Present and Past Students

Kenyon Mobley heads for the water in the Florida Keys

Stephanie Schopmeyer conducts field experiments at Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas

Sarah Tso contemplates life after a dive at Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas

Graduate Students

• Anne V. Holte (1998) Salinity-induced behavior and morphological responses in the larvae of three species of intertidal echinoderms. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 59 pp. (Anne is currently a free-lance writer living in St. Petersburg, FL)
• Kenyon B. Mobley (2001) Ultraviolet radiation and carotenoid pigmentation in symbiotic anthozoans. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 112 pp. (Kenyon is currently in the PhD program in the Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX)
• Stephanie A. Schopmeyer (2002) The role of mucus in the ultraviolet radiation protection of Porites astreoides. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 72 pp. (Stephanie is now a technician working on seagrasses in the Department of Biology at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL)
• Carrie A. MacKichan (2003) Effects of ultraviolet radiation on newly settled recruits of the reef-building coral Porites astreoides. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 58 pp. (Carrie is currently in the PhD program in the Department of Fisheries at Auburn University, Auburn, AL)
• Sarah Tso (2003) Sex allocation in the Caribbean coral Porites astreoides. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 30 pp. (Sarah is currently in the PhD program in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL)
• R. Robert Ruzicka (2005) Sponge community structure and anti-predator defenses on temperate reefs of the South Atlantic Bight. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 84 pp. (Rob is currently in the PhD program in the Department of Biology at Florida International University, Miami, FL).
• Lauren M. Wagner (2006) Population genetic structure of the temperate scleractinian coral, Oculina arbuscula, in coastal Georgia. M.S. Thesis, Georgia Southern Univ., 59 pp. (Lauren is now living in Toledo, Ohio).
• Christopher J. Freeman - Variation in chemical defense and nutritional quality within temperate reef sponges. In progress.
• Leslie V. Bates - Induced chemical defenses in temperate reef sponges. In progress.

Chris Freeman prepares to dive at Gray's Reef.

Rob Ruzicka inspects sponge samples after a dive off Georgia.

Carrie MacKichan counts newly settled coral recruits while working in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Lauren Wagner shows off her underwater epoxy skills.

 
Undergraduate Research Students

• Fiona Aitken (1997) MAAs and variability in coral bleaching.
• Elizabeth Foster (1998) The relationship between the concentration of coral algal groups and the concentration of UV absorbing compounds along a depth gradient.
• Stephanie Schopmeyer (1998-99) UV absorbing compounds in the larvae and adults of the coral Favia fragum.
• Paul Barger (1999) Skeletal density and bioerosion rates in Caribbean corals.
• Tonya Pickelsimer (1999) UV absorbing compounds in the Caribbean coral Montastrea faveolata.
• Michael Hodges (2000) Plasticity in skeletal density in the Caribbean coral Porites astreoides.
• Jessica Jones (2000-01) Seasonal variation in mycosporine-like amino acids in three species of Caribbean corals.
• Brendon Harvey (2002-03) Ecology of the Asiatic clam in southeast Georgia.
• Ross Bridges (2005) Variation in chemical defenses in the temperate sponge Axinyssa ambrosia.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

• Lelsie Sutton (2005-2006)

• Hampton Harbin (2005-2006)
  

Misc. Lab Happenings!

Pedro's Hot Dogs (Kenyon, Sarah, and Stephanie) pause to pet Pedro's dog at South of the Border.

Hampton Harbin, Leslie Bates, Sarah Mock and I pose after a dive at our beloved J-Reef

Benthic Ecology Meeting 2005, Williamsburg, VA: Clearly these meetings are stressful!