Graduate Students

Taylor Daley, University of Southern Mississippi

Taylor Daley: graduate student at the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Taylor Daley is working with Dr. Robert Leaf studying the biostatistical and fishery characteristics of poorly characterized forage fish stocks from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. Taylor says, "The SCeMFiS grant has provided me with the opportunity to work with a very a specialized network of academic and industry leaders from many institutions and groups. I will be traveling to New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island to obtain samples being collected by commercial fishers, Lunds and SeaFreeze. It is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with experts in the field, including NMFS experts in age and growth.”

See more details of Taylor's research in the Education Spotlight

Ben Marcy-Quay: graduate student at Cornell University

Benjamin Marcy-Quay, Cornell University

Ben Marcy-Quay is a PhD student and Graduate Assistant at Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources. He began his degree in January 2015 with Dr. Patrick Sullivan following the completion of his Master's degree, also from Cornell. His research focuses on the creation and testing of a sex-specific population dynamics model for summer flounder that takes into account the sexual dimorphism found in many flatfish species. Ben says "working with SCeMFiS is a fantastic opportunity to advance science in cooperation with the industry that this research is based around. I believe that these interactions are key to the development and implementation of effective applied research. In addition, I've greatly enjoyed the chance to network with other marine researchers."

Jason Morson, Rutgers University

Jason Morson: graduate student at Rutgers University

Jason Morson is a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolution program at Rutgers University and a researcher at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory. Jason is interested in population dynamics, stock assessment, and fisheries management. For part of his dissertation, Jason is working to understand how we can account for sexually dimorphic characteristics in modeling population dynamics and in managing fisheries. Working with Dr. Daphne Munroe, his SCeMFiS-funded project will examine the sex ratio of discarded fish in the summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) recreational fishery. Jason says, "I appreciate having an opportunity to work cooperatively with industry stakeholders and understand, from their point of view, the most pressing issues facing assessment and management of marine resources."

Sara Pace, USM

Sara Pace: graduate student at the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Sara Pace is a Master’s student and Graduate Assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab. She began working on my Master’s degree in Coastal Sciences with my advisor Dr. Eric Powell in August of 2014 and is currently working on a project to improve reference point formulation to reduce the uncertainty in stock status in ocean quahogs. Sara says, "The SCeMFiS grant has provided me with the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Roger Mann at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where I will be spending the summer aging ocean quahogs for my thesis work. Being a SCeMFiS graduate student has given me the opportunity to work towards my Master’s degree while gaining valuable research experience, as I am exposed to both academic and industry interactions."

Evidence of multidecadal recruitment in the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica in the western Atlantic Ocean

Poster from Spring Industry Advisory Board Meeting, April 2015

Jeremy Timbs, USM

Jeremy Timbs: graduate student at the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Jeremy Timbs is a Master’s student and Graduate Assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab. He originally began the pursuit of a Master's degree in Tennessee studying parasites of sharks. Jeremy transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi in January 2016 to work with Dr. Eric Powell as a Master's student. His thesis project involves a stock and recruitment analysis of Atlantic surfclam.

Undergraduates

Ryan Harner, Stockton University (courtesy Daphne Munroe, HSRL)

Ryan Harner: undergraduate student at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey

Ryan Harner is a Stockton University Environmental Science student with a Veteran's Research Supplement (VRS) through Rutgers University. He worked during the summer collecting summer flounder samples for the SCeMFiS project and will return in the spring to continue to do extra work on the summer flounder discard project. Ryan will be presenting the poster "Sex Ratio of Summer Flounder Discards in the Recreational Fishery" at the MidAtlantic Chapter of the American Fisheries Society in Bordentown, NJ, Oct. 27/28, 2016

Rachel Marshall, Rutgers University (courtesy Daphne Munroe, HSRL)

Rachel Marshall: undergraduate student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey

Rachel Marshall was awarded runner up in the Rutgers REU (RIOS) program for the poster "Sex Ratio of Summer Flounder Discards in the Recreational Fishery." This poster presented data about the interim (mid-season) results. She was supported by the Rutgers REU in Ocean Sciences program.

ESS Pursuit

Vessels

Above: Sara Pace and Chase Long next to the clam dredge "Christy" and Below: the fishing vessel "Jersey Girl" and at right "ESS Pursuit"

SCeMFiS wishes to thank the captains and crew of the fishing vessels: Pursuit, Betty Sue, Jersey Girl and Christy for their long days and nights of hard work on the Atlantic Ocean.