Rochelle D. Seitz

Research Associate Professor

Email: [[seitz]]
Phone: (804) 684-7698
Office: Andrews Hall 340
Website: {{http://www.vims.edu/bio/community/}}
Department: Biological Sciences

Education

• B.A., Colgate University
• M.A., Ph.D., College of William and Mary

Research Interests

My research interests center around Benthic Community Ecology, particularly changes in benthic invertebrate diversity with environmental stress, predator-prey dynamics, top-down versus bottom-up control of benthic systems, and conservation biology. My current research includes nursery habitat quality and food availability for the blue crab in Chesapeake Bay, field experiments on benthic predator-prey relationships, bivalve ecology, population dynamics, effects of hypoxia on benthic systems, and food-web dynamics. Additional interests include experimental and theoretical population and community ecology of marine benthic and epibenthic organisms focused towards a quantitative understanding of processes operating in estuaries and the coastal ocean.

Current Projects

• Benthic Habitat Quality in Shallow-Water Nurseries of Chesapeake Bay. -- Funded by NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office.   November 2005 -November 2008. PI.
• Alternative Ecosystem-Based Restoration Approaches with Native Oyster Metapopulations in Chesapeake Bay.  Funded by the Army Corps of Engineers.  July 2005- July 2007.  (co-PI with PI R. Lipcius, co-PIs J. Hoenig, S. Schreiber, and H. Wang).
• Blue Crab Ecology and Fishery Biology. Funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Co-PI with R. Lipcius).
• Prey Availability and Enhanced Production of Artificial Reefs for Recreational Fish and Native Oysters.  Funded by VMRC, Virginia Recreational Fishery Advisory Board.  March 2007-April 2008. PI
• Quantitative Valuation of Nursery Habitats for the Blue Crab. Funded by Virginia Sea Grant.  Feb. 2007-Jan. 2009 (Co-PI, with PI R. Lipcius, and co-PIs J. Hoenig, B. Orth, S.Schreiber, and J. van Montfrans).
• Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Coastal Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Amount:  April 2006-April 2011 (co-Director, with Director L. Schaffner). Funded by the National Science Foundation.
• Virginia’s Governor’s School Marine Science Apprenticeship.  March 2006- March 2007. Funded by the Virginia Department of Education.  Director.

Selected Publications

• Seitz, R.D., R.N. Lipcius, N.H. Olmstead, M.S. Seebo, and D.M. Lambert.  2006. Influence of shallow-water habitats and shoreline development upon abundance, biomass, and diversity of Chesapeake Bay Benthos and their predators.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 326: 11-26. (see article)
• Lipcius, R.N., D.B. Eggleston, K.L. Heck, Jr., R.D. Seitz, and J. van Montfrans.  In press.  Post-settlement abundance, survival, and growth of postlarvae and young juvenile blue crabs in nursery habitats.  Chapter 13, pp. 535-565 In Kennedy, V.S., L.E. Cronin (Eds.) Biology and Management of the Blue Crab.  University of Maryland Press, 800 pp.(see article)
• Schreiber, S.J., R.N. Lipcius, R.D. Seitz, and W.C. Long.  2006.  Dancing between the devil and the deep blue sea: the stabilizing effect of enemy-free sinks and victimless sinks.  Oikos 113: 67-81. (see article)
• Seitz, R.D., R.N. Lipcius, M.S. Seebo. 2005. Food availability and growth of the blue crab in seagrass and unvegetated nurseries of Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 319: 57-68. (see article)
• Seitz, R.D. 2005. Introduction to the proceedings of the 2003 Blue Crab Symposium: Genetics, ecology, and conservation of the blue crab. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 319: 1-2. (see article)
• Lipcius, R.N., R.D. Seitz, M.S. Seebo and D. Colón-Carrión. 2005. Density, abundance and survival of the blue crab in seagrass and unstructured salt marsh nurseries of Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 319: 69-80.
• Schreiber, S.J., R.N. Lipcius, R.D. Seitz, and W.C. Long. Dancing between the devil and the deep blue sea: the stabilizing effect of enemy-free sinks and victimless sinks. Accepted for publication Oikos (January 2005).
• Seitz, R.D., L.S. Marshall, A.H. Hines, and K.L. Clark. 2003a. Effects of hypoxia on the Baltic clam (Macoma balthica) and predation by the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257: 179-188.
• Van Dover, C.L., P. Aharon, J.M. Bernhard, M. Doerries, W. Flickinger, W. Gilhooly, K. Knick, S. Macko, S. Rapoport, C. Ruppel, J. Salerno, R.D. Seitz, B.K. Sen Gupta, T. Shank, M. Turnipseed, R. Vrijenhoek, E. Watkins. 2003. Blake Ridge methane seeps: Characterization of a soft-sediment, chemosynthetically based ecosystem. Deep Sea Research I 50: 281-300.
• Seitz, R.D., R.N. Lipcius, W.T. Stockhausen, K.A. Delano, M.S. Seebo, and P.D. Gerdes. 2003b. Potential bottom-up control of blue crab distribution at various spatial scales. Bulletin of Marine Science 72 (2): 471-490.
• Lipcius, R.N., W.T. Stockhausen, R. D. Seitz, and P. Geer. 2003. Spatial dynamics of the blue crab spawning stock in a protected sanctuary-corridor in Chesapeake Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science 72 (2): 453-469.
• Seitz, R.D., R.N. Lipcius, A.H. Hines, and D.B. Eggleston. 2001. Density-dependent predation, habitat type, and the persistence of marine bivalve prey. Ecology 82 (9): 2435-2451.
• Seitz, R.D., and R.N. Lipcius. 2001. Variation in top-down and bottom-up control of marine bivalves at differing spatial scales. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 58: 689-699.
• Seitz, R.D., R.N. Lipcius, W.T. Stockhausen, and M.M. Montane. 2001. Efficacy of blue crab spawning sanctuaries in Chesapeake Bay. Spatial Processes and Management of Marine Populations. Kruse, Bez, Booth, Dorn, Hills, Lipcius, Pelletier, Roy, Smith, and Witherell (Eds). University of Alaska Sea Grant, AK-SG-00-04, Fairbanks, pp. 607-626.
• Lipcius, R.N., R.D. Seitz, W.J. Goldsborough, M.M. Montane, and W.T. Stockhausen. 2001. A marine dispersal corridor: deep-water migration pathway for adult female blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay. Spatial Processes and Management of Marine Populations. Kruse, Bez, Booth, Dorn, Hills, Lipcius, Pelletier, Roy, Smith, and Witherell (Eds). University of Alaska Sea Grant, AK-SG-00-04, Fairbanks, pp. 643-666.
• Seitz, R.D. 1998. Incorporation of soft-sediment systems into models of marine benthic community regulation. Marine and Freshwater Research 49: 817-826.
• Seitz, R.D., and L.C. Schaffner. 1995. Population dynamics and secondary production of the polychaete Loimia medusa (Savigny). Marine Biology 121: 701-711.
• Libelo, E.L., W.G. MacIntyre, R.D. Seitz, and L.F. Libelo. 1994. Cycling of water through the sediment-water interface by passive ventilation of relict biological structures. Marine Geology 120: 1-12.

Current Students

Major Advisor

• M.S.  Co-Major advisor for Samuel K. (Kersey) Sturdivant (entered fall 2006)
• M.S.  Major advisor for Amanda Lawless (entered fall 2005).  Received Kelly Watson Fellowship 2006 and Hunter B. Andrews, Jr., Fellowship 2007.  Master's thesis topic: Effects of Shoreline Development and Oyster Reef Placement on Benthos, Oysters, and Predators in Lynnhaven Bay, Virginia
• Ph.D.  Major advisor for Bryce Brylawski (entered fall 2003). Dissertation topic: The implications of Macoma balthica growth and trophic interactions on enhancement of Callinectes sapidus stocks.
• PhD.  Major advisor for William Christopher Long (entered fall 2002).  Received EPA GRO Fellowship in 2005. Dissertation topic: Hypoxia and Macoma balthica: ecological effects on a key infaunal benthic species.

Student Committees

• M.S.:  Justin Falls (VIMS, Entered Fall 2004)
• M.A.: Kristin Erickson (W & M, Biology Department, Graduated Spring 2007). Master's thesis topic: Inactive Sulfide Mounds of the Manus Basin: Invertebrate composition and potential for a chemoautotrophic food web.

Past Students

Graduate Students

• Andrea Maniscalco. (Committee member). Thesis topic: Comparative pathology of the eyes of decapod hosts infected by microbial agents
• Jennifer Dreyer. (Committee member) College of William and Mary, Department of Biology. Thesis topic: Dynamics at hydrothermal vents: evidence for stable macrofaunal communities in mussel beds on the northern East Pacific Rise.
• Kristen Delano. (Committee member) Department of Fisheries, Crustacean Ecology. Thesis topic: Growth and fecundity of the baltic clam Macoma balthica in a source-sink system
• Kathleen Knick. (Committee member) College of William and Mary Department of Biology. Thesis topic: Comparison of mussel-bed fauna at the Blake Ridge and Florida Escarpment seeps.

Undergraduates and Other Interns

• Miranda Westphal, NSF REU intern (" Diet of the Juvenile Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, in Shallow-water Nurseries in Response to Large-scale Variations in Benthic Communities"), and Rachel Clark, VIMS Governor’s School intern ("Optimal habitats in which to release juvenile crabs: Crab and clam comparisons"), Summer 2006
• Francisco Soto-Santiago, NSF REU Intern, and Ian Keane-Babcock, VIMS Governor's School Intern, Summer 2004, Effects of predation and food availability on blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, enhancement
• Andrea Barber, NSF REU Intern, Summer 2003, Bivalve populations and carrying capacity of coves enhanced with juvenile blue crabs
• Mary Cassie Stoddard, VIMS Governor's School Intern, Summer 2003, Assessment of Littoraria irrorata populations subject to varying predation levels
• Theresa Haynes, NSF REU Intern, and Stephanie Gera, VIMS Governor's School Intern Summer 2002, Effects of shoreline development on the benthic community and its predators
• Jill Fox, NSF REU intern, Summer 2001, Habitat-specific differences in abundance and condition of Macoma balthica in the York River
• Katy Dannenberg, VIMS Governor's School Intern, Summer 2001, Effects of burial depth on predation of clams in various habitats
• Bethany Devoy, NSF REU intern, Summer 2001, The intrusion of hypoxia into the Chesapeake Bay MPAC and its effect on blue crab distribution
• Cassandra Brooks, NSF REU Intern, Summer 2000, Immigration and emigration of Macoma balthica in sand and mud habitats in the York River
• Melissa Barger, VIMS Governor's School Intern, Summer 2000, Density-dependent predation and survival of Macoma balthica
• Julianne Rowehl, NSF REU Intern, Summer 1999
• Kathleen Van Eron, VIMS Governor's School Student, Summer 1999
• Melanie Culin, NSF REU Intern, Summer 1998
• Steven Hudgins, NSF REU Intern, Summer 1994
• Elenor Eyster, VIMS Governor's School Intern, Summer 1994

Courses

• MSCI 698 (06): Human Impacts on Ecosystem Services: Habitat Degradation.
• MSCI 653: Marine Benthos
• MSCI 502: Coastal and Estuarine Processes, Issues and Investigations
• MSCI 501:  Fundamentals of Marine Science (Coordinating Teaching Assistant and Contributing Lecturer)
• MSCI 526:  Introduction to Biological Oceanography (Teaching Assistant and Contributing Lecturer)
• MSCI 653:  Marine Benthos (Contributing lecturer)
• MSCI 664:  Conservation Biology (Contributing lecturer)
• MSCI 667:  Experimental and Quantitative Ecology (Contributing lecturer) 
• Oceanography (Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA)
• Physiology of Marine Organisms (Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA)
• Invertebrate Zoology (Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA)
• Organismal Biology (Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA)

Awards

• 2001:  Research Associate.  Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater MD
• 1999:  Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship.  Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater MD
• 1999: ICES Young Scientist.  Participant in International Conference on Marine Ecosystem Perspectives.   Gilleleje, Denmark, 20-24 November, 1999
• 1995: American Predoctoral Fellowship.  American Association of University Women (one year stipend)
• 1993: Dean's Award for Advancement of Women in Marine Science. The College of William & Mary, School of Marine Science

Professional Memberships

• 1998-present, Member, Ecological Society of America
• 1989-present, Member, Estuarine Research Federation
• 1989-1999, Member, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography

Collaborative Efforts

• Cindy Lee Van Dover, Duke University
• Rom Lipcius, Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Jacques van Montfrans, Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Harry Wang, Department of Physical Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Tuck Hines, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center