Project UFO: On the Lookout for Alien Invaders in Nova Scotia
Starts: April 23, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Location: McHugh Auditorium, Watermen's Hall
Contact: Rochelle Seitz, 804-684-7698, [[seitz]]
Summary
Science lecture by professor K. Martha Jones of Cape Breton University, Canada.
Full Description
Title
Project UFO: On the Lookout for Dragon Worms and Other Alien Invaders in Nova Scotia, Canada
Background
Dr. Martha Jones is involved in communicating scientific information to general audiences, and was recently awarded a National NSERC Award for Science Promotion in recognition of her outstanding efforts in communicating biology to students of all ages and to the general public. She also received the Top Story award for 2008 for The Daily Planet television show. In addition to these efforts, Dr. Jones also serves the scientific community as the President of the Atlantic Canada Coastal and Estuarine Science Society and as a member of the governing board of the International Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. Dr. Jones was also appointed to the panel of experts responsible for developing the Nova Scotia Natural Resources Strategy, 2010. In her research program, she has trained 25 students. Her current research initiatives range from developing suitable biomonitors for environmental remediation to studying the effects of invasive alien species on ecosystems.
Abstract
Project U.F.O. (www.ProjectUFO.ca) is a collaborative initiative involving faculty and students at Cape Breton University, members of the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) Cape Breton, and community volunteers, with the objective of increasing public awareness of invasive alien species (IAS) threatening aquatic ecosystems in eastern Canada. Aquatic IAS currently present on Cape Breton Island include such notorious species as the European green crab, the lacy crust bryozoan, and the golden star tunicate, as well as less-well-known taxa such as the Japanese skeleton shrimp, the spinycheek crayfish, several additional tunicate species, and the invasive parasitic dragon worm (Anguillicoloides crassus) that is affecting American eels (Anguilla rostrata). Infection of an eel's swimbladder by A. crassus causes thickening, scarring and even rupturing of the bladder wall, secondary bacterial infections, decreased host activity level, and may subsequently interfere with the spawning migration of American eels to the Sargasso Sea. After the parasite was discovered in the Maritimes region, more extensive surveys were conducted in 2008-09 on the distribution of this exotic parasite throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Twenty-nine localities around Cape Breton Island were examined for A. crassus, as well as 139 sites from mainland Nova Scotia, and 62 sites from New Brunswick. Results from these surveys will be presented, as well as a number of outreach activities such as the Project UFO Day Camp with eel necropsy training.
