. Amanda Kahn, reviews time-lapse photographs to study the behavior of deep sea benthic invertebrates. The work of Dr. Kahn and her colleagues from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) demonstrates the ability of some benthic invertebrates to move along the abyssal plain. The below video, shows a glass sponge doing something that can best be described as a 'sneeze'. The sneeze event takes about 30 seconds in the video, but in reality this occurred over a span of 3 days. More about this project can be found in this MBARI article.

Watch a glass sponge sneeze on the deep seafloor!

UPDATE on Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

Victoria Vasquez

MLML is officially CLOSED to ALL PEOPLE until further notice.

DUE TO THE RECENT CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

MOSS LANDING MARINE LABS

IS CLOSED* UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

IF YOU HAVE AN URGENT MATTER

PLEASE EMAIL frontdesk@mlml.calstate.edu or call 831-771-4400

M-F 9AM TO 5PM

*MLML classes will continue online. Please reach out to our director, Dr. Jim Harvey,  if you need lab access during this period.

WE APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND PATIENCE OF OUR COMMUNITY AS WE TAKE THIS PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE TO REDUCE THE POTENTIAL OF PEOPLE BEING INFECTED WITH COVID-19.

MLML has Suspended ALL COURSES and is CLOSED to the Public

Victoria Vasquez

DUE TO THE RECENT CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK MOSS LANDING MARINE LABS 

HAS SUSPENDED ALL COURSES AND IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC

PLEASE CALL OUR FRONT DESK AT 831-771-4400 
M-F 9AM TO 5PM
IF YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT OR REQUIRE ENTRY.

WE APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND PATIENCE OF OUR COMMUNITY AS WE TAKE THIS PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE TO REDUCE THE POTENTIAL OF PEOPLE BEING INFECTED WITH COVID 19.

For more information here is the link to SJSU's official statement. 

Dr. Alison Stimpert & almuna Brijonnay Madrigal Publish New Bioacoustics Study on Rockfish

Victoria Vasquez
Dr. Alison Stimpert and recent alumna, Brijonnay Madrigal, M.Sc. of our Vertebrate Ecology lab, take their bioacoustics research from marine mammals to rockfish with a recent publication in the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. They examined the noise produced by scientific equipment during fisheries surveys, which is largely unstudied yet could affect the habitat of the target species. Dr Stimipert and Madrigal's work showed increases in noise over ambient levels were high, but the majority of sound energy was out of the expected sensitivity range for fish hearing.

Nature Article Honors Dr. John Martin’s Legacy on the 30th Anniversary of his Groundbreaking Iron Hypothesis

Victoria Vasquez

Former director of MLML, Dr. John Martin, was recognized in this article from Nature Research (Publishing) on the 30th anniversary of his revolutionary, Iron Hypothesis. His work was continued by Dr. Kenneth Coale, who also served as director to the labs and is now an emeritus professor of chemical oceanography. From the article:

Thirty years ago this month, John Martin proposed a solution to one of the biggest mysteries of Earth’s climate system: how was nearly one-third of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (about 200 gigatonnes of carbon) drawn into the ocean as the planet entered the most recent ice age, then stored for tens of thousands of years, and released again as the ice sheets melted? 

For more on Dr. Martin and his legacy, here is a piece about him written by Dr. Coale for the 50th Anniversary Blog.

New publication from Professor of Physical Oceanography, Dr. Tom Connolly

Victoria Vasquez

SJSU/MLML professor of physical oceanography, Dr. Tom Connolly, and co-author, Dr. Anthony R. Kricinch of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. Their article, "High-resolution observations of subsurface fronts and alongshore bottom temperature variability over the inner shelf", found that drastic variations in water temperatures occurred often and within short distances along Martha's Vineyard coastline which were caused by several influences, such as bathymetry. In terms of data collection, this information is valuable to scientists because it demonstrates the need to take temperature readings at multiple locations within the study area.

*FYI: This scientific article includes 'Abstract' as well as a 'Plain Language Summary'

Alumna of the Vertebrate Ecology lab, Heather Barrett, Accepts Staff Position with MLML Research Affiliates, Sea Otter Savvy

Victoria Vasquez

Congratulations to Heather Barrett, M.Sc. for her new staff position with MLML research affiliates, Sea Otter Savvy  Before being offered a position, Barrett collaborated with them on her Master's Thesis, The energetic cost of human disturbance on the southern sea otter, which she completed under professor Dr. Gitte McDonald and the Vertebrate Ecology lab. Although the graduate program might be over, Barrett's sea otter research definitely is not! That's because Barrett will now serve as the Science Communication Director & Research Scientist at Sea Otter Savvy.

Alumna, Arley Muth, Publishes Paper on Kelp Temperature Tolerances with Former Advisor, Dr. Mike Graham

Victoria Vasquez

Arley Muth, M.Sc. has published an article in the Ecological Society of America journal regarding, Recruitment tolerance to increased temperature present across multiple kelp clades. The paper also includes SJSU/MLML phycology professor, Dr. Mike Graham, Muth's former advisor as one of the co-authors. The researchers investigated twelve eastern Pacific kelp taxa and how their sporophyte production would be affected by changes in nitrate and temperature so as to determine the limiting factors for recruitment. Since graduating from SJSU/MLML, Arley Muth, is now pursuing her PhD at The University of Texas at Austin.

Alumnus, Ryan Manzer of our Physical Oceanography Lab, Publishes Work From His Thesis

Victoria Vasquez

One of the most special moments for MLML alumni is to have their thesis work published. Ryan Manzer, alumnus to the Physical Oceanography lab, is now one of those people; thanks to his recent publication, Physical factors influencing phytoplankton abundance in southern Monterey Bay in the journal of Continental Shelf Research. His co-authors consist of MLML's physical oceanography faculty, Dr. Tom Connolly & Dr. G. Jason Smith and former member, Dr. Erika McPhee-Shaw. Their research correlated physical factors such as inner shelf water temperature and upwelling relaxation events, to phytoplankton biomass.