Posts by atarrant
Chrissy Hernández awarded ESA’s Lotka Prize
At least one good thing has come from a recent virtual meeting: Christina (Chrissy) Hernández was awarded the 2020 Alfred J. Lotka prize of the Theoretical Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America. The prize is given to the best poster presented by a student at the annual ESA meeting. Chrissy’s poster was entitled…
Read MoreBethany Fowler receives Ruth and Paul Fye Award
The paper: Fowler, BL, M.G. Neubert, K. R. Hunter-Cevera, R. J. Olson, A. Shalapyonok, Andrew R. Solow, H. M. Sosik (2020), Dynamics and functional diversity of the smallest phytoplankton on the Northeast U.S. Shelf, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201918439; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918439117 was selected as the best paper by a graduate student or…
Read MoreFrom unlocking secrets of Antarctic microbial systems to quarantining in the desert: An interview with Dr. Deepa Rao
Deepa Rao conducted her Ph.D. research within the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Biological Oceanography, advised by Dr. Mick Follows. She is a Spring 2020 graduate. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our students and faculty have all had to be resilient and resourceful. The last stages of Ph.D. research through the final defense are often stressful…
Read MoreJane Weinstock Awarded Ruth D. Turner Scholarship
Second-year student Jane Weinstock has been awarded a Ruth D. Turner Scholarship in Marine Biology. The $6500 award will provide support for Jane’s proposed research on “Ocean warming in the Western North Atlantic: Potential phenological changes in the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides.” She has provided a couple pictures of her sampling in the field (from a…
Read MoreThoughts on Online Teaching
The Spring 2020 semester was certainly an adventure. Our students and faculty displayed considerable resilience, patience, ingenuity and good-humor in navigating the transition to online teaching. It was a steep learning curve, but you all did a fantastic job of climbing it. I’ve attached a set of tips for online teaching based on “de-briefing” discussions with…
Read MoreCongratulations to NDSEG Fellow Zac Tobias!
Zachary (Zac) Tobias has recently been awarded a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. Zac proposal was titled “”Evolutionary dynamics of a widespread invasive fouling species.” Through his research, he will explore the genomic and physiological consequences of admixture/interbreeding between multiple introductions of a non-native tunicate (Botryllus schlosseri). He seeks to understand how these…
Read MoreCommentary on Covid-19 from a JP Alum
Dr. Petra Klepac received a Ph.D. from the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Biological Oceanography in 2007. Advised by Dr. Mike Neubert, Petra studied the mathematical epidemiology of phocine distemper virus in harbor seals. She’s currently an assistant professor of infectious disease modeling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She describes her current…
Read MoreAlia Hidayat wins HAB presentation award!
Alia Hidayat won the Best Student Speed Talk award at the 2019 US Harmful Algal Blooms Symposium in Orange Beach, Alabama. Alia’s talk was entitled “Domoic acid exposure induced transcriptional changes in the brain — potential effects on microglia.” Alia is a third-year student advised by Neel Aluru. In August, Alia gave an excellent short…
Read MoreReflections on MIT’s Kaufman Teaching Certificate
(Note: this post was largely written by Bethany Fowler, as described below) Many WHOI students and postdocs are interested in obtaining training and experience in teaching. One possible avenue is through the Kaufman Teaching Certificate program. JP student Bethany Fowler recently completed this program and has generously agreed to share her experiences: Why did I…
Read MoreAnnouncing Dr. Laura Weber
Congratulations to Dr. Laura Weber, who successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis, “Characterizing the ecology of coral reef microorganisms across different scales within the Caribbean” on September 11. Laura was advised by Amy Apprill. In her public defense, Laura showed results characterizing the microbial community composition in seawater surrounding reef-building corals. She compared microbial communities across…
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