Back December 2002 Newsletter
12-6-2002

 

Fall '02 Meeting:

The Fall 2002 Meeting of the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society was FANTASTIC! The meeting was held October 17-19 in Conway, South Carolina, and was hosted by the Department of Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) and Dr. Keith Walters. THANK YOU Keith and all the CCU student and staff volunteers who helped make this a great meeting!

We had a total of 96 registrants. The program was packed with 49 presentations (22 platforms and 27 posters), 28 of which were by student presentations (16 undergraduate and 12 graduate). The meeting also included a special session on Biocomplexity, a theme inspired by the NSF-funded ERF Biocomplexity Initiative. A series of presentations on this topic were presented by Merryl Alber, (University of Georgia), James Morris (University of South Carolina), Richard F. Dame (Coastal Carolina University), and Jonas Almeida (Medical University of South Carolina).

SEERS members enjoyed a fabulous banquet Friday evening at Ripley's Aquarium, including a tour of the aquarium and some hands-on interaction with stingrays and sharks. Following the banquet there was some very entertaining dancing to retro music at Myrtle Beach's Broadway at the Beach. Much appreciation goes to SEERS student board representative Susan White for coordinating this outing! Some members also participated in a Saturday field trip to Waites Island - 1,062 acres of undeveloped barrier island and upland habitats near Little River and the site of CCU's future marine lab. Many thanks again to Keith Walters for organizing the field trip and to the Conway meeting sponsors: NOAA Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Coastal Carolina University, Turner Designs and Hydrolab.

SEERS Student Awards:

Student Presentation Award Winners:

Congratulations to SEERS student members Ethell Vereen, Jr. (University of Georgia) and Jeffrey Vincent (University of South Carolina) for Best Graduate Student Presentations and James Ohrel (Coastal Carolina University) and Trenis Palmer (Savannah State University) for Best Undergraduate Student Posters.

The award winning presentations were titled:

Relationship between nutrient conditions and microcystin in a South Carolina subdivision pond and in Microcystis aeruginosa cultures, * Ethell Vereen, Jr.1* and Alan J. Lewitus2, 1Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, 2Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina and Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Assessing and Mapping Intertidal Shellfish Resources Using Remote Sensing, * Jeffrey S. Vincent1, Dwayne E. Porter2, 3, Loren Coen4, Dave Bushek3 and Steve Schill5, 1Department of Geography, 2Norman J. Arnold School of Public Heath, 3Baruch Institute at the University of South Carolina 4 South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 5 GeoMetrics, Inc.

Do Tidal Currents Shape the Behavior and Movements of Resident Bottlenose Dolphins in a Salt Marsh Creek System? **James Ohrel and Rob Young, Coastal Carolina University

Particle Bombardment Mediated Gene Transfer To Spartina alterniflora Tissues, **Trenis Palmer, Terry Kobs, Whitney Palefsky, and Chandra Franklin, Department of Natural Science and Mathematics, Savannah State University

Student Travel Award Winners:

Congratulations to the following students who received SEERS travel awards to attend the Fall 2002 meeting: Virginia Johnson (Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington), Mark Lynch (Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina), and Ethell Vereen, Jr. (Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia).

Spring '03 Meeting:

A joint AERS-SEERS meeting is planned for March 20-23 in Atlantic Beach, NC. The primary meeting venue will be the Royal Pavillion Hotel. The tentative program for the meeting includes a Thursday evening welcome reception at the NC Pine Knolls Shores Aquarium, technical sessions Friday followed by a happy hour and banquet at the hotel, and technical sessions Saturday morning. Stay tuned for more meeting details including abstract submission and registration deadlines. This should be a great opportunity for exchanging research results, ideas and fun with our northern neighbors!

SEERS Website:

Check out the new and improved SEERS web site at http://links.baruch.sc.edu/seers/index.htm.
The SEERS web site provides information and links about the Fall and Spring meetings, information for prospective members, and the new SEERS student page. Much thanks to Geno Olmi (Website Committee Chair), Nick Stines (Webmaster), Raphael Tymowski (Website Editor), and Susan White (student web page). Any questions, suggestions or information for the web site should be directed to Geno Olmi at Geno.Olmi@noaa.gov.

SEERS By-Laws Amendments:

Five amendments to the SEERS By-Laws were proposed that would affect election procedure, the number of SEERS Board officers, and number of standing committees. The proposed amendments can be found on the SEERS Website. The results of the vote will be included on the SEERS Website after 15 December 2002 (voting deadline). 

SEERS People:

SEERS student representative Susan White (University of Georgia) is going forward with the production of SEERS t-shirts. Soon you will be able to support the society in style! Stay tuned for availability. Susan has also created a terrific student page on the SEERS web site. A lot of great information for students including recent events, outreach activities, funding sources, career opportunities and graduate and undergraduate interests are provided. If you have questions, suggestions or information for the SEERS Student Page, please contact Susan at snwhite@arches.uga.edu.

Upcoming Regional Meetings:

· Southeast Coastal Ocean Science Conference - January 27-29, 2003, Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall '02 Meeting:
Preparations are underway for the Fall '02 meeting of SEERS. The meeting will be held October 17-19 at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Inclusion of a biocomplexity workshop is being considered. Other special session ideas are welcome. An official meeting announcement and call for abstracts will be posted on the SEERS web site soon. 

SEERS Website: 
Members should stand by for the new and improved SEERS web site, presently under development. The new Web Committee consists of Geno Olmi (Chair), Jennifer Cardinal, Marie DeLorenzo, Susan White, and the new Website Manager, Nick Stines. One of the additions to the Website will be a SEERS student web page created by Student Representative, Susan White. The SEERS Website will continue to provide information and links about the Fall and Spring meetings and information for prospective members. Any questions, suggestions or information for the Website should be directed to Geno Olmi at Geno.Olmi@noaa.gov.

SEERS People: 
Congratulations to SEERS member Jeannette Weiner who was awarded a $1000 Grant-In-Aid of Research from the Phycological Society of America to pursue her molecular-based investigation of the differential binding, uptake and toxicity of the widely used herbicide atrazine to five phytoplankton species. Ms. Weiner is a Ph.D. student in the Medical University of South Carolina's Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Science program.

SEERS Products:
Soon members will be able to support their society by purchasing fun and useful SEERS products! Plans are underway for a SEERS T-shirt. Other exciting SEERS products may follow… please send suggestions to SEERS Student Representative, Susan White at snwhite@arches.uga.edu.

Upcoming Regional Meetings:
· South Carolina Task Force on Harmful Algae Workshop - July 18, 2002, NOAA Coastal Center for Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, Charleston, SC

· Harmful Algal Bloom meeting - Florida 21-25 October

· SOUTHEAST COASTAL OCEAN SCIENCE CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP

Building a Framework for the Future
January 27 to 31, 2003
Charleston, South Carolina


Southeast Coastal Ocean Science Conference - January 27 to 29

 The conference will focus on current and planned research, outreach, education, observations, monitoring, assessments, and management in the South Atlantic Bight. Scientists, resource managers, and others working in coastal and coastal ocean environments in the southeastern United States, from watersheds out to the shelf-edge environment, including the Gulf Stream, are invited to attend and participate. The conference format will include invited plenary sessions, a panel discussion of future scientific needs and approaches, and contributed posters on specific regional research and outreach programs. 


Southeast Coastal Ocean Science Workshop - January 30 to 31

In conjunction with the Southeast Coastal Ocean Science Conference, this day-and-a-half workshop will serve to craft a prospectus of regional scientific and outreach needs and priorities in the South Atlantic Bight. Conference attendees are invited to participate in the workshop.


Conference and workshop information can be found at
www.csc.noaa.gov/secos/