FIU-UMEB STUDENTS THIRD GENERATION: 2002-2005

Melissa Gil
Email:  mgil004@fiu.edu
Mentor:  Dr. James W. Fourqurean
Education and research interests:  Melissa Gil is a Marine Biology major, and is doing research on seagrass ecosystems in Florida Bay.  She is working on a nutrient enrichment experiment that seeks to understand how the nutrient inputs into the bay affect the seagrass community.  Most research that has been done in the lab focuses on the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on the productivity of primary producers.  Melissa is working on part of a larger project that is analyzing the effects of these nutrients on consumers.  The main objective is to understand how nutrient inputs will affect the whole food web.  Her project focuses on a phosphorus-limited site and the possible changes in epiphyte and epifaunal composition due to nutrient enrichment.  Many small herbivores consume the epiphytes attached to the seagrass rather then the seagrass itself.  When nutrients are added the epiphyte composition at this site, seems to be shifting.  This shift is predicted to cause the epifaunal composition to change as well.  Understanding the effects of nutrient inputs in Florida Bay is important information for the restoration of the Everglades project and for proper management of this unique and essential ecosystem.

 

Sandra Namoff
Email:  snamof01@fiu.edu
Mentor:  Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega
Education and research interests:  Sandra is a Biology major and Chemistry minor.  She feels the UMEB program has enhanced her undergraduate education by exposing her to additional research opportunities, which are rarely found through the regular class schedule of undergraduate students.  The current focus of her research is to investigate which is the closest relative of Jacquemontia reclinata (Convolvulaceae), a federally listed endangered species of South Florida.  To conduct this project, a phylogeny based on nucleotide sequences of the two internal transcribed spacers of the nuclear ribosomal DNA will be constructed.  An additional research project concerns genetic relationships between Aletris bracteata and A. farinose.  ISSR markers will be used to elucidate these relationships.

Zuriany Olive
Email: CutiePatutie1481@aol.com
Mentor: Dr. Laurel Collins
Education and research interests:  Zuriany Olive is a Biology major.  The UMEB Program has expanded her knowledge of marine environments, terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity, conservation, and especially paleoenvironments.  Zuriany is working with foraminifera found throughout Florida Bay's Thalassia (turtle grass).  Foraminifera are single-celled protists with shells which are commonly divided into chambers.  To study past environments, the chemistry of the shell can inform us about the water in which it grew with data on temperature, ratio of stable isotopes, and salinity.  Zuriany is performing a study on how the distribution of forams varies from spring to summer and from site to site.  Her study consists of samples taken from eight keys throughout Florida bay last year during the months of May and July.

Olga Sanchez
Email: osanc004@fiu.edu
Mentor: Dr. Daniel Childers
Education and research interests:  Olga is majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Biology.  She is currently working on below ground biological productivity of Cladium jamaicense (Sawgrass) in the Everglades National Park as part of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-term Ecological Research program.  Her current research will help future understand the wetland ecosystems of the Everglades National Park to help in the restoration efforts.  Other interests include marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems, coastal ecosystems and ecological impacts on various ecosystems from severe weather.  The UMEB program has provided an excellent opportunity for developing research experience while learning about the various opportunities available in the future.

Matthew Warren
Email: Matthew.Warren@fiu.edu
Mentor: Dr. Maureen Donnelly
Education and research interests:  Matthew is an Environmental Studies major with a minor in Biology.

 

Research: Tropical rain forests cover only 7% of the dry surface of the earth yet they hold over half of all known species.  It is estimated that 137 plant and animal species are lost every day due to habitat loss and deforestation in the tropics, which equates to 50,000 species a year.  Because of this, scientists believe that many species are at risk of becoming extinct before they are even discovered.  To further our knowledge of biodiversity in the tropics, I am describing a new species of gecko in the genus Gonatodes from lowland forests of Guyana.  Our environmental management decisions can only be as good as the information that they are based on, and in many tropical areas total species diversity is still not known.

 

Pascale Williams
Email: pascalewillia78@hotmail.com
Mentor: Dr. Steven Oberbauer
Education and research interests:  I am double majoring in Biology and Environmental studies and UMEB has offered me a great opportunity to combine these two areas in my research project.  This experience has definitely deepened my interest in environmental biology and helped shape my future career path.  I am currently working with my mentor Dr Steven Oberbauer looking at global warming and its effects on rain forest trees.  We have been growing tree seedlings from La Selva, Costa Rica in growth chambers under warmer daytime or nighttime temperatures to observe their growth responses.