Lela Schlenker

Advisor:

John Graves

Education:

B.A. Biological Sciences 2009, Smith College, cum laude

Research Interests:

Ecology of pelagic fishes

Field and Research Experience:

 

Technician: Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL 

• Reef Fish Survey, Shark Survey, Age and Growth of Red Snapper, ROV Video Survey

• Supervisor: Dr. Sean P. Powers

 

Intern: Edgerton Research Laboratory, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA 

• Delayed mortality / bycatch physiology of skates in the Gulf of Maine
• Supervisor: Dr. John W. Mandelman

 

Intern: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD

• Spatial and temporal variation of fishing pressure on blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, seine and trawl surveys
• Supervisors: Eric G. Johnson and Anson H. Hines

 

Intern: National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA 

• Movements of juvenile salmonids, habitat surveys, diet and drift analysis
• Supervisor: Dr. Peter Kiffney

 

Independent Study: Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador

• Surveyed effects of shrimp farming on localized invertebrate populations
• Advisor: Nicola Mears

 

Independent Study: Stonington, CT

• Sampled diet of bluefish and thorny skates in Fishers Island Sound onboard a commercial fishing trawler
• Advisor: Dr. James T. Carlton

 

Presentations & Publications

• Cicia, AM, Schlenker, LS, Sulikowski, JA, Mandelman, JW. 2011. Seasonal variations in the physiological stress response to discrete bouts of aerial exposure in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology-Part A. In press.

 

• Schlenker, LS, Gregalis, KC, Drymon, JM, Powers, SP. 2011. Using Multiple Gear Types for a Fisheries Independent Assessment of the Red Snapper Population in Alabama’s Reef Permit Zone. Benthic Ecology Meeting 2011. Mobile, AL.

 

• Cicia, AM, Schlenker, LS, Mandelman, JW, Sulikowski, JA. 2010. Investigating the acute physiological effects of air exposure and the implication on discard survival in skates from the western Gulf of Maine. Annual Science Conference ICES 2010. Nantes, France.

 

• Cicia, AM, Schlenker, LS, Mandelman, JW, Sulikowski, JA. 2010. The Acute Physiological Effects and Recovery from Graded Periods of Air Exposure in Skates from the Western Gulf of Maine. American Elasmobranch Society Meeting 2010.  Providence, RI.

 

• Aguilar, R, Johnson, EG, Hines, AH, Schlenker, LS, Roberts, PM, Goodison, MR, Kramer, MA. Spatial Dynamics of the Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Fishery in Chesapeake Bay. Benthic Ecology Meeting 2010. Wilmington, NC.

 

• Aguilar, R, Johnson, EG, Hines, AH, Schlenker, LS, Roberts, PM, Goodison, MR, Kramer, MA. Spatial Dynamics of the Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Fishery in Chesapeake Bay. American Fisheries Society Tidewater Annual Chapter Meeting, 18-20 March 2010, Annapolis, MD.

 

Awards:

• Zeigler Fellowship Award, Virginia Institute of Marine Science

 

Certifications:

• Wilderness First Responder
• Open Water SCUBA