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This scholarship is awarded annually to an academically distinguished graduate student to honor
the memory of its namesake, former Professor of Environmental Science Dr. Craig Smith.
This year the Smith Scholarship is awarded to Althea Moore for her outstanding contributions
to research.
Althea Moore came to VIMS with a distinguished academic record, graduating with a B.S. in Biology
from Earlham College, and with strong practical experience in a range of biological disciplines. Since
entering our graduate program less than a year ago, she has enriched our scholarly community with a contagious
enthusiasm for learning, a strong creative spark, and a refreshingly individual perspective on a wide range of topics.
She has also proved herself a model of focused dedication to her studies and development of her research
plans.
Althea’s interests focus on how interactions among organisms structure the way in which ecosystems
function and provide services to human society. In the midst of the tumultuous first year of core marine science courses,
she dove into a project synthesizing data on community interactions from previous studies. Her developing
work has already documented intriguing patterns in the functional diversity of animals near the base of
estuarine food chains. This research has implications not only for understanding food-web dynamics in Chesapeake Bay
seagrass beds, but also for understanding broader general principles by which ecological communities are organized
and function.
Althea Moore is clearly setting out on a productive and innovative career in marine ecology, and
is an asset to the VIMS community. She is a worthy recipient of the Craig Smith Fellowship.
Congratulations,
Althea! | top
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The Kelley Watson Fellowship recognizes a student who exhibits academic excellence and leadership
and has excelled in the core courses during the first year of graduate study. The fellowship is
named in memory of Kelley Watson, a member of the incoming class of September 2000 who impressed
her teachers and fellow students with her enthusiasm, commitment to academic excellence, and strong
promise for a successful marine science career.
This year the core course instructors have enthusiastically nominated Karinna Núñez for
the Kelley Watson Fellowship.
Karinna received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University
of the Republic in Uruguay, where she studied primary production in the Rio de la Plata estuary. As a young
researcher in Uruguay, Karinna analyzed hydrocarbons for the Uruguayan navy using gas chromatography, cultured
microbial communities for a hospital clinic, studied reproductive periods in electric fishes for a research
institute, and analyzed lipid composition in nursing South American fur seals for a university project. In 2004, she
came to VIMS with her husband Eduardo, and began working in the Center for Coastal Resources Management as a GIS technician.
To stay busy, she also had a daughter, Kamilla, and enrolled as a student at VIMS.
In her brief tenure in
the School of Marine Science, Karinna has proven to be an outstanding student and a remarkably productive
researcher. Her intellectual abilities are matched by an enthusiasm for learning and an irrepressible spirit
that make her an asset in any research effort. Karinna is already well on her way to completion of a thesis developing
and applying a multi-level erosion risk assessment model to tidal shorelines in Maryland. We wish her the best of luck
and congratulate her on this award.
Felicidades, Karinna! | top
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The Zeigler Student Achievement Award honors the past contributions to student needs of Dr. John Zeigler, the first SMS
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and the continuing contributions of Mrs. Marilyn Zeigler. The
award is presented annually for recognition of scholarly, professional, and personal integrity, and
for the contributions made to the VIMS through enthusiastic participation in its academic and
research programs.
This year’s award recipient is Dave Hewitt.
Dave
Hewitt’s accomplishments in the School of Marine Science have been exceptional. As a Willard
A. Van Engel fellowship recipient, Dave has successfully integrated fisheries science, ecological processes,
and statistical theory in his dissertation research, which has so far resulted in five papers either
published or in press, and two more in preparation. Dave made it a point to apply his research in a broader
arena, specifically to fisheries management of the blue crab, which has suffered an 80% population decline
in recent years. Dave used state-of-the-art tag-recapture techniques and advanced statistical methods
to estimate natural mortality of the blue crab. The results were vital to the 2006 Blue Crab Stock Assessment
and his prominent contributions led to his designation as a co-author of the stock assessment, a rare
circumstance for a graduate student.
In addition, Dave’s activities with the Graduate Student Association have been instrumental in revising the
core course structure of the School of Marine Science, and his initiative with Information-Theoretic Methods of Scientific
Inference led to adoption of this highly effective mode of inference by numerous faculty, staff, and students of the
institute. Simply put, Dave has been one of the brightest, most independent, and hard-working graduate students of
the School of Marine Science. Dave is truly an exemplary VIMS student and highly deserving of the Zeigler award.
Congratulations, Dave | top
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Steven Baer
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Mark Henderson
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Dr. Hargis established this annual award to recognize a first-year graduate
student based on superior academic performance and a demonstration of exceptional promise in marine
research. Nominations for the Hargis Fellowship are made by instructors in the first-year
core courses and forwarded to the Dean of Graduate Studies.
The co-winners of the William J. Hargis, Jr. Fellowship for 2007 are Steven
Baer & Mark Henderson.
Steve Baer received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Social
Thought and Political Economy. He was less than a stellar student back then—we suspect beer may
have been involved. After working for years in the corporate world, he decided to do what he had always
wanted to do—science! He went back to college, receiving a B.S. in Biology from the University
of Massachusetts, Boston, in 2007. This time he was a star student. While at UMass Boston he worked with
Juanita Urban-Rich on carbon cycling in copepods and got his first taste of oceanography. He has approached
his studies at VIMS with great enthusiasm. While many first years complain about the core courses, Steven
tends to walk around with a smile on his face, appreciating the simple joy that he’ll be able to
wear tennis shoes and khakis to work for the rest of his life. Though he is still developing his research
prospectus, he’s thinking big-picture nitrogen cycling, preferably in exotic locations.
Mark Henderson has demonstrated superior academic performance and
shows exceptional promise for a successful career in marine science. Mark arrived at VIMS with an outstanding
record of academic and workplace accomplishments, and a strong determination to pursue his Ph.D. degree.
Previous experiences conducting fisheries field research provided Mark with the confidence, maturity,
and focus necessary for successful multi-tasking, a skill particularly well suited to academic life.
In part, this award recognizes Mark’s academic achievements, especially the scholarship he demonstrated
in the core courses. This award also acknowledges Mark’s promise as a marine scientist. He has
a keen ability to grasp complex material and thoughtfully integrate new concepts; these skills and abilities
will serve him well as he pursues his professional goals in the years to come.
Mark received his B.S.
degree in Biology cum laude from the State University of New York, College
at Geneseo and his M.S. degree in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington. He
has conducted field work in the Pacific northwest, the wilds of Alaska, and now in Chesapeake Bay, where
he has been studying the ecology of summer flounder using acoustic telemetry with Dr. Mary Fabrizio and
Jon Lucy. Mark has already contributed a number of novel approaches to analyzing fisheries acoustic data
and his Ph.D. work holds promise of furthering our understanding of estuarine fish ecology. We look forward
to his continuing success!
Congratulations, Steve and Mark! | top
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The Matthew Fontaine Maury Student Fellowship Award is made possible by a
gift and pledge of Retired U.S. Navy Captain J. Maury Werth to honor his great-grandfather
Matthew Fontaine Maury, a son of Virginia often referred to as the "Father of Oceanography" and the
"Pathfinder of the Seas." The Maury Award recognizes interdisciplinary achievements in marine and
environmental scholarship, research, and/or policy/management efforts, and outstanding publications,
thesis, or dissertation work.
This year's winner is Andrij Horodysky.
Andrij has shown himself to be an interdisciplinary
scientist of the highest caliber. His dissertation research in the area of sensory biology of fishes works
at the intersection of organismal biophysics and ecology. His investigations of hearing, visual acuity,
and spectral sensitivity in estuarine fishes have required him to master theory and techniques from diverse
areas of sensory biology, including acoustics, biomechanics, and photobiology. This work is an ambitious
undertaking, requiring a high level of technical skill in the laboratory to execute properly.
In addition
to his outstanding research, Andrij has developed a masterful ability to communicate science effectively.
He has presented his research to a wide range of audiences, including recreational anglers, members of
advisory boards within the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and colleagues at several national and
international conferences. His presentations are detailed without being overwhelming, humorous yet serious,
with a top-notch sense of how to effectively convey complex and interdisciplinary topics.
Without question, Andrij has developed into an exceptional young scientist. He is highly motivated and
extremely productive, as evidenced by his role as co-PI on five grants from extramural agencies and co-author
of five peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Because of the quality and breadth of his research and his natural leadership
abilities, Andrij is a very deserving recipient of the Maury Award.
Congratulations, Andrij! | top
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Best Student Paper Awards
Each year a committee of faculty and students must undertake the difficult task of choosing the
best journal articles from the many high-quality papers written by VIMS graduate students. Each
paper considered is either accepted, in press, or published in a high-quality, peer-reviewed journal.
The papers truly reflect the superb quality of the research conducted by VIMS students and the outstanding
mentoring of their advisors.
This year’s choice for the best paper by a Master’s student goes to Ms. Emily
Yam for her article on “Starvation effects on aggregate colonization and motility of marine bacteria,” which
was published in Aquatic Microbial Ecology in 2007. The paper was co-authored by Kam Tang.
Sinking
aggregates are an important part of the “biological pump” that transports carbon and other materials
from the surface ocean to the deep. Yet recent research has shown that organic aggregates are not inert
sinking particles, but they continuously interact with bacteria in the surrounding water, whose activities
may modify the quantity and quality of the aggregates. In this paper, Emily combined behavioral observations, experimental
manipulations, and mathematical modeling to demonstrate that under starvation bacteria altered their swimming pattern
and the rate at which they colonize aggregates. These findings lend important insights into how aggregate-bacteria
interactions may differ between food-rich and food-poor waters, and how bacteria may adapt to a fluctuating food
environment.
The award for best paper by a PhD student goes to Dr. Joel
Hoffman for
his article on “Contribution of allochthonous carbon to American Shad production in the Mattaponi River, Virginia,
using stable isotopes.” Joel’s paper was published in Estuaries and Coasts in 2007. His co-authors
are professors Deborah Bronk and John Olney.
Joel’s Estuaries and Coasts paper provides evidence for an important
link between allochthonous organic matter and shad production and suggests that shad production during
high flow years can be largely supported with material brought in from outside the system. Joel is currently
a post-doctoral researcher at the EPA lab in Duluth, Minnesota. He and his wife, Shannon, are anxiously awaiting the
birth of their first child in June!
Congratulations Emily and Joel. | Read papers online (VIMS only) | top
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