Currents Fall 2012 Newsletter - Volume XXVII, Number 2

Getting ready for an experiment during synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite overpass Associate Professor Alexander Soloviev, Ph.D., with state-of-the-art acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) mooring developed and maintained by the Physical Oceanography Lab in the Florida Straits since January 2007 8 MICROBIOLOGY AND GENETICS LABORATORY Researcher: Jose Lopez, Ph.D. “Modern genetics permits fundamental descriptions of life at the molecular level, explains the basis of biodiversity, and can help develop potential sentinels (bioindicators)—such as marine sponges and micro-organisms—as indicators of environmental change.” Research Focus: Applying and advancing modern biotechnology and genomic (complete hereditary material) sciences for a better understanding of marine organisms and their functions. Research Activities: • evaluating and developing sponges as ocean sentinels (bioindicators) for the effects of stresses, including oil and chemical oil dispersants applied after oil-spill accidents, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill • applying advanced biotechnology, molecular genetics, and computational data analysis (bioinformatics) methods to describe basic marine organismal functions • assessing ecological roles of micro-organisms in marine habitats • investigating population genetics of marine sponges • placing sponges on the Tree of Life with novel genetic data • performing “Next Generation” DNA sequence analysis of marine invertebrate organisms PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY LABORATORY Researcher: Alexander Soloviev, Ph.D. “Understanding ocean physics provides marine biologists, geologists, and ocean engineers with crucial details required to answer questions relating to environmental, societal, and defense issues.” Research Focus: Solution-oriented, basic and applied research in ocean dynamics, thermodynamics, and air-sea interactions in collaboration with oceanographic organizations in the United States, Germany, Canada, and South Korea. The lab is involved in explorations including new generation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, three dimensional sonar technology, and high-resolution numerical models. Part of the team involved in studying the effects of Deepwater Horizon oil and dispersant on marine sponges. From left to right: M.S. student Emily Smith; postdoctoral scientist Marie Cuvelier; and Associate Professor Jose Lopez, Ph.D. Xestospongia sponge, a common species on local reefs Standard agarose gel showing different DNA bands (PCR products) being size separated via electrophoresis for further purification and DNA sequencing Research Activities: • structure and dynamics of the near-surface layer of the ocean • high-resolution numerical modeling of fine-scale oceanic features • natural and artificial processes in the upper ocean from space • air-sea interface under hurricane conditions and dispersion of oil spills • carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake by the oceans • coastal ocean circulation and coral reef hydrodynamics