Spring 2013
Marine Science undergraduate Teresa Tymon was awarded the 2013 AAUS/OWUSS Scientific diving internship. She will be interning at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Congratulations to Dr. Quattro who was just named USC's 2013 Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor!
Congratulations to our Marine Science undergraduate Award Winners!: Kyra Marsigliano (Outstanding Major in Marine Science), Drew DeLorenzo (Outstanding Rising Senior), and Emily Hardin (Traci J. Heincelman Memorial Scholarship)!
Kyra, Drew, and Emily
Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson has been named USC's Distinguished Professor of the Year - USC's most prestigious award!
Dr. Quattro's research project entitled "Identification of Refuge Areas for Genetically Pure Redeye Bass Micropterus coosae in Savannah Basin Streams" is funded by the SC Department of Natural Resources/DOI for $50,144!
Congratulations to graduate student Bridgett Bachman, who received a $5000 SPARC Research Fellowship!
Congratulations to Marine Science undergraduates Dan Utter and Emily Townsend, this Summer/Fall's Magellan Scholar recipients, which supports $3000 in research support!
Congratulations to Marine Science undergraduate Drew Delorenzo who received a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship as well as Honorable Mention in this year's Morris K. Udall Competition.
Congratulations to our undergraduate coordinator Shelley Schlenk for winning the College of Arts & Sciences Staff Excellence Award!
Dr. Erik Smith's research project entitled "Assessing Aeration as a Means of Improving Stormwater Pond Performance and Reducing Organic Loading to the Coastal Zone" is funded by SC Sea Grant Consortium/NOAA for $36,753.
Congratulations to Marine Science Graduate Student, Jessica Hogan, the winner of USC Graduate School’s t-shirt and logo design competition for graduate student day. "Grad School faculty and staff were impressed by the logo's bold, vibrant design. Equally important was the nod to one of the things that makes Graduate Student Day so special: we bring together and celebrate the scholarship and creativity of graduate students from across the disciplines."
Dr. Jay Pinckney's research in St. Croix is featured in the USC Times.
Congratulations to Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, who was invited to serve on the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board!
Congratulations to Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, who was invited to serve on the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board!
Congratulations to Dr. Ron Benner who was named a USC Carolina Distinguished Professor! This is one of the highest honors that a Professor at USC can receive and it is given to those"who rank among the most distinguished scholars in the field in this country and shall usually possess an international reputation." There are only 25 Carolina Distinguished Professors throughout the University at any given time.
Cedric Fichot (Marine Science graduate student) and Dr. Ron Benner have paper published in Nature Scientific Reports examining sources of material to the Arctic Ocean!
Congratulations to Dr. Subra Bulusu on being named a 2013 Breakthrough Rising Star!!!
Congratulations to Dr. Subra Bulusu on the Special Issue of Marine Geodesy, "A Century of El Nino & La Nina", which he Guest Edited!
Congratulations to our Spring 2013 Magellan Winners: Emma Kelley and Kaitlin Little!
Thirty-two MSCI majors earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in Fall 2012 and a spot on the President’s Honor Roll, while another 84 earned a spot on the Dean’s List! That means that 35% of our majors made the Honor Roll!
Fall 2012
Congratulations to our December 2012 graduates!
Pictured l-r: Samantha Thompson (MSCI minor and beloved worker in our student services office!), Brian Duggan, Adam Holdren, Lauren Hehman, Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson (Program Chair), Meryssa Downer. Not pictured: Matthew Balint, Christopher Bowen, Ryan Coleman, Rachel Cooke, Melissa Sikora, Mary Kate Warner, Kassandra Wilson.
The Fall social issue of MarSci is now published online. Or click here for the pdf. Check it out!!
Congratulations to Taylor Armstrong who was invited to the 2013 NMFS-RTR Marine Resource Population Dynamics Workshop!
Congratulations to our Fall Magellan Winners: Taylor Armstrong, Meryssa Downer, Emma Kelley, Kaitlin Little. Lauren Hehman, Catherine Hodierne, Kimberly McCormack, and William Newsome!
The Fall research issue of MarSci is now published online. Check it out!!
The Marine Science Program launches new NSF funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Summer Program!
Congrats to Dr. Jay Pinckney whose research project, "Assimilation rates of dissolved organic carbon by photomixotrophic estuarine phytoplankton," was funded by the National Science Foundation for $356,000.
Congrats to Dr. Dianne Greenfield whose research project "Utilizing HABISS to Document, Analyze, and Interpret the Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms and their Associated Marine Toxins on Ecosystems and Humans in South Carolina" was funded by SC Sea Grant for $28,111.
Marine Science graduate, Dr. Mary Catherine Watzin (#125), was recently named the Dean of the College of Natural Resources at NC State!
Dr. Benitez-Nelson is revealed as one of TEDxColumbiaSC's speakers in January!
Dr. James Morris' research project "The PIE-LTER: Interactions Between External Drivers, Humans and Ecosystems in Shaping Ecological Process in a Mosaic of Coastal Landscapes and Estuarine Seascapes." is funded by Marine Biological Labs/NSF for $73,515.
Dr. Dennis M. Allen's project entitled "FSML: Imaging Instrument Array for Coastal Landscape and Ecosystem Analysis at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory, University of South Carolina" is funded by NSF for $191,379.00.
Dr. Dennis Allen recently revised his popular book: Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, A guide to their identifican and ecology, 2nd edition.
Dr. Bob Thunell's article on climate change in the Caribbean, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is featured in ScienceDaily!
Dr. Howie Scher's research on carbonate dissolution during the geologic past is published in Nature Magazine!
Dr. Joe Quattro's research project entitled "Genetic Evaluation OF Population Bottlenecks in Gag (Mycteroperca microlepis)" is funded by SCDNR/National Marine Fisheries/NOAA/DOC for $15,000.
Dr. Subra Bulusu is appointed the University of SC's Campus Director for the SC NASA Space Grant Consortium!
Dr. Benitez-Nelson is featured on the new College of Arts and Sciences website too!
Marine Science undergraduate Drew Delorenzo is featured on the new College of Arts & Sciences website!
Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, former EPA Star Fellow, is highlighted on the EPA STAR Fellowship website!
Check out Dr. Tammi Richardson's podcast interview in Spectroscopy magazine with Dr. Micky Myrick in Chemistry.
Dr. Jay Pinckney receives funding from the Dept. of the Interior for $125,000 for his proposal entitled, "Ecological Characterization of Bioluminescence in Mangrove Lagoon, Salt River Bay, St. Croix, USVI"
Summer 2012
See Marine Science undergraduate Kristin Ware's amazing video montage of her internship in South Africa studying sharks!
Want to know what our undergraduates do once they graduate? Learn what 3 of our May 2012 graduates, Erin Fedewa, Sarah Grasty, and Joan Hurley, are doing in the Fall of 2012
Dr. Joe Quattro's research project entitled "Development of a Genetic Spawning Stock Diversity Index for Western Atlantic Bluefin Tuna" is funded by NOAA/DOC for $112,539.
USC Researcher and Marine Science Program graduate are in the news! Corals On Ocean Side of Reef Are Most Susceptible to Recent Warming
Undergraduate Sarah Grasty and Dr. Joe Quattro are featured in the USC Times.
Dr. Jean Ellis will receive $7500 as a NSF Supplement to support a REU student conducting research on “Small-Scale Variability in Aeolian Sand Transport.”
Dr. Ron Benner will receive funding from the NSF for $500,000 for his proposal entitled, "The Microbial Carbon Pump and Bacterial Carbon Sequestration in the Ocean."
Dr. Seth John receives funding from the NSF for $395,000 to examine, "GEOTRACES Pacific section: Dissolved Fe, Cd, and Zn isotopes" and from the Moore Foundation for $339,265 to examine, "Beyond top-down and bottom-up: Quantifying nutrient-virus-phytoplankton interactions and their impacts on marine biogeochemistry."
Recent Marine Science Ph.D. recipient, Ebenezer Nyadjro, has been selected as a participant in the Physical Oceanography Dissertation Symposium (PODS VII) in Lihue, Kaua'i.
Class of 2003 Marine Science graduate Tom Wissing is named Civilian of the Quarter at the Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space Center.
Dr. Jim Morris receives merit award from the Society of Wetlands Scientists.
Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson is elected to the Board of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO).
USC ties for fourth nationally in Hollings Scholarship winners!
Former Marine Science undergraduate, Dr. Tom Guilderson (class of 1987), receives prestigious E.O. Lawrence Award from the Department of Energy.
Check out what our Marine Science undergraduates are doing this summer!
Marine Science 2012 Summer Newsletter is here!
Dr. Dennis M. Allen's research project entitled "Consequences of Altered Temperature Regimes on the Reproduction, Survival, Growth, and Interactions of Two Key Estuarine Fauna" is funded by SC Sea Grant Consortium/Coastal Carolina University/NOAA for $12,563.
Marine Science majors Bree Bess and Joan Hurley have paper published with Dr. Blaine Griffen in the journal Biological Invasions.
Marine Science major Melissa Bennett has paper published with Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson in the journal Global Biological Cycles.
Spring 2012
USC ties for fourth nationally in Hollings Scholarship winners.
Spring 2012 Honor Roll: 30 Marine Science majors placed on the President’s List (4.0 GPA) and another 85 placed on the Dean’s List (>3.5 semester GPA; >3.25 for freshmen)!
Ebenezer Nyadjiro (Advisor: Subra Bulusu) wins USC's 2012 Outstanding Dissertation Award!
Graduate Student Cedric Fichot (Advisor: Ron Benner) receives a Dean's Graduate Fellowship for 2012-2013!
Seven Marine Science majors win awards at the 2012 Discovery Day: Elisa Bonin, Meryssa Downer, Erin Fedewa (x 2!), John Gatto, Sarah Grasty, Erin McParland, Stephen Timko.
Recent graduate, Kailin Gilde and Dr. Jay Pinckney are in the news regarding their oil spill research.
Dr. Joe Quattro receives a 2012 Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award!
Seventeen Marine Science undergraduates present at Discovery Day.
Dr. Erik Smith and Dr. Tammi Richardson are funded by the SC Sea Grant Consortium/NOAA for $74,945 for Assessing Aeration as a Means of Improving Stormwater Pond Performance and Reducing Organic Loading to the Coastal Zone
Congratulations to Marine Science graduate student, Matt Nienhaus (Advisor: Dr. Subra Bulusu), who was awarded a South Carolina Space Grant Graduate Research Award for 2012-2013
Congratulations to Dr. Tim Shaw and Dr. Virginia Shervette, winners of 2012 Vice President for Research Aspire Grants.
Dr. Blaine Griffen is named one of USC’s 2012 Rising Stars and recent Ph.D. graduate, Kate Wejnert is named Distinguished Graduate Scholar (inaugural program).
Dr. Subra Bulusu is named a Vice President for Research Featured Scholar of the month.
Eight Marine Science Majors receive Magellan Grants: Erin Adams, Taylor Armstrong, Meryssa Downer, Lauren Hehman, Catherine Hodierne, Kimmy McCormack, Burns Newsome, and Laura Thomas.
Undergraduate Marine Science Majors, Drew Delorenzo, Craig Raffenberg, Parker Barfield, and Jackie Fisher are named 2012 Hollings Scholars!
Undergraduate Marine Science Major Stephen Timko wins prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Congratulations to recent Marine Science Ph.D. recipient Ebenezer Nyadjro who received a 2012 National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateship to work with Dr. Michael McPhaden at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
Dr. Blaine Griffen receives a supplemental grant from the NSF for Exploring the effects of trematode infection on the behavior and physiology of the globally invasive green crab Carcinus maenas.
Congratulations to Cedric Fichot and Ebenezer Nyadjro for their first and second place wins in the oral presentation at USC Graduate Student Day.
Dr. Kate Wejnert, recent recipient of a Ph.D. from the Marine Science Program, is named a NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow.
Dr. Subra Bulusu is funded by ONR for $405,000 to study Indian Ocean Salt Transport: Estimation of Fresh and Salt Water Transports in the Indian Ocean Using Remote Sensing Hydrographic Observations and HYCOM simulations.
Dr. Dianne Greenfield’s research project entitled, “Development of a Novel Genetic Approach to Rapidly Detect and Quantify Fish Eggs of Commercially Important Species: a New Tool for Fisheries Management,” is funded by SC Sea Grant Consortium/NOAA for $52,536.
Marine Science major Kailen Gilde and Dr. Jay Pinckney have Estuaries and Coasts article featured in Coastal and Estuarine Science News.
Marine Science Undergraduate Director, Dr. Gwen Geidel receives the Richard and Lela Barnhisel Researcher of the Year Award from the American Society of Mining and Reclamation.
Dr. Karl Castillo, recipient of a MS degree in Marine Science from USC, wins prestigious Postdoctoral Scholar Award for Research Excellence at UNC
Dr. Howie Scher receives NSF grant entitled, “Seeking Hidden Glaciations of the Greenhouse World for $285,000.
Dr. Benitez-Nelson is invited to the Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium in Potsdam, Germany
Three Marine Science majors, Mark Losavio, Kristen Ware, and Joan Hurley receive internships to study sharks in South Africa!
Twenty-six Marine Science majors earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in Fall 2011 and a spot on the President’s Honor Roll (perfect 4.0), while another 79 earned a spot on the Dean’s List (>3.5 GPA)!
Marine Science major Kailen Gilde has paper accepted in Estuaries and Coasts on research she completed with Dr. Jay Pinckney as a Magellan Scholar, “Sublethal effects of crude oil on the community structure of estuarine phytoplankton.
Fall 2011
Tammi Richardson receives NSF grant ($358,074) for a new undergraduate summer research program entitled “Marine Biogeochemistry at the University of South Carolina.” The program will support 10 undergraduate students in summer research for three years.
Marine Science major Kadee Hicks named a 2012 Magellan Scholar
Marine Science major Emily Stewart receives 2012 Magellan mini research grant.
Marine Science major and star USC football player, Rodney Paulk is featured in the Charleston Post and Courier
Dr. Dianne Greenfield’s research project entitled “Utilizing HABISS to Document, Analyze, and Interpret the Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms and their Associated Marine Toxins on Ecosystems and Humans in South Carolina” is funded by SC Sea Grant Consortium(SCSGC)/CDC for $28,071.
Josie Iacarella (recently graduated Marine Science Master's student of Dr. Brian Helmuth) is the winner of the USC Graduate's School's Outstanding Thesis Award in the ETD Master's Thesis Category (award is given to a thesis with an innovative application of technology to scholarship). Josie will receive $500 and has been nominated for the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) ETD Award which, if selected, carries an additional prize of $1,000 plus travel expenses to the 2012 CSGS Meeting on February 25, 2012.
Dr. Joseph Quattro is funded by National Marine Fisheries/NOAA for $23,940, "Using Massively Parallel DNA Sequencing to Characterize Complex Mixtures of Fish Eggs."
Dr. Virginia Shervette's project entitled "MARFIN: Gray Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) Life History in the South Atlantic Bight: The Extensive Collection and Analysis of New Data for Age, Growth, and Reproduction and the Comparison with Data from 1992-1997" is funded by National Marine Fisheries/NOAA for $146,890.
Dr. Subra Bulusu is Guest Editor of Marine Geodesy Special Issue on the OSTM/Jason-2 satellite mission.
Recently graduated MSCI undergraduate, Michele Repetto, publishes first authored paper in Marine and Freshwater Research with Dr. Griffen!
Tori Barker receives Honor's College Science Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) of $3000 to work with Dr. Shervette.
Dr. Joanie Kleypas, recipient of a MS degree in Marine Science from SC wins prestigious Heinz Award.
A memorial in honor of Dr. Bob Gardner, USC Emeritus Professor in EOS and MSCI, will be held on Friday, 09 Sept. 2011 at 4:30 p.m. in Rutledge Chapel on the USC Horseshoe. Click here for more information.
