Vice President of Biological Research & Chief Scientist, Mystic Aquarium

Dr. Tracy Romano graduated with a BS in Biology from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont and received her PhD in Neurobiology & Anatomy from the University of Rochester, School of Medicine. As a National Research Council Fellow, Dr. Romano investigated the impacts of “stressors” (such as sound, changes in temperature, pollution, etc.) on the health of dolphins and beluga whales in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and The Scripps Research Institute. In 2004, she moved her research and laboratory to Mystic Aquarium. Currently, Dr. Romano is Vice President of Biological Research and Chief Scientist at the Aquarium, where she leads a team focused on aquatic animal health and conservation biology. She serves on multiple scientific advisory panels, was President of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, has created and conducted a nationally recognized science education and cultural exchange program for Native American youth, has led over 15 field expeditions to the Arctic, was a finalist for the Connecticut Technology Council’s Women of Innovation award and has made significant scientific contributions to the field of aquatic animal health.

Associate Professor in Residence, University of Connecticut Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Joint Appointment: Department of Marine Sciences (DMS)

Dr. Finiguerra received his Ph.D. and conducted his post-doctoral work at UConn-DMS, and his current faculty appointment is at the Avery Point campus. Dr. Finiguerra was the recipient of the “Excellence in Teaching” award (2015-2016) for the Avery Point campus and was nominated by his students for the “Excellence in Mentorship Award” the past two years, 2015 & 2016. His integrative teaching approach has been featured in the local newspaper. His research focus is two-fold: 1) he frequently collaborates with DMS faculty to investigate the consequences of stressors (eg, toxic algae and climate change) on plankton, and 2) looking into what factors promote coastal literacy rates among high school students in CT.

Importantly, Dr. Finiguerra is an alumni of the REU program. He was an REU student at Stony Brook University, NY, the summer following his sophomore year of undergraduate, 2002. Dr. Finiguerra credits his success in science to his REU experience. In fact, he still remains in contact with his mentors and other participants. Dr. Finiguerra is excited to come full circle and help inspire the next wave of exceptional scientists. For more information, go to www.finiguerra.eeb.uconn.edu

Research Technician

Danielle has been a Research Technician at Mystic Aquarium since 2021. She graduated from Roger Williams University with a BS in Marine Biology, where she studied the growth rate of juvenile oysters. She was also a NOAA Hollings fellow, where she investigated the respiratory physiology of clearnose skates and summer flounder in response to coastal climate change. She received her Master’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, in which her thesis focused on the temperature tolerance of a parasite invasive to American eels. She also developed a non-lethal detection method for this parasite using digital X-ray technology. Danielle assists with REU applications and advertising, communication with students, and summer logistics.

Research Interest: Biogeography of phytoplankton in the world ocean

As an optical oceanographer, Dr. Dierssen studies how light interacts with the ocean and how the organisms in the water influence the color of the water. Measured from satellites, ocean spectroscopy can be used to understand the distribution of marine primary producers (phytoplankton) over time across the world ocean. She uses optical field measurements from around the world to improve the accuracy of mapped distributions of chlorophyll and to develop approaches to determine the types of phytoplankton and their impact on global carbon dynamics.  For additional information go to http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/faculty and http://colors.uconn.edu.

Potential REU Research Questions: What factors drive the distribution of phytoplankton in the world ocean? What changes in timing or distribution of phytoplankton have occurred throughout the last two decades of satellite observations? Will increased glacial meltwater and river runoff from climate change influence the color of the water and change the surface phytoplankton concentrations?

Example Skills:

• Learn how to download, process, and analyze remote sensing imagery of chlorophyll, sea surface temperature, and other environmental parameters using simple software tools.
• Partake in field measurements using spectroscopy to understand the relationship between light and phytoplankton and other constituents that color the water as well as verify computer models with field measurements.
• Develop a foundation in understanding the processes that control phytoplankton growth in the world ocean (e.g., light, nutrients, mixing) in relationship to the observed regional and global phytoplankton distributions.

Research Interest: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology of Copepods

Dr. Dam investigates how environmental stressors affect the ecology of copepods, the most abundant animals in the ocean and therefore a key link between primary producers and upper trophic levels. Perturbations to their populations can have rippling effects on the food web and global biogeochemistry. Specifically, Dr. Dam tests whether copepods are capable of rapid evolutionary adaptation to these stressors.   For additional information go to http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/faculty.

Potential REU Research Question: What is the response of copepods to warming, ocean acidification and their combined effects? This can include several life-history characteristics including survival, ingestion rate, egg production rate, swimming behavior, respiration rate, and size.

 Example Skills:

• Learn experimental techniques on culturing phytoplankton and copepods.
• Measure physiological functions (feeding and respiration rates).
• Measure life history traits (fecundity, longevity, and development rate) in response to increased temperature and CO₂.

Research interests: Marine conservation biology, species interactions, human impacts

Dr. Auster is a marine ecologist and conservation biologist who studies the role that variation in marine habitats and landscapes play in mediating the diversity, distribution, abundance, and ecological interactions of marine and estuarine fishes.   His research focuses on the behavioral ecology of fishes, the impacts of human disturbance, and the role that marine protected areas can play as a tool for conservation and sustainable use.  Dr. Auster uses the same types of approaches for studies of fishes in the ocean that wildlife biologists use on land – direct observations with diving and submersible vehicles; remote video cameras, sonar, acoustic tagging, and numerical models to address management-scale applications. For more information, visit: https://austerfishlab.weebly.com/about.html

Potential REU Questions: 

How do seafloor habitats vary inside and outside marine protected areas?  Do deep-sea corals function to enhance local abundance of prey species for fishes?  How do parasite eating cleaner species minimize the threat of predation from sharks?  How do mixed-species groups of piscivores hunt for prey?

Example Skills:

• Learn visual and video methods to collect data on fish distribution, behavior, and associated habitat characteristics.
• Conduct quantitative analyses of underwater video to produce data sets for analysis.
• Visualize of data to aide interpretation of ecological patterns and implement statistical tests to answer ecological questions.

Research Interest: Ecophysiology of Marine Bivalves

Dr. Ward studies the physiological and behavioral responses of marine suspension feeding bivalves to emerging contaminants and environmental change. An increasing area of concern is the effect of nanoparticles—additives commonly found in increasing frequency and abundance in substances such as sunscreen and cosmetics—and microplastics on marine bivalves’ life history traits. For additional information go to http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/faculty and http://web.cuonn.edu/jevanward.

Potential REU Research Questions: Do nanoparticles or microplastics accumulate in tissues of bivalves? How does environmental change affect the depuration period? Do nanoparticles or microplastics produce physiological (e.g., clearance rate, respiration rate, absorption efficiency) or immunotoxic (based on hemocyte function) effects on exposed animals, and how would this affect fitness and population dynamics? Are these changes confounded with changing environmental conditions due to marine climate change?

Example Skills:

• Learn a variety of techniques appropriate for different levels of biological organization, including:
  • cellular (e.g., immunoassays by means of flow cytometry)
  • tissue and organ (e.g., microscopic, endoscopic evaluation) and
  • organismal (e.g., feeding/filtration rate measurements, food selection assays, food absorption efficiency, respirometry).
• Collect invertebrates in the field.
• Learn about experimental manipulation and tissue sampling.
• Be exposed to several analytical techniques (ICP-MS, spectrofluorometry, loss-on-ignition analysis, dissolved and particulate organic carbon analysis, and particle characterization-ZetaSizer).

Research interests: Marine community ecology, predator-prey interactions

Dr. Matassa is a benthic marine ecologist who studies the causes and consequences of species interactions.   Her research focuses on the behavioral and evolutionary ecology of predator-prey interactions and how these interactions scale up to shape community dynamics and ecosystem function.  Dr. Matassa uses manipulative field and laboratory experiments to understand the mechanisms underlying these interactions and their ecological consequences.  For more information, visit her website:  catherinematassa.weebly.com

Potential REU Questions:  How does the presence of a predator change the behavior of its prey?  How does the presence of a predator change the growth, metabolism, and reproductive strategies of its prey?  How might climate change alter predator-prey interactions?  What features of the environment modify the strength of predator-prey interactions?

Example Skills:

• Learn field methods for quantifying the abundance, distribution, and diversity of species within intertidal habitats.
• Conduct behavioral assays to assess invertebrate responses to stressors.
• Rear marine invertebrates in a running seawater laboratory and measure their feeding and growth rates.

Research Interest: Bioaccumulation of contaminants in marine organisms

Z.Baumann focuses on cycling of chemicals (e.g. mercury) that pose threat to marine wildlife and ecosystems.

Potential REU Research Questions: How does phytoplankton community structure influence concentrations of methylated mercury? How efficiently does methylated mercury transfer from phytoplankton to zooplankton and through the food chain?

Example Skills:

• Applying trace metal clean techniques, conducting accurate and controlled mercury analyses in several environmental samples (e.g. seawater and animal tissues), and using various analytical equipment (MA-3000; Tekran 2600 & 2700).

Research Interests: Coastal Ecosystems Ecology

Vaudrey studies the effect of land-use on the coastal environment and how anthropogenic changes to the landscape may change coastal ecosystems.

Potential REU Research Questions: Does the nitrogen content of macrophytes predict the total nitrogen load to an embayment? Can simple dilution models estimate nitrogen entering via freshwater?

Example Skills:

• Assessment of the ecosystem by collecting and measuring water column parameters, benthos and identification of aquatic macrophyte species; measuring nutrient analysis, chlorophyll concentration, sediment grain size and organic content.

Research Interest: Evolutionary Ecology of Estuarine Fishes

Dr. Baumann studies how fish populations are adapted to the natural variability in their environment and how they may react to unfolding anthropogenic changes in our oceans and coastal waters. This includes changes in temperature, pH, and oxygen content; the combined effects of these changes on marine fishes have yet to be thoroughly assessed.  For additional information go to http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/faculty and http://befel.marinesciences.uconn.edu.

Potential REU Research Question: What effects do acidification, hypoxia, and warming exert on the survival and growth of the early and most vulnerable stages of coastal forage fishes such as the ubiquitous Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia)? How does the viability and sensitivity of offspring to stressors change over the course of spawning season (spring/summer)?

Example Skills:

• Learn how to collect, spawn, and culture fish and measure life history traits such as somatic and otolith growth rate.
• Become familiar with experimental setups involving live fish.
• Learn how to measure environmental variables such as pH and CO_2.
• Use microscopic techniques to reconstruct daily growth in fish early life stages from their otoliths.

Research Interests: Biogeochemical Cycles and Pollutants

Dr. Vlahos, is a chemical oceanographer and environmental engineer and studies how compounds cycle through the environment. Her group has a wide range of projects that are all woven together by chemical principles. Biogeochemical projects include coastal eutrophication in Long Island Sound with respect to nitrogen, carbon and oxygen cycling, respiration rates, degradation of organic material and the air sea exchange of carbon dioxide and gases between the water and atmosphere. Pollution projects involve the transport and flux of pesticides, perfluorinated compounds and other man made compounds in water as related to human health. For additional information go to: http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/faculty and http://env.chem.uconn.edu/.

Potential REU Research Questions:
• What factors control the cycling of nutrients and carbon in systems and what role do living systems play in these?
• How fast do bacteria degrade organic material under different conditions?
• How do pollutants enter coastal systems and how are they transported?

Example Skills:
• Learn how to sample for and analyze a range of important environmental parameters including nitrogen, phosphate and organic compounds in marine systems.
• Learn how to deal with large data sets and perform quality control on data.
• Understand air sea gas exchange models and parameters.
• Learn how to extract pollutants from environmental samples and quantify.

Research Interest: Ecophysiology of marine invertebrates

Dr. Rosa is a marine ecologist at Connecticut College, with some projects taking place at UConn Avery Point. She has several projects, both local and international, that examine the interaction between organismal physiology and their environments. Projects include predator/prey interactions between benthic organisms; feeding processes of larval and adult bivalve molluscs, such as oysters, mussels, and scallops; coral reproduction and settlement; as well as work on habitat restoration and living shorelines. For additional information go to: http://mariarosa.digital.conncoll.edu/

Potential REU research questions:

• What are the community composition and organismal interactions in Long Island Sound?
• What is the utility of different types of materials in habitat restoration?
• What type of habitats foster organismal growth and survival?
• How does flexibility (i.e. plasticity) aid organisms in their environment?

Example skills:

• Gain skills in marine field techniques, including water monitoring and the use of various instruments and using quadrants to assess community composition and biodiversity
• Learn basic and applied skills in the laboratory for measuring organismal physiological and metabolic parameters.
• Learn quantitative skills in the lab for analyses.

Research Interest: Marine Mammal Microbiomes, Non-invasive techniques, Neuroimmunology

Smith studies the various microbiomes that live on and in beluga whales, and how those microbiomes are affected by environmental or social changes. She is also developing non-invasive techniques to assess health and their neuroimmunological status in marine animals such as penguins, walrus, seals, and belugas.

Potential REU Research Questions: How does increased sociality between beluga whale individuals alter microbiome communities? Are the core taxa in microbiomes affected by brief environmental changes? Do only specific body site microbiomes (e.g. skin, oral, blowhole, etc.) get shared between whales? How can microbiome research assist in the conservation of wild cetaceans? What can we learn about the health of marine mammals from their “poop”?

Example Skills:

• Learn how to extract DNA and RNA from biological samples.
• Gain skills in preparing, executing and analyzing Polymerase Chain Reaction.
• Gain skills in DNA sequencing, sequence analysis and bioinformatics.

Research Interest: Marine mammal functional genomics and environmental DNA (eDNA)

Dr. Unal uses functional genomics and transcriptomics of marine mammals to explore the links between gene expression and health. Her current research is focused on physiological response of endangered marine mammal populations to the impacts of various environmental and anthropogenic stressors as a part of a global concern for marine mammal health and conservation in a changing marine environment. She has been investigating gene transcription signatures of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) both in the wild and under professional care at Mystic Aquarium by utilizing RNA-sequencing and real-time PCR analyses on blood, skin and blow samples in order to identify genes and pathways that can be utilized as indicators of their immune system and health status. She is also interested in developing environmental DNA (eDNA) protocols towards detection and monitoring of marine mammal and sea turtle species in the oceans.

Potential REU Research Questions:  Which genes and pathways are activated when exposed to immune challenges in endangered marine mammals (e.g., beluga whales, North Atlantic Right Whales)? Which genes and pathways are differentially regulated among different populations? Which marine mammal and turtle species can we detect in a body of water using eDNA and how long does the eDNA signal persist?

Example Skills:

• Gain skills in RNA and DNA extraction from multiple types of tissue.
• Learn real-time PCR quantification of target gene expression.
• Learn next generation RNA-sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.
• Gain skills in eDNA extraction methods and quantification.

Research Interest: Marine Mammal Health and Dive Physiology

Thompson studies the connection between dive behavior, physiology and health in marine mammals.

Potential REU Research Questions: How does activity and breath-hold affect immune function during diving? Do clotting pathways play a role in inflammation during diving? What happens physiologically if dives are interrupted (i.e. due to anthropogenic or environmental factors) in marine mammals?

Example Skills:

• Flow cytometry, enzyme immunoassays, sterile tissue culture, and developing approaches for examining blood changes in response to dives in vitro (e.g. simulated changes in pressure).

Research Interest: Nutrient cycling in marine ecosystems

Dr. Tobias is part biogeochemist and part ecosystems ecologists. His research focuses on how micro and macrobiota in sediments and the water column regulate nutrient turnover. Work in the Tobias lab considers both global change and local pressures put on the marine environment.  Dr. Tobias uses stable isotopes as a primary tool to better understand connectivity in ecosystems and identify which pathways are important for nutrient retention or removal. For more information:  https://tobias.lab.uconn.edu/

Potential REU Questions:  Does macroalgae actually accelerate the removal of nitrogen from coastal bays?  How important are sediments for causing water column hypoxia and localized acidification? Is tidal flooding and drying an important control on nutrient processing?

Example Skills:

• Field sampling of waters and sediments for chemical analyses.
• Gain experience with in situ instrumentation and data processing.
• Design and execute laboratory experiments to measure rates and removal of nitrogen and carbon.
• Learn how to do stable isotope analysis.

Research Interest:  Ocean Circulation and Climate

Research in Dr. Lund’s group focuses on the ocean’s role in Earth’s climate system.  Because the instrumental record is limited to the last ~100 years, understanding how climate changes over long timescales requires information from the geologic record.  His team uses archives from marine sediments to reconstruct ocean temperature, biological productivity, and circulation.  A central theme in the research is the ocean’s role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide (https://davidlund.wixsite.com/averypointpaleo).

Potential REU Research Questions: How do abrupt changes in ocean circulation influence biological productivity? How can plankton be used to understand sea ice coverage in polar regions? Are westerly winds in the Southern Ocean a key driver of atmospheric carbon dioxide? How does the deep ocean store and release carbon on glacial-interglacial timescales? Does sea level influence mid-ocean ridge volcanism and hydrothermal activity?

Example Skills: 

• Microfossil identification and clean-lab preparation methods
• Gain experience using mass spectrometer analytical techniques
• Carry out data analysis and visualization