IWFA SCHOLARSHIP TRUST
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS' RESEARCH PROJECTS

S River Dixon Bryant:

“Estuaries, situated at the intersection of rivers and the ocean, are dynamic ecosystems home to many commercially and recreationally relevant species.  I study the food webs of these systems and how climate change may impact the overall function of the communities residing within them.  Understanding how marine communities change under shifting environmental conditions will serve as a crucial first step for effective conservation and management of these resources moving forward.”

Lauren Cook:

“I am a second-year PhD student in Oceanography at Rutgers University. My research focuses on quantifying the greater role of commercially harvested small pelagic fish as mediators of carbon in marine coastal ecosystems via their production of fecal pellets, calcium carbonate, excretion, and carbon dioxide. These fish are currently a “black box” in our carbon cycling budgets, and filling this knowledge gap will help us better understand how they remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, and how humans influence carbon cycling by removing these fish from the ecosystem through fisheries.”

Bethany DeLoof

"For my master’s thesis research at the University of Rhode Island, I am studying the seasonal migratory patterns of sand tiger sharks up and down the U.S. East Coast. Using data collected from sand tiger sharks that have been tagged with acoustic transmitters, I am answering questions about movement patterns of different demographics of sand tiger sharks (i.e. males vs. females and juveniles vs. adults). This research will benefit conservation efforts for sand tiger sharks, as sand tigers are regularly fished from shore, despite being a prohibited species, and although this species is common in aquaria, knowledge of their movements in the wild is fragmented and not thoroughly understood."

Amanda Palecek-McClung

"Amanda Palecek-McClung studies functional morphology of marine and freshwater fishes, drawing inspiration from them to improve biomimetic design. For her PhD, she is focusing on the design and function in fish suction discs, studying what makes a strong and resilient suction disc. She hopes to take the best traits found in fish suction discs and apply them to manmade suction cups and other suction devices in the medical and manufacturing industries."

Hannah Rempel

"Herbivorous fishes play a key role in maintaining resilient coral reefs by grazing algae and cyanobacteria that can otherwise overgrow corals. As traditional fisheries yields decline, some species have also become emerging fisheries in parts of the Caribbean that provide an important source of livelihoods and nutrition. However, increased runoff of terrestrial pollutants on reefs may compromise herbivorous fish populations and the ecosystem services they provide. In this study, I will assess the prevalence of major land-based toxicants in herbivorous fish populations in the Caribbean to better understand the potential threat they may pose to the ecosystem roles of these important fishes and to human health."

Carly Scott

"Coral reefs are essential to the survival of ocean ecosystems and the seas are warming at a rapid pace. By extracting the DNA of corals, I use genetics to survey the health of reefs and the potential for them to adapt to changing conditions. I am especially interested in how the future of reefs can be better understood through their past and much of my work centers on comparisons between centuries-old corals and their living relatives."

Zachary Topor

"I study how hurricanes disrupt coastal zooplankton communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico. My dissertation mainly focuses on Hurricane Harvey and the impacts of salinity changes off the coast of Galveston, Texas. By using historical data across multiple storm and non-storm years I hope to create a generalizable framework to study the effects of tropical cyclones on coastal ecosystems."