NSU Currents Fall 2014 Newsletter - Volume XXV, Issue 2

OC’s Newest Building Receives Award EDC magazine awarded the OC’s Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research building first runner-up in their 2014 Excellence in Design Awards, an annual nationwide competition. The center was featured in their May edition. This environmentally friendly, 86,000-square-foot facility is a silver LEED, state-of the- art research building that includes a seawater system and experimental complex for pollution evaluation. 5 Fogarty Elected At-Large Member of Benthic Ecology Board The Benthic Ecology Meeting (BEM) elected Nicole Fogarty , Ph.D., OC assistant professor, as an at-large member of the Benthic Ecology Meeting Society Board. BEM is one of the largest scientificmeetings formarine biologists in the United States with approximately 600 participants attending every year. The BEM mission is to promote research in benthic ecosystems, support the exchange of information about benthic ecology, and foster the next generation of benthic ecologists through student participation. The 2015 Benthic Ecology Meeting will be held in Quebec City, Canada. Nicole Fogarty, Ph.D., assistant professor Two OC Labs Host Summer Interns This summer, OC faculty members hosted undergraduate interns in their labs. Tracey Sutton , Ph.D., associate professor, hosted interns from St. Thomas University. Sutton’s interns worked on sorting and analyzing deep-sea samples. Jose Lopez , Ph.D., professor, hosted other interns from St. Thomas, as well as well as from Broward College/ Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Research Experience for Pre-Teachers (COSEE-REPT). REPT provides beginner teachers with hands-on experience in local research labs. Both groups in Lopez’s lab worked on the Earth Microbiome Project. This project is a systematic attempt to characterize the global microbial taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities across the globe. Above: OC professor Jose Lopez, Ph.D., (second from left) with Broward College/ COSEE-REPT interns Ashley Cordova (left) and Reneice Robinson and Broward College intern Juan Ospina presented at the 2014 COSEE Science Symposium. Left: St. Thomas University interns Stephanie Napolean and DJ Jolicoeur, right, sort samples. The Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research