CHESAPEAKE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY | SOLOMONS, MDAUGUST 2024ISSUE 96Lab Lines1It’s that transition time of the year again, not just the weather but the faces around campus. We bid farewell to our summer cohort of REU and other student interns and summer assistants and welcome a number of new graduate students to CBL. I still can’t believe it’s the start of the new semester already but please join me in welcoming Cailian Lui (Dr. Bi’s lab), Julia Smeltzer Dr. Harris’ lab), and Madison Sholes and Sarah Rains (both Dr. Wilberg’s lab) and wishing all of our graduate students an enjoyable and successful Fall 2024 semester. The end of the summer saw many eld trips, Dr. Laura Lapham and Anna Hildebrand were back in the Pacic recovering their deployed Osmosamplers with dives broadcast live. Lee Cooper, Jackie Grebmeier and lab members spent most of August on the RV Sikuliaq in the Bering and Chukchi seas for the NSF/NOAA funded Distributed Biological Observatory project photographing Polar bears…and collecting data and samples! Check out the great photos from Brian and Lee in this issue. Also some notable awards. Congratulations to Nina Santos (Ph.D. student Testa lab) along with her faculty mentor Theresa Murphy (FRA Testa lab) who were awarded the USM Langenberg ellowship and will be a featured display at our upcoming Open House event. Congratulations also to Dr. Michael Gonsior who was placed on The Analytical Scientist 2024 Power List as one of the 20th most inuential "Planet Protectors" using analytical science. His innovative work onnatural dissolved organic matter (DOM) characterization has on global impact. It's also the start of the events season. Our kicko will be CBL’s Open house on September 7 th , 2024, noon to 4pm. The Wednesday distinguished seminar series will start up again on September 18 th and our Science for Communities series for Fall 2024 will run every Tuesday evening from October 8 th through October 29 th with the theme highlighting the importance of long-term datasets using local examples. If you haven’t already done so please consider volunteering for these events and please check out the CBL Events Calendar for updates on all of these and additional events. IN THIS ISSUE:DIRECTORS VIEW 1IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 2-3RECENT PUBLICATIONS & AWARDED PROPOSALS4DEIC 4NEW FACES 5TAILWINDS 6IN THE NEWS 7UPCOMING EVENTS 7SAFETY CORNER 8
In follow up to our recent June newsletter I would like to let you all know that the student led paper on the Patuxent River is now available to read online (link here).This paper is the product of an Issue Study Group class last Spring (2023) led by Jeremy Testa, Laura Lapham, Ryan Woodland and Lora Harris and included CBL students Allison Dreiss, Amir Azarnivand, Anna Hildebrand and Syeda Ali, in addition to 3 other MEES graduate students.This is likely to be a very well read and cited paper in the environmental sciences. In Case You Missed It The Analytical Scientist 2024 Power List has chosen Michael Gonsior as one of the 20th most inuential "Planet Protectors" using analytical science. His innovative work on natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) characterization has on global impact.Nina Santos (Ph.D. student Testa lab) was awarded the USM Langenberg Fellowship along with her faculty mentor Theresa Murphy (FRA Testa lab).Anna Hildebrand and Laura Lapham will be on our cruise to recover OsmoSamplers and collect more sediment cores Aug 16-25. The cruise is run through the Ocean Observing Initiative which is an NSF funded cabled array on the seaoor. We will be using the remotely operated vehicle, Jason. The dives will be broadcast live on their website. So we invite you to tune in and take a look at what we are up to. Here's the link, enjoy!!
In Case You Missed It 3Lee Cooper, Jackie Grebmeier, Christina Goethel, Brian Marx and Robert Koontz (undergraduate at St. Mary's College of Maryland) spent almost all of August on the RV Sikuliaq in the Bering and Chukchi seas sampling as part of the Distributed Biological Observatory. The DBO project, funded by the National Science Foundation and NOAA, is expanding to other sites in the Arctic through an international cooperation network. The network development was endorsed in July by UNESCO as a contributing action to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.A Polar bear family photographed by Brian Marx from the ship's bridge.Left: Christina Goethel handles a core sample on the back deck of the Sikuliaq. Photo Credit: Lee CooperBrian Marx (right) and Robert Koontz (St. Marys College of Maryland undergraduate) deploy a van Veen grab for sampling the seaoor. Photo credit: Lee CooperJackie Grebmeier and Brian Marx collect water samples in the Baltic room on the Sikuliaq. Photo credit: Lee Cooper
6Julia Cortez / AP PhotoDEICDear CBL Community,Today, August 26th, is Women’s Equality Day. It was originally designated in 1973 by the United States Congress to recognize the Women’s Surage Movement and the enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which prohibits denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. This day also draws attention to continued eorts in the U.S. to eliminate sex- and gender-based discrimination.On this day, it is also important to recognize that the Nineteenth Amendment did not grant the right to vote to all women, and that the Women’s Surage Movement, in many instances, was exclusive of women of color and immigrants. On Women’s Equity Day, we also celebrate the eorts of Black women to secure surage with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which expanded voting rights to all women by outlawing discriminatory voting practices on account of race or color. Sincerely,The CBL Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC)The CBL DEIC is committed to listening, learning, and centering our community. Though we do our best to research all issues and content, we may not get everything right. If there is something that is misrepresented or incorrect, please let us know.Prichett, D., Bonilla Pagan, J.M., Hodgkins, C.L.S., & Testa, J.M. Controls on Water-Column Respiration Rates in a Coastal Plain Estuary: Insights from Long-Term Time-Series Measurements. Estuaries and Coasts (2024).New proposals: D. Secor. Collaborative Research Travel: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea: Travel Support for Academic Participants, 2025-2027. NSF (Cooperative with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute). $84,313. M. Tamburri. Support the Development of ISO Marine Environmental Protection Standards, 2024-2025. MARAD. $100,000. M. Tamburri. Bioaccumulation of Marine Coating Metals and Plastics in Oysters, 2024-2026. MARAD. $300,000.J. Frank. Patapsco and Back River WWTP Inuence in Patapsco River Project , 2024-2025. MDE. $59,713.J. Frank. Chesapeake Bay Monitoring FY2025: Analytical Services for Mainstem, Tributary and Shallow Water Quality Monitoring Programs. MDNR. $460,155. Recent Publications & Awarded Proposals4
New FacesSamantha Barry is a rising junior studying phys-ics at St. Mary's College of MD. Her academic interests are in computational modeling (CFD) and oceanic science. In her free time, Samantha enjoys hiking and cooking as well as personal programming projects. She has been volunteer-ing at CBL for a while, but joins us as an hourly employee working with Hali Kilbourne. Madison Sholes is originally from Virginia Beach. Madison Received her B.S. in Marine Science: Biological Oceanography from North Carolina State University. In her free time Madison likes to do any outdoor activity, reading, painting, and dancing. She is excited to be joining CBL and can't wait to meet everyone! Madison is a Graduate Research Assistant II working with Dr. Michael Wilberg. Angela Whitney joins CBL as Dr. Mitchelmore's Executive Assistant. Angela has her BS in Business and MS in Communications and Human Resources from Northeastern University. In her sparetime, Angela enjoys cooking, crafts, camping and boating on the bay.WELCOME ALL TO CBL!WELCOME ALL TO CBL!Cailian Liu as a Graduate Research Assistant II. Cailian will be working with Dr. Hongsheng Bi at CBL. When not working, she enjoys birding, bad-minton and animation.5
Tailwinds6General Tailwinds Updates* In July, FRA Caroline Tribble and PI Dave Secor attended the NY-SERDA State of the Science Workshop on Oshore Wind (OSW) Energy, Wildlife, and Fisheries at Stony Brook University. * Both presented posters highlighting research within the Tailwinds Fisheries Resource Monitoring and Marine Mammal Monitoring projects. The biennial meeting has grown to be the largest of its kind on oshore wind energy impact science for wildlife (marine mammals, birds, and even bats!) and sheries.Marine Mammal Monitoring* Flashing back to the beginning of summer, UMCES team members Caroline Tribble and Mike O’Brien along with Cornell University personnel Fred Channell and Derek Jaskula were back oshore to retrieve and re-deploy monitoring devices from our passive acoustic monitoring array. The devices recovered were deployed in October 2023 and monitored for the presence of large baleen whales, dolphins, porpoises, and sh with acous-tic tags. Shown in the picture, captain Evan Falgowski (far left) from University of Delaware and Tailwinds eld team members Fred Channell, Derek Jaskula, and Mike O’Brien (far right) aboard the R/V Daiber prior to device recovery.* During the recovery operation the team observed a diverse range of biofouling on the instruments, including mussels, sea stars, spider crabs, and even a sea urchin! Check out some of the interesting invertebrates that were found taking up residence on the equipment below.Photo credit: Dave SecorPhoto credit: Caroline TribblePhoto credit: Caroline TribblePhoto credit: Caroline Tribble Photo credit: Caroline Tribble
In The News Upcoming Events 7&ƌĞĞ͕ ĨĂŵŝůLJͲĨƌŝĞŶĚůLJ ĨƵŶKƉĞŶ ,ŽƵƐĞ^ĞƉƚĞŵďĞƌ ϳƚŚ͕ ϮϬϮϰϭϮ – ϰƉŵϭϰϲ tŝůůŝĂŵƐ ^ƚƌĞĞƚ͕ ^ŽůŽŵŽŶƐ͕ DhƐĞĨƵůΘĚƵĐĂƚŝŽŶĂů'ŝǀĞĂǁĂLJƐ^ĐŝĞŶĐĞĚĞŵŽƐ,ĂŶĚƐͲŽŶĂĐƚŝǀŝƚŝĞƐChesapeake Biological Laboratory’s Patuxent River Appreciation Day Saturday, October 12, 2024 ~ 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.PRAD takes place on the grounds of the Calvert Marine Museum. All visitor parking will be in the eld across the street, with easy access to the event. There is limited handicapped parking available at the Calvert Marine Museum during the event. Admission to PRAD is FREE; nancial support is provided by the Calvert County Government and monies brought in by food court fees. Excess funds are returned to the community in the form of grants. Click link for schedule of events: PRAD SCHEDULEGov. Moore announces nearly $20 million in campus safety grants (Fox 45 News/MocoShow/NottinghamMD) August 8The Maryland Higher Education Commission has awarded $18.75 million in campus safety grants to colleges and universities in Maryland, Governor Wes Moore announced today. The grants will help facilitate on-campus public safety infrastructure improvements. Schools that received funding include… University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Thanks to the eorts of the unit AD's, including Stacy Hutchinson, UMCES received a $375,000 grant to improve campus safety.Click Here
www.umces.edu/cbl | 410-326-4281P.O. Box 38 | 146 Williams Street | Solomons, MD 20688-0038Safety Corner: Cheryl Clark8This is an account of a laboratory accident that I received from the Laboratory Safety Institute and I thought I would share it in the newsletter. There is a video of the individual involved in the accident at the bottom of the page. Please be sure to listen to her story. Three In OneWhile working in the lab, a researcher noticed someone had tried to introduce thionyl chloride into a reaction ask. However, instead of reaching the ask, the thionyl chloride had accidentally ended up in the vacuum trap, where it froze along with some solvent. Unaware of the dangerous substance in the trap, the researcher proceeded to pour the contents into a waste bottle. This routine task quickly turned hazardous, as thionyl chloride is highly reactive with water. The chemical mixture spewed out of the funnel, splashing onto the researcher’s face and torso. The situation escalated when the researcher, startled by the unexpected reaction, gasped—allowing the harmful chemical to enter their mouth. Immediately, they felt intense burning in their mouth and throat, and their vision became severely impaired. Despite the sudden panic, the researcher instinctively made their way to the eyewash station. With eyes closed, they managed to start rinsing the chemical o but quickly realized that their throat was burning too badly to call for help. In an attempt to alert a nearby colleague (because you should never work alone in the lab), the researcher began stomping and banging on the bench, hoping to draw attention. However, their eorts were initially unsuccessful because the other person was listening to music at full blast with head-phones on, drowning out any noise. Desperate, the researcher resorted to throwing magnetic stir bars in the colleague’s direction. Fortunately, one of the stir bars hit the colleague, catching their attention, and prompting them to come to this researcher’s aid. Take-Aways: Understand the Chemicals You Are Working With: Always be fully aware of the substances in your work area and their potential hazards. Thionyl chloride is known for its reactivity with water, making it particularly dangerous if mishandled.Never Work Alone: It is equally important that colleagues remain alert and aware of their surround-ings.Use Protective Gear and Follow Protocols: Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and adherence to lab protocols can mitigate the risks of accidents.Be Prepared for Emergencies: Knowing emergency procedures, like where safe-ty equipment is located and how to contact help quickly, can make a signicant dierence in the event of an accident.Use of Headphones: Only use one earbud so that you can still be aware of your surroundings.Safety Goggles/Glasses vs. Vented Cover Goggles: Wear indirectly vented cov-er goggles, not directly vented safety goggles/glasses when working with hazard-ous chemicals. This researcher was wearing safety glasses at the time of the inci-dent. Therefore, when the reactant dripped down from her forehead it also dripped into her eyes, causing her impaired vision. Watch video here.Laboratory Safety Institute Real World Lab Stories August 16, 2024