Welcome IDPBBC Graduate Student 2020 cohort!
Naomi Jainarine (mentor: Dr. Rebecca Asch): As an aspiring fisheries oceanographer, Naomi is interested in understanding how the phenology of ichthyoplankton and zooplankton are changing in relation to shifting environmental factors. Using an array of modeling techniques, Naomi will use time series data to investigate potential changes in the timing of ichthyoplankton and zooplankton blooms. Understanding how these events are shifting can provide insight on estimating recruitment in important fishery species.
Mariah Jones (mentor: Dr. Myon-Hee Lee): Mariah is working on exploring the role of the puf-9 protein using the nematode model system Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Mariah and advisor Dr. Lee are investigating puf-9’s possible tumor influence in C. elegans germline cells.
Andrew McMains (mentor: Dr. Jim Morley): Andrew is broadly interested in researching how habitat and environmental changes influence marine species. Currently, Andrew is working on a VEMCO acoustic tagging array for Archosargus probatocephalus centered around a Cedar Island, North Carolina oyster lease. Future projects will involve a multivariate analysis of a long-term North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries trawl dataset and an evaluation of fish distributions over various habitat types using an ARIS multibeam sonar imaging device (Sound Metrics).
Anna Wurz (mentor: Dr. Robert Hughes): Anna’s research is in optogenetic receptor tyrosine kinases, specifically Eph receptors, that are tethered to cryptochromes. The clustering of the receptor-fusions in response to light is utilized to understand the function and pathways of Eph’s in heart cells and neurons. This research can potentially be used to develop non-invasive therapies for many diseases.