September 2019
Rachel Best, Florida State University
Project: The impacts of macroalgae and ocean acidification on recruitment competition between scleractinian corals and octocorals
Research Advisors: Valerie Paul, Maggie Johnson
Rachael Best is a PhD student from Florida State University studying the effects of disturbance and global change on octocoral recruits. During her Link Fellowship, Rachael is studying the effects of macroalgae and ocean acidification on both hard coral and octocoral recruits through a manipulative experiment. She aims to determine whether octocorals are better able to withstand these disturbances than hard corals, allowing octocorals to persist, while hard corals are declining as a result of global change.
Megan Lott, University of Georgia
Project: Characterizing bacterial-algal interactions during harmful algal bloom events
Research Advisor: Valerie Paul
Consultants: Thomas Sauvage, Jennifer Sneed
Megan Lott is a PhD student from the University of Georgia studying environmental and public health microbiology. Megan's Link Fellowship aims to explore interactions between aquatic bacteria and harmful algae. During this fellowship, Megan will examine changes in bacterial communities during the succession of algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie Estuary. This research focuses particularly on the dynamics of pathogenic Vibrio bacteria during bloom events. Based in an understanding of bacterial-algal interactions, we may better understand the influence of HAB events on the ecology of pathogenic microbes.
Katrin Rehlmeyer, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Project: The effect of increasing salinity on the symbiosis between seagrass and lucinid clams
Research Advisors: Valerie Paul, Justin Campbell
Katrin is a MSc Biology student at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. During her Link Fellowship at the Smithsonian Marine Station, she will use the mesocosm facilities to grow and manipulate seagrass and lucinid clams. Seagrass decline is often typified by sudden collapses of whole meadows. By investigating the effect of increasing salinity on the symbiosis, she aims to determine the role of the disruption of the symbiosis during seagrass die-offs.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The Smithsonian Marine Station (SMS) has a long history of supporting the academic pursuits of students at all levels of education. One of the most successful programs is the 12-week Graduate Student Fellowship program, supported by a grant from the Link Foundation.
The association between the Smithsonian and the Link Foundation extends back to 1953, soon after the Foundation was established by Edwin A. and Marion C. Link. Mr. Link was a skilled aviator and is recognized as a mechanical genius. He is best known for his invention of the first Flight Simulator in 1929, and he later shifted his interest to ocean engineering and marine science and developed the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles.
The Link Foundation aims to support individuals and nonprofit institutions with research goals and interests that align with those of the founders, namely modeling, simulation and training, ocean engineering and instrumentation, and energy resources conservation and development.
The SMS at Fort Pierce, FL, received its first award from the Link Foundation in 1998 in support of graduate student fellowships in the marine sciences. Annual awards from 1998-2019 have totaled $342,000, and have supported 72 graduate students.
The Link Foundation/Smithsonian Institution graduate student fellowships are offered on a competitive basis through the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Fellowships, and supports the research efforts of three to four graduate-level students each year. During the 12-week program, Fellows work in association with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff who are either Marine Station investigators, or marine scientists from other Smithsonian entities who carry out a part of their research at the Station. Students are provided with work space at the station, full access to all the Station’s resources, as well as the guidance and expertise of their appointed research advisor during their fellowship.
Several Link Fellows have gone on to complete doctoral degrees and have returned to SMS as postdoctoral fellows. Others maintain a relationship by continuing to collaborate with SMS researchers or by bringing students of their own.
The staff of SMS looks forward to continuing to provide research opportunities to students through on-going support from the Link Foundation. Graduate students interested in the program should visit https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/smithsonian-marine-station/education-and-fellowships/graduate-fellowships for information on application requirements. The deadline for the 2020 cycle is February 15, 2020.