VIMS

2008 Top Stories

VIMS hosts oil and gas workshop

VIMS hosts a scientific workshop to determine research needs concerning potential development of Virginia's offshore oil and gas resources.

Patterson receives Lockheed Martin Award

The Marine Technology Society honors Assoc. Professor Mark Patterson with its Lockheed Martin Award for Ocean Science and Engineering.

Taylor receives award for service

Professor Dennis Taylor was recently awarded a 2008 President's Award for Service to the Community.

Dead zones continue to spread

A Science article co-authored by VIMS Professor Robert Diaz shows that the number of "dead zones"—areas of seafloor with too little oxygen for most marine life—has increased by a third between 1995 and 2007.

SunTrust Gift supports VIMS graduate students

The SunTrust Mid-Atlantic Foundation has made a 5-year, $100,000 grant to the VIMS Foundation to establish an endowed fellowship for graduate students enrolled in the School of Marine Science at VIMS.

Pollutants found in deep-sea octopods and squids

VIMS researchers have detected manmade contaminants in the tissues of deep-sea squid and octopi. The team's discovery helps explain elevated contaminant levels recently found in whales and other marine mammals, many species of which depend on deep-sea squid and octopi for food.

Survey shows growth in VA clam, oyster aquaculture

A survey by researchers with the Sea Grant program at VIMS shows that shellfish farmers planted more than half a billion clams and 18 million oysters in Virginia waters last year. The annual survey, which began three years ago, marks the first effort to track economic trends in shellfish aquaculture in the Commonwealth.

VIMS team pursues street-level storm-tide predictions

VIMS researchers continue to pursue their long-term goal of providing street-level predictions of storm-tide flooding along the Chesapeake Bay shoreline. Emergency managers will be able to use this information to alert individual neighborhoods during hurricanes and nor'easters.

Seagrass restoration effort with volunteers

VIMS collaborates with The Nature Conservancy and volunteers to help collect up to 20 million eelgrass seeds on the seaside bays of Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Ferguson Gift Supports VIMS Graduate Students

Ferguson Enterprises of Newport News has pledged $75,000 to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to support graduate student education and public outreach at the Gloucester Point campus.

DDT persists in Antarctic ice

Research by VIMS graduate student Heidi Geisz and colleagues shows that DDT and its breakdown products persist within the tissues of Adelie penguins, three decades after use of the powerful pesticide was banned in most countries. The findings raise concern about the potential cumulative effects of contaminants on penguins and other Antarctic predators.

2007 VIMS Service Awards

VIMS Dean and Director John Wells bestows service and student awards on selected individuals from the VIMS community during the Institute's annual Award Ceremony.

2007 VIMS Student Awards

VIMS Dean and Director John Wells bestows service and student awards on selected individuals from the VIMS community during the Institute's annual Award Ceremony.

Norfolk Dredging gift helps VIMS make history

A major gift from Norfolk Dredging Company will help VIMS researchers advance their studies of seafloor history and ecology. VIMS will use the funds to purchase an automatic core logger that can uncover a wealth of environmental data from seafloor sediment cores.

Musick honored for lifetime opus

Prof. Jack Musick receives the Commonwealth's Lifetime Achievement award for his work on the ecology and conservation of marine fishes and sea turtles.