Connecting Research and Experts with Journalists

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A new study co-authored by professor Kam Tang of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science reveals that tiny aquatic organisms known as "water fleas" play an important role in carrying hitchhiking bacteria to lake and ocean habitats that are otherwise inaccessible due to stratified density boundaries. For organisms as small as bacteria, the boundary between water masses of different temperature and salinity may as well be a brick wall. Hitching a ride on larger zooplankton helps them break through to greener pastures.

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Professor Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has received a 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a global experimental network for studying how changes in biodiversity impact seagrass beds.

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Researchers with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science identify “alien pod” in local lake as a very large colony of freshwater bryozoans—aka "moss animals."

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A new study of sea-level trends by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science brings both good and bad news to localities concerned with coastal inundation and flooding along the shores of Chesapeake Bay.

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They share a first name and a passion for oceanography, but beginning in late January, professors Deborah Bronk and Deborah Steinberg of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will be polar opposites—literally. Bronk is scheduled to arrive in Barrow Alaska on January 25th to lead a team studying the Arctic coastal ecosystem. Steinberg will be leading her own team into their fourth week of shipboard research in the waters off the Antarctic Peninsula.

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Researchers with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have set two Antarctic firsts by successfully deploying an underwater glider at 77° south and diving beneath the Ross Ice Shelf.

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A new study by an international team including professor Mark Luckenbach of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that the decline of oyster reefs is a global problem. The team's analysis shows that oyster reefs are at less than 10% of their prior abundance in 70% of the 144 bays studied around the world.

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An international research team finds that loss of plant biodiversity disrupts the fundamental services that ecosystems provide to humanity.

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A joint study between local oyster growers and researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science suggests that moving farmed oysters into saltier waters just prior to harvest nearly eliminates the presence of a bacterium that can sicken humans.

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A new VIMS study shows that turbulence from boat propellers can and does kill large numbers of copepods—tiny crustaceans that are an important part of marine food webs.