Newswise — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As the 2nd- anniversary of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) offers environmental experts are available to speak about the impact of the spill, the lessons learned, and what remains to be done to clean up the environment and improve deep water oil drilling in the future.
NSU’s Oceanographic Center (OC) used part of a $10 million block grant from BP to conduct research on the Gulf Oil Spill’s impact on the marine ecosystem.
The OC is one of several educational institutions in Florida selected to work on 27 research projects that are investigating the oil’s impact on the Gulf’s ecosystem and marine life. The projects were selected by the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO), a consortium of 20 educational institutions throughout the state.
OC researchers are collaborating with other universities on four projects. These projects are among the 27 selected by FIO from the 233 proposals its members submitted.
Available for comment are:
Dick Dodge, Ph.D.Dean of Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic CenterExecutive Direction of NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute
He is the author of many scientific publications and reports. He has expertise on the effects of natural and man-induced impacts to coral reefs. He has served as an expert witness on coral reef injuries. He has been a board member of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. He is past Geological Editor and Managing Editor of the international scientific journal Coral Reefs. He served for 5 years as a member of the Scientific Review Board of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to oversee a Minerals Management Service project on the Galeta oil spill assessment. Dodge has conducted oil spill experiments in Panama to assess effects of oil and dispersed oil on tropical ecosystems. He is a former member of the coral advisory committee for the Southeast Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and currently on the coral advisory committee for the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council. Dodge is a founding member of the Florida Coastal Ocean Observing System Caucus and Research Consortium. He was Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium held July, 2008 in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. This was the largest coral reef conference in the world. Dodge is the elected Vice Chair of SECOORA (Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association), composed of ocean stakeholders from Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. He was appointed by the Florida Governor in 2010 to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Research Board.
Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D.Professor, NSU’s Oceanographic CenterDirector, NSU’s Guy Harvey Research InstituteDirector, NSU’s Save Our Seas Shark Centre
Genetics and conservation biology professor Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D, a research heavyweight in the shark and billfish worlds, has made several pioneering discoveries in the past decade.
As director of the OC’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), Shivji led an international research team in 2007 who showed for the first time that female sharks can reproduce without mating with a male. This is done through a type of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis. GHRI is dedicated to conducting the research required for conservation and proper management of the world’s wild fishes. Shivji has also co-led a research team that discovered a new species of billfish that looks like white marlin. This finding means that many white marlin have been misidentified for decades, casting doubt on previous scientific information about the overfished species. The discovery could have a major impact on commercial fishing, which has reduced white marlin populations.
Using DNA methods, Shivji and his students also traced hammerhead shark fins from the Hong Kong markets, where the fins are prized delicacies used in soup, to their geographic origins in the western Atlantic Ocean, where the sharks are endangered. This discovery will better help conserve and manage the species.
In addition, Shivji, who also directs the OC’s new Save Our Seas Shark Center, which is dedicated to shark research and conservation, has invented a DNA test that can determine which species of shark a fin came from in a matter of hours. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice used his test to successfully prosecute a Florida man who participated in dealing illegal shark fins.
Shivji’s efforts have impressed America’s most famous museum: The Smithsonian Institution. The institution is now displaying his work at The Sant Ocean Hall inside the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
Joe Lopez, Ph.D. Associate Professor, NSU Oceanographic CenterLopez has an extensive background in molecular biology and phylogeny of marine sponges. Lopez began his work in biomedical research at the National Institute of Health, which then led to a fellowship with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and then as a scientist at FAU-Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Currently, Lopez is a professor at the OC, where a major research focus is to characterize the biodiversity, molecular ecology, and evolution of marine organisms and microorganisms through the application of modern molecular tools. He strives to tie together marine invertebrate-symbiosis, gene expression of interacting organisms and complex communities, molecular biology and microbiology, metagenomics and the molecular phylogeny of marine sponges. Lopez applies biotechnology, bioinformatics and genomics methods to accomplish this.
One of his current projects is funded by the Florida SeaGrant College, and involves the characterization of gene expression patterns from diverse symbiotic microbial communities living within diverse marine invertebrates, such as deep sea sponges and corals. He also has ongoing collaborations focusing on the homeostasis and conservation of dwindling or unique marine habitats such as the Indian River Lagoon, and deep sea benthic invertebrate communities. He also integrates microbial survey data with ongoing Census of Marine Life (COML) initiatives such as the International Census of Marine Microbes based in Woods Hole.
Dave Kerstetter, Ph.D. Research Scientist, Adjunct ProfessorNSU Oceanographic Center
Kerstetter’s background is a combination of marine fisheries science and public policy, and his research interests are accordingly focused on direct, applied fisheries research projects. Kerstetter is involved with both commercial and recreational fisheries. Recently, he has started research in more traditional fisheries science with work on age-growth, diet, and reproduction of selected mesopelagic and pelagic fishes.
In addition to the fieldwork and research projects, Kerstetter feels that it’s essential for the field to engage the public regarding marine fisheries management and fisheries science. As part of this outreach, he regularly acts as a resource to the public and has contributed to popular magazines such as "Sport Fishing" and "Florida Sportsman". He has also served in a more formal advisory service role by serving on management committees and scientific panels, including the U.S. Advisory Committee to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Team for pilot whales and Risso's dolphins.
About Nova Southeastern University Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 28,000 students and is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate’s, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University’s significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement. For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.
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