Advances in the study of foraging behavior of cetaceans from 3D movement and video tags

David Cade, Hopkins Marine Station
Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - December 7th, 2017

Hosted by the Phycology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

David Cade was an educator (6 years in the outdoors and 6 years in a math classroom) before returning to science to pursue his passions. After earning a master’s degree in education at Stanford University in 2005 and a master’s in oceanography at Oregon State University in 2014, Cade is now in the midst of his Ph.D. work in Jeremy Goldbogen’s lab at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station where he studies the foraging ecology of baleen whales. 

 
Advances in the study of foraging behavior of cetaceans from 3D movement and video tags

For nearly all of human existence on the sea, our understanding of whales has been limited to what we can observe at the surface. For fully aquatic animals such as these, however, time spent on the surface is really a tiny fraction of the life cycle of these largest predators on the planet. Basic questions about feeding behavior and ecology have only begun to be answered in the last fifteen years with the advent of animal-borne sensors capable of logging cetacean behavior underwater. Only in the last three years have sensors that measure orientation and motion been combined with high-quality video cameras to provide us with a whale's eye view of the feeding events that are so critical to overall population recovery from 20th century lows. These devices have allowed old hypotheses to be tested, and new questions and insights have been generated with every new deployment.

Revealing the microscopic using underwater robotic sensors

Dr. Christina Preston, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 30th, 2017

Hosted by the Environmental Biotechnology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Chris Preston received her undergraduate degree at James Madison University, PhD at UC Santa Barbara with Ed Delong, and was a Post Doc at Hopkins Marine Station with Dave Epel.  Her early work was mainly describing symbiotic associations between marine invertebrates and bacteria/archaea.  Since joining MBARI over 15 years ago, her focus has shifted more towards studying microbial populations (free-living & particle attached) throughout the water column using in situ instrumentation.

 
Revealing the microscopic using underwater robotic sensors

One of the long-standing challenges common to studying microorganisms in the environment is acquiring and processing samples.  Traditionally, this has involved shipboard sample collection and laboratory-based analysis.  New in situ sensors combine novel engineering and molecular biological methods and can function underwater longer than the length of research cruises.  This allows scientists to monitor and experiment within the environment in a whole new way.  In this talk, I’ll discuss how the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) developed by MBARI can address the challenge of sample collection and processing over an extended period under non-traditional laboratory conditions, and its capability to support a variety of downstream molecular detection systems.  I’ll focus on lessons learned from the operation of our 2nd generation ESP, and how that has impacted development of our 3rd generation instrument.

Watch Dr. Preston’s MLML seminar presentation below:

Marine Heat Wave Impacts Bull Kelp Forest Ecosystems in Northern California

Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett, UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab
Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar Series - November 16, 2017

Hosted by the Fisheries and Conservation Biology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Laura Rogers-Bennett completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of California, Davis and two post-doctoral fellowships one at U.C. Santa Cruz’s, Institute of Marine Science and the other at the U. Washington’s, Friday Harbor Labs. Dr. Rogers-Bennett is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Marine Region working at the U.C. Bodega Marine Lab. The work in her lab focuses on marine invertebrate population dynamics, fishery management and marine conservation. In the lab they use an interdisciplinary approach combining field, laboratory and quantitative modeling to examine questions related to recruitment dynamics, MPAs, marine conservation biology, fisheries sustainability, ecosystem tipping points and climate change.

Watch Dr. Rogers-Bennett’s MLML seminar presentation below:

Aquaponics research at Humboldt State University

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe, Humboldt State University
Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 9, 2017

Hosted by the Phycology Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Fisheries Biology at Humbolt State University.  He received a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries from Louisiana State University, a MS in Aquaculture/Aquatic Science from Kentucky State University, and a BS in Biology from Universidad de Guadalajara.

Watch Dr. Cuevas-Uribe’s MLML seminar presentation below:

“pH”ingerprinting coastal oceans: connecting climate change, natural variability, and biological feedbacks

Dr. Nyssa Silbiger, CSU Northridge
Moss Landing Marine Labs Seminar series - November 2, 2017

Hosted by the Geological Oceanography Lab

MLML Seminar Room, 4pm

Open to the public

Dr. Nyssa Silbiger is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at CSUN.  She did her postdoc at UC Irvine, PhD at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Masters at UNC Chapel Hill, and Bachelors at Florida State University.  During her PhD, she was a NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar.  Her research broadly focuses on understanding interactions between anthropogenic stressors and natural variability on ecosystem processes.

Watch Dr. Silbiger’s MLML seminar presentation below:

Conjunction: The emerging connection of Cannery Row, the historic Pacific Northwest, John Steinbeck & Ed Ricketts, the Sea of Cortez, and the Saga of the Western Flyer

Michael Hemp, Cannery Row historian, founder and President emeritus of the Cannery Row Foundation
Moss Landing Marine Labs Special Seminar - October 24, 2017 (Tuesday)

MLML Seminar room, 12pm

Open to the public

Watch Dr. Hemp’s MLML seminar presentation below: