Summer 2010 REU Program at Stony Brook University

Examples of Previous Research Projects

Allison Truhlar (Cornell University), John LaBold (West Chester University), and Etienne Larangot (Louis le Grand, Paris, France) Mentor: Henry Bokuniewicz, Processes in Barrier Island Morphology (The goal of this project was to better understand the mechanism of barrier island development. We studied the connection between the processes driving beach and salt marsh development on Fire Island, Long Island, NY.)

Kristofer Ketch (University of Minnesota) Mentor: Stephan Munch, Fishy Growth Rates & Fecundity (Faster growth rates early in life have been shown to have tradeoffs later in life for various traits for different species. This project is a pilot study to see if fast early growth rates reduce fecundity of the Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia)).

Katrina Smith (Coastal Carolina University) and Grant Saltzgaber (University of Nebraska) Mentors: Josephine Aller, Daniel Knopf and Tracey Evans, Production of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Aerosolized particles associated with blooms of the cyanobacterium Microcystis sp.(An in situ and laboratory experimental study of VOCs and aerosolized particles generated by Microcystis sp., a freshwater cyanobacterium.)

Marvin Alfaro (University of Miami) Mentors: Malcolm Bowman and Charles Flagg, Storm Surges within Great South Bay, Long Island associated with local wind stress (The focus of this study was to analyze observational data gathered in 2005 by NOAA and USGS on tides and winds on the south shore of Long Island to determine the correlation between local wind stress and tidal surges. The analysis provides information for western Great South Bay about both the wind direction and the time lag that produces the maximum correlation.)

Brian Lin (McGill University) Mentors: Brian Colle and Robert Wilson, Effects of Synoptic Systems on Hypoxia in the Western Long Island Sound (A study of the atmospheric events that produce the necessary wind speeds and directions that cause vertical mixing in the water column of the Long Island Sound.)

Joseph "RJ" Hill (Texas A&M University) Mentor: Minghua Zhang, Modeled Climate Variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation (Analysis of the North Atlantic Oscillation and its effects on New England temperatures using climate model data.)

Jeffrey Massey (Cornell University) Mentor: Sultan Hameed, The North Atlantic Oscillation's effect on climate variability (Examination of variations in New England temperatures and North Atlantic tropical cyclone tracks using a reinterpretation of the North Atlantic Oscillation.)

Alejandro Avilés (University of Puerto Rico-Humacao, PR) Mentors: Josephine Aller, Alexandra Valdes, Detection of human pathogens from discharge of wastewater treatment plant effluent in Port Jefferson Harbor waters, sediment, and air.

Daniel Bishop, (Huntington, NY, Cornell University) Mentor Marat Khairoutdinov, Observed climate trends over the continental United States during 1980-2007.

Lauren E. Bohrer (Sayville, NY, Coastal Carolina University) Mentor: Joe Warren, The Morphology and Oxygen Production of Zostera marina.

Amy Leinkram (Falls Church,Virginia, William and Mary College) Mentor: David Black, Paleoproductivity in the Cariaco Basin Region through the Past 1500 Years ' NOT 'Paleoclimatology.

Daniel McKemy (Raleigh, North Carolina, North Carolina State University) Mentor: Brian Colle, Atmospheric Conditions That Influence Salt Concentrations across Long Island.

Emily Matykiewicz (Washington, DC, Yale University) Mentors Steven Munch and Mark Fast, Impacts of annual growth rate on parasite load and mercury contamination in cod fish (Gadus morhua).

W. Adam Park (Cocoa, FL, University of Florida) Mentor: Edmund Chang, Mid-latitude precipitation enhancement and cyclone development over North America due to the propagation of upper tropospheric waves.

Sara Russel (Minneapolis, Minnesota, University of Minnesota, Mentor: Brad Petersen, Competitive exclusion of ecosystem engineer Uca pugilator by Hemigrapsus sanguineus: The effects of an invasive species on the landscape ecology of two Long Island salt marshes.

Kimberly Scalise (Orchard Park, NY, SUNY Genesco) Mentor: Roger Flood, Interpreting Sedimentation: Southold Bay” Side scan sonar was used to map the floor of Southold Bay.

Erica Towle (University of Miami) Mentor: Chris Gobler, The Ability of Crepidula fornicata to Control Brown Tide Blooms Caused by Aurecoccus anophagefferens in Long Island estuaries.

Jason Keeler (White Plains, NY SUNY Oswego, Jr.) Mentor: Brian Colle, Convective Initiation and rapid decay of severe thunderstorms around the NYC Metro area and across LI Sound on 1 June 2006.

Jeanne Fernandez (Paris, France Lycee Louis le Grand, Fr. U.S. Citizen) Mentors: Josie Aller and Brian Colle, In search of aerosols: what they tell us about atmospheric conditions and marine influences.

Richard Parker (Rome, NY, Univ of Buffalo, NY, Jr.) Mentor: Steve Munch, Computer simulation of juvenile silverside mortality: recommendations for sampling strategies.

Rachel Stern (Gilroy, CA, Loyola Marymount Univ., CA, Jr.) Mentor: Darcy Lonsdale, The effect of Mnemiopsis leidyi on planktonic trophic levels in Peconic bays.

Christine Blachly (Dix Hills, NY, Emory, GA, Soph.) Mentor: Brad Peterson, The trait-mediated interaction between Asian shore crabs and green crabs.

Monica Chu (Newton, MA, MIT, MA, Jr.) Mentor: Bassem Allam, Assessment of cellular immune responses in the American Lobster (predictions of environmental stress).

Jordan Mertes (Omaha, NE ,Univ of Nebraska, Jr.) Mentor: Joe Warren, Gas, Grass, and Acoustics: Analysis of diel photosynthetic changes in the acoustic backscattering properties of Eelgrass Zostera marina, phytoplankton living at the sediment-water interface, and the water column.

Allison Citro (Rutland, VT, Dartmouth College, Jr.) Mentor: Chris Gobler, The role of temperature and nutrients in promoting blooms of toxic cyanobacteria in eastern Long Island ponds.

Meghan Weaver (Prairie Village, KS, Univ. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Soph.) Mentor: Roger Flood, Mapping the Peconics: Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter analysis.

Amber Metzker (Fort Atkinson, WI St. Cloud Univ, MN, Soph.) Mentors: Bob Wilson and Charlie Flagg, The importance of Air-Sea Interactions for sea surface temperatures in The Great South Bay.

Gregg Izzo (Mt. Sinai, NY, Univ. of Miami, FL, Soph.) Mentor: Brian Colle, Heat Flux, Wind Stress and the Great South Bay heat budget": importance for summer water circulation. PhD student SoMAS.

Sarah Holsinger (Clinton Township, MI, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, Jr.) Mentor: Steve Goodbred, Major Geological and Ecological Changes in the GSB since the Late Holocene

Tobias Hatten (Newton, MA, Boston Univ., Jr.) Mentor: Roger Flood, Did a Paleo Tsunami hit Great South Bay 2000 BP; Evidence for, and alternative scenarios?

L. Nicole Evans (Orange Park, FL Florida State Univ., Jr.) Mentor: Bob Cerrato, A look at Molluscan fauna in Great South Bay and changes over time in the faunal distributions.

Diana Bierschenk (West Hempstead, NY, Boston Univ., Jr.) Mentors: Steve Goodbred and Bob Cerrato, The distribution of Gemma gemma and Mulinia lateralis clams in the sediment of Great South Bay.

Adam Chasin (Brooklyn, NY, Binghamton University, NY, Jr) Mentor: J.Kirk Cochran, Influence of benthos on sediment accumulation in Great South Bay based on Be⁷ and Th²³⁴ radionuclide distributions.

Jeremiah Brower (Haines, AK, Humboldt State University, CA, Sr.) Mentor: Henry Bokuniewicz, Seismic Signature of Ocean Surf as it may relate to Coastal Erosion.