| Project title: |
Understanding the physiological and genetic impacts of ocean acidification on marine invertebrates
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| Hypothesis or objectives: |
The objectives of the project are to evaluate the effects of ocean acidification on the survival, physiology, condition, and genetic diversity of crabs and pteropods in controlled experiments. The internship opportunity is broadly defined, and would include participation in controlled laboratory experiments on these organisms modulating pH, oxygen, and other parameters important in understanding ocean acidification impacts. Planned experiments include studies evaluating survival, metabolic rate, body composition, and sub-lethal physiological and behavioral impacts. Some of the work involves the use of genomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics to understand the physiological processes involved in adaptation or survival under ocean acidification. Work could also include building and parameterizing models for population and ecosystem viability under scenarios for ocean acidification.
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| Duration: |
3 - 12 months
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| Area(s) of discipline: |
Biology, Climate Change, Fisheries Science, Genetics, Marine And Aquatic Sciences, Zoology
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| Internship location: |
Seattle, WA
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| Duties and responsibilities: |
The specific duties and responsibilities for the interns will depend on the interns experience, background, and interest in particular aims of the studies. At a minimum, the students will participate in wet lab experiments by collecting appropriate samples, processing samples in the lab (which could range from additional wet lab work, to genomics), data analysis (could range from simple statistical analyses to complex bioinformatics of genomics data), and manuscript preparation with the PIs on the project.
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| Special skills/training required: |
The skills or background required will depend on the specific part of the project the student would like to participate in. We seek highly motivated students in the areas of physiology, ecology, biochemistry, and genetics/genomics to participate in this program.
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| Expected outcomes: |
The students will participate in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team working on the impacts of ocean acidification on marine invertebrates. The team of PIs will work with the intern in the beginning to identify a mutually interesting aspect of the research for their project and will gain skills in the areas desired by mentors and students. This could include, but is not limited to, a better understanding on how controlled laboratory experiments for climate scenarios are conducted in the laboratory, implementation of physiological assays for sub-lethal effects of treatments, preparation and processing of high-throughput genomics or metabolomics data, or ecological modeling of scenarios for ocean acidification.
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| Point of contact (Mentor): |
Nichols, Krista
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| Organization: |
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
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| Program office: |
Northwest Fisheries Science Center
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| Mailing address: |
2725 Montlake Blvd E
Seattle, WA 98112
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| Phone number: |
206-302-2470
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| Fax number: |
None
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| Email: |
krista.nichols@noaa.gov
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| Co-Mentor name: |
Paul Mcelhany
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| Co-Mentor email: |
paul.mcelhany@noaa.gov
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| Co-Mentor gency or organization: |
NOAA Fisheries, NWFSC
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