The Department of Fisheries Oceanography is hosting David Bethoney, Executive Director at the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, for a seminar on “From Data to Discovery: The Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet”. This seminar will take place in SMAST East 101-103 on February 19, from 3-4. If you can’t make it in person, feel free to join via Zoom!

Abstract:

The CFRF Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet project aims to implement a cost-effective method for collecting essential biological data on two commercially important species: the American lobster and Jonah crab. This project utilizes a fishing vessel research fleet approach, where lobster and Jonah crab fishermen gather biological and environmental data during their commercial fishing trips. This presentation on the Research Fleet will consist of two parts. The first part will focus on the development and methods used in the Research Fleet, including results that directly relate to the project’s goals. The second part will highlight extension projects developed from the Research Fleet. These extension projects encompass a variety of topics and involve additional data collection and analysis based on participant interests and feedback from scientists and managers who rely on the data.

The Department of Estuarine and Ocean Science will be hosting Katrina Velle, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at UMass-Dartmouth on February 19! Dr. Velle will be discussing “The actin cytoskeleton drives cell migration in a model of the “brain-eating amoeba”. This seminar will take place from 12:30-1:30 in SMAST East 101-103 and on Zoom.

Abstract:

The “brain eating amoeba” Naegleria fowleri has a ~95% case fatality rate, and primarily infects children. Despite its clear importance, we have little understanding of the basic cell biological mechanisms that underlie Naegleria’s pathogenesis, which is key information for the identification of new drug targets. What is clear, however, is that actin assembly and disassembly drives many cellular processes in Naegleria. The Velle lab studies how the actin cytoskeleton promotes cell migration, cell division, and osmoregulation—three phenotypes important for establishing and spreading infection. This talk will specifically focus on cell migration. To initiate an infection, Naegleria amoebae must crawl through narrow channels in the skull to reach the brain. To study this process, we expose Naegleria gruberi (a nonpathogenic model system) to different types of confinement including microchannels. Using quantitative microscopy, we show that Naegleria amoebae seek out confinement; after contacting the entrance to a microchannel, cells continue to probe the surface until they get inside. Once cells fully enter these channels, they crawl extremely quickly (up to 100 microns/min) in one direction for millimeters. While migrating in confined environments, cells show hallmarks of “blebbing” motility, in which the plasma membrane detaches from the underlying actin cortex and blisters outward, creating an actin-free protrusion. This is in contrast to unconfined cells, which typically use actin-filled protrusions to crawl. Collectively, these data suggest that once Naegleria amoebae detect an opening to a narrow channel—similar to what they encounter during infection—cells will switch to blebbing motility to crawl quickly and persistently.

Keri Anne Goncalves will be defending her thesis on “Co-occurrence of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) Along Coastal Cape Cod, MA” on March 18th at 2 pm! Join us in person at SMAST East 101-103  or on Zoom!

Abstract:

Periodic aggregation and site fidelity are common occurrences for many terrestrial and aquatic species and is typically driven by resource availability. The white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a species driven by such, with aggregation behavior throughout multiple stages of its life history. Juveniles exhibit resource-driven aggregations at nursery sites where they may reside for extended periods of time. Large juveniles, sub-adults, and adults tend to exhibit seasonal residency at aggregation sites along their migration routes. Atlantic white sharks form distinct communities during critical early phases of life, though little is known of spatiotemporal trends during late life stages. Using a five-year acoustic telemetry dataset from eastern Cape Cod, MA, this study investigated spatiotemporal associations between tagged individual white sharks (n=185). Network analysis was applied to acoustic detection data (n=365,880 detections) collected seasonally from 2017-2021 to identify strength of associations between groups or individuals. These analyses revealed sexual segregation and behavioral avoidance over the course of the five-year study. In each year and across all years combined aggregating sharks exhibited overall significant negative co-occurrence patterns. This study finds notable interannual variations in social dynamics as well as associations among male and female sharks across multiple years emphasizing the possibility of sex-specific variations in social behavior.

 2025 UMass Intercampus Marine Science Research Symposium 

Wednesday, March 26 from 9am to 5 pm

Registration is now open – Click Here To Register!

Hosted by the School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) Graduate Student Association, the IMS Research Symposium is an opportunity for all UMass IMS Program faculty, research staff, and students to share their current or proposed research, receive feedback, and build their CV.

All attendees, presenting or not will have to register! The latest information about the symposium is available at the 2025 IMS Symposium Webpage, which will continue to be updated as time goes on with more dates and details!

This in-person event is free and is open to the public.

Call for poster and lightning talk presentations! 

If you choose to present a poster, that does not mean you will also have to present a lightning talk, they are both now separate and you can choose to do just one of the two, or both if you’re feeling daring!

Posters will be presented in a casual interactive format during the poster sessions.

Lightning talk presenters will present a 3 minute “lightning talk” accompanied by 1-3 PowerPoint slides. We are going to cap the lightning talk presentations at 20-25 participants this year so please sign up quickly – it is first come, first serve (in terms of who submits their abstracts, not who simply registers and declares they will be presenting)

Awards will be provided for the best overall poster presentation and best lightning talk. The deadline to register to submit your abstract for your poster or lightning talk is Monday, March 3, 2025. You can do so here. You will not be required to submit your actual poster or presentation until (Date TBD). You can do so here. We will continue to update the website as we finalize more dates and information!

We hope to see you there!

This year’s IMS Symposium will be held at SMAST East on Wednesday March 26th! Agenda and registration information to follow! Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Event time has been changed to 4-6 pm!

Join the Society for Women in Marine Science for their first event of the semester!

UMass Dartmouths Marine Science Student Association is hosting their holiday party this Wednesday, December 11th in SMAST East 101-103 at 5:00 PM! There will be food, trivia, and crafts!

Come support our lab’s very own Cole Carrano as he defends his PhD dissertation on “Modeling Index Selectivity for Fishery Stock Assessments”. Cole will be defending on Monday January 6th, 2025, at 10:00 am in SMAST East 101-103. It can also be viewed on Zoom. For more information about Cole’s dissertation, check out the event page!

Join us this Wednesday, December 4, for a seminar by M. Conor McManus. McManus will be presenting on “Using Advanced Technologies to Address Marine Ecosystem Survey and Assessment Needs.” More information about the presentation can be found here. The seminar will be held in SMAST East 101-103 from 3-4, or you can join via Zoom! We hope to see you there!

Join us for this week’s joint seminar featuring Michelle Bachman! Michelle will be presenting on “Diverse uses for the Species Distribution Models (SDMs) in New England fisheries management.” This seminar can be attended in person at SMAST East 101-103 or via Zoom on Wednesday from 3-4 pm.  Michelle’s abstract and additional information about the seminar can be found HERE.