{"id":11151,"date":"2016-03-25T12:46:40","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T16:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=11151"},"modified":"2016-03-25T12:46:40","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T16:46:40","slug":"full-epscor-impact-research-training-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2016\/03\/25\/full-epscor-impact-research-training-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Full EPSCoR impact: Research, training & education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Carol<\/a>
Photo by Beau Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carol Thornber<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Rhode Island<\/a><\/strong>
\nAssociate professor; marine population and
\ncommunity ecology, algal ecology<\/strong>
\nRI NSF EPSCoR<\/a> lead principal investigator<\/strong>
\nSURF<\/a> program mentor<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Rhode Island STAC<\/a> awards<\/h3>\n

2008 STAC grant: Understanding and Better Management of “Green Tide” in Narragansett Bay, RI.<\/strong> Macroscopic green algae play an important ecological role in Narragansett Bay, offering habitat and providing a valuable food source. But as green tides increase in frequency and duration, there has been growing concern about their capacity to interfere with ecosystem processes and cause environmental degradation. The research will help scientists better predict algae blooms and manage them when they occur, thereby minimizing their environmental and economic impacts.
\nCollaborators:<\/strong> Carol Thornber, URI; Brian Wysor, RWU<\/p>\n

\n

2012 STAC grant: Climate-Driven Impacts on the Formation and Persistence of Macroalgal Blooms \u2014 Bringing Ulva Bloom Biology into the Genomics Era.<\/strong> This project assessed the ecological and genomic aspects of the formation of harmful macroalgal blooms in response to climate change in Narragansett Bay and used data to predict and monitor harmful blooms.
\nCollaborators:<\/strong> Carol Thornber, URI; J.D. Swanson, SRU<\/p>\n

\n

2013 STAC grant: Estimating the Potential for Evolutionary Adaption of Marine Organisms to Climate Change.<\/strong> This project focused on a main objective of the NSF EPSCoR program: To make R.I. an international leader in understanding and predicting the response of marine organisms and marine ecosystems to climate variability. The team used\u00a0native marine shrimp to study the evolutionary potential of marine species to warming waters. Funding also \u00a0trained the next generation of marine scientists and share information on career pathways in the private industry, government agencies and higher education.
\nCollaborators:<\/strong> Jason Kolbe, URI; Carol Thornber, URI; Jason Grear, U.S. EPA<\/p>\n

\n

2014 STAC grant:<\/strong> Developing an Aerial Imaging System Using a Robotic Helicopter for Tracking Harmful Algal Blooms in Narragansett Bay.<\/strong> Working in partnership with the state Department of Environmental Management and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, an ocean engineer and marine biologist developed a unique approach to monitor and analyze of harmful macroalgal blooms in Narragansett Bay. The method \u2014 a low altitude aerial survey with small robotic helicopters \u2014 is a means to provide high resolution, large area data coverage over time at a reasonable cost. Once proven, this new autonomous robotic imaging can be used to not only to collect data, but also to visualize global climate change in compelling and immediate ways.
\nCollaborators:<\/strong> Stephen Licht, URI; Carol Thornber, URI; Christopher Deacutis, RI DEM; Giancarlo Cicchetti, US EPA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Undergraduate student to postdoc, seaweed to mysid shrimp \u2014 the Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR grant runs through the people and projects of Carol Thornber\u2019s research work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cEPSCOR has touched nearly everything in my lab,\u201d says Thornber, named lead principal investigator of RI EPSCoR in the summer of 2014. \u201cThe support has been incredibly helpful. It\u2019s provided the opportunity to do a lot more than I would have been able to do otherwise, and has stimulated other grants to the NSF<\/a>, EPA<\/a> and other agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

SURF students, graduate fellows, Ph.D. candidates, and postdocs. Travel to conferences and poster presentations. RI Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) awards and collaborations; research that cuts across disciplines and institutions. Cutting edge technology at shared core facilities.<\/p>\n

Although not exclusive, nor direct, the supplemental nature of the EPSCoR funding helps sets the stage for Thornber\u2019s research into the impact of climate change on harmful algal blooms and mysid shrimp, both of which play significant roles in the Narragansett Bay ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The projects range from bringing greater understanding of seaweed blooms, investigating reproductive biology and gene expression, to how mysid shrimp species respond to different water temperatures and the affect of ocean acidification on predator cues.<\/p>\n

Collaboration with URI colleague Stephen Licht<\/a>, assistant professor, ocean engineering, focuses on developing aerial imagery to monitor and map seaweed blooms. Work on a Rhode Island Sea Grant<\/a>-funded project looks at an invasive red algal species with an impact north and south of Cape Cod, and its influence on marine communities. An EPA collaboration investigates the effects of ocean acidification on coastal systems.<\/p>\n

Other projects explore algal bloom dynamics (how will species respond to increases in water temperature), chemical defenses (does Ulva<\/em> chemically inhibit growth of other species), and herbivore control (the impact of snails on blooms).<\/p>\n

Anyone who goes for a walk along the Rhode Island coast or swims or fishes understands the importance and impact, the effects of the blooms disrupting leisure activities and clogging and tearing fishing nets. And, once the seaweed dies, the large decaying masses drive down oxygen levels and cause fish kills.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlgal blooms are a natural part of marine communities and they play a vital role in the marine ecosystem,\u201d Thornber explains. \u201cWe expect to see them. But, where we run into problems is when there is above average abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thornber says her first STAC grant in 2008, which sequenced genes to identify species in blooms, provided the framework to ask more sophisticated ecological questions: \u201cIf we know what species there are, we can predict what the response will be as climate warms and changes. Will we still see these blooms or what time of year will we see them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Conducting monthly surveys since 2005 at eight sites in Greenwich Bay, Thornber has found Ulva<\/em> in abundance and incredible variability, with growth of the bloom biomass partly dependent on temperature and in correlation with precipitation and salinity levels. The next step is to tease apart whether those factors are responsible for growth or increased nutrients.<\/p>\n

Thornber\u2019s lab experiments grow the seaweed at higher temperatures and have found that one species in particular, Ulva compressa<\/em>, grows faster under temperature increases of three degrees Celsius. Curious about what happens during the winter, Thornber looked at how Ulva<\/em> \u2014 a transient species that floats around \u2014 responds to the cold. The species can survive long periods of negative temperatures by entering a state of dormancy.<\/p>\n

Her research also explores the role snails may play, putting the herbivores in buckets with Ulva<\/em> to gauge if and how they inhibit algal growth. Although common sense suggests that the amount of Ulva<\/em> would decrease with consumption, the grazing actually increases the biomass.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another species, the invasive Dasysiphonia japonica<\/em>, enjoys both a rapid growth rate and the distaste of snails, which makes it a good invader that has grabbed attention because it washes ashore in big, stinky mats and decays fairly quickly.<\/p>\n

Taking all of these factors into account \u2014 seaweed species, snails, temperature, acidity and salinity levels \u2014 Thornber concludes that bloom dynamics cannot be predicted by a single factor, but rather the synergy of several variables.<\/p>\n

Invasive species have shown they can model successful strategies for long-term persistence. Based on what the research shows, the blooms will continue in the face of climate change, but may shift their timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge,\u201d Thornber says, \u201cis how can marine communities retain their key ecosystem functions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Story by Amy Dunkle | RI NSF EPSCoR<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carol Thornber University of Rhode Island Associate professor; marine population and community ecology, algal ecology RI NSF EPSCoR lead principal investigator SURF program mentor Rhode Island STAC awards 2008 STAC grant: Understanding and Better Management of “Green Tide” in Narragansett Bay, RI. Macroscopic green algae play an important ecological role in Narragansett Bay, offering habitat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21,1,63],"tags":[84,204,414,423,570,585,720,741],"class_list":["post-11151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized","category-we-are-ri-epscor","tag-algal-blooms","tag-dasysiphonia-japonica","tag-mysid-shrimp","tag-narragansett-bay","tag-rhode-island-nsf-epscor","tag-ri-stac","tag-ulva-compress","tag-university-of-rhode-island"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}