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2024 Marine Biology Spring Semester students arrive

Eight individuals stand on a sandy dune amidst a plethora of grasses. The sky is overcast and light gray and all the individuals are wearing jackets to keep warm. Behind them the grasses grow thicker and more numerous until they give way to shrubs and trees.
Students and program staff enjoying an excursion to the south end of Nannygoat Beach.

Welcome to our spring semester students, who arrived on Saturday, January 6 and will be on-site through April. In addition to UGA, they hail from the University of West Georgia, Dalton State University, Georgia Tech, and the College of Coastal Georgia. During their time at UGAMI, students will take courses in marine biology, ecology, animal behavior, marine fisheries, and coastal ecosystems. The students will get a chance to interact with many different people on Sapelo and the Georgia coast, and to spend lots of time in the field. Contact Dr. Tom Hancock (Thomas.Hancock@uga.edu) if you want to know more!

It’s Field Sea-Sun!

It’s going to be a busy summer at UGAMI!  Last week, we hosted our annual barbecue to welcome our summer visitors.

Drs. John Schalles (Creighton) and Steve Pennings (UH) are back for another summer, as are graduate students Matt Pierce (UGA), Harrison Currin (GSU), and Tommy Pudil (GSU) . 

We also have a group of interns joining us to work with GCE investigators. They hail from institutions across the US including Creighton University, University of Houston, University of South Carolina, Eckerd College, and University of North Florida.

We are also looking forward to the arrival of a new cohort of students for UGA’s Coastal Summer Semester, who will be here this weekend along with Drs. Emlyn Resetarits and Charles Hopkinson. We’re looking forward to a productive summer, and it feels great to see so many new (and returning!) visitors.

Graduate Student Matt Pierce (UGA) and Summer Intern Addie Band (Eckerd College) measuring water quality parameters.
Summer Intern Gabby Gagnon (U of South Carolina) learning how to use the RTK.

Internship Opportunities

The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program is recruiting for five paid summer internships in coastal ecology. Some positions are limited to students who have not graduated yet, but others are open. The deadline for applying is March 7. Follow the link for more information and to apply.

2020 GCE Undergraduate Summer Internships

Applications are now being accepted for the 2020 GCE Undergraduate Summer Internships!

There are four internships available with three opportunities based on Sapelo Island, and one internship based at the University of South Carolina. The application deadline is Sunday, March 8th at midnight. For more information and to apply, please visit http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/…/summer_internships_2020.asp.

Project descriptions listed below:

Salt marsh invertebrate ecology. Supervisor: Dr. Christine Angelini (University of Florida). The intern will participate in salt marsh surveys, experimental manipulations, and sample collections designed to better understand salt marsh responses to disturbance as part of the GCE “disturbance-scape” project. In addition to field work, the intern will help process samples in the laboratory, including dissection of invertebrate species and processing of water, plants, invertebrates and sediment for chemical analyses. The intern should be comfortable with long days in the field (up to 12 hours or more depending on tides) and have the ability to carry 40 lbs or more. Experience with small boats is desirable but not required. The position will be based at Sapelo Island GA for ~8 weeks during May-August 2020; housing will be provided. Some time may be spent at the UF campus in Gainesville FL processing samples that cannot be processed at UGAMI.

Growing salt marsh plants hydroponically. Supervisors: Dr. Steven Pennings (University of Houston) and Dr. Jessica O’Connell (University of Georgia). The intern will develop methods for growing the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora hydroponically by adapting existing methods that have been used with other large grasses. This will set the stage for GCE staff to conduct experiments over the winter of 2020-21 where we will grow plants hydroponically so that we can periodically measure the roots and rhizomes as well as the shoots. The intern will develop the methods for doing this, testing different containers, hydroponic solutions, and methods for measuring roots and shoots to find which approaches work best. Experience with hydroponics, culture of plants or animals in captivity, or plumbing would be helpful. The position will be based on Sapelo Island Georgia for ~8 weeks during May-August 2020; housing will be provided. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

Field assistant in coastal science. Supervisor: Jacob Shalack (GCE LTER lead technician). The intern will work as a general assistant to the GCE technicians on Sapelo Island. Duties may include assisting in water quality sampling, plant and invertebrate monitoring, flux tower maintenance, helping a variety of research groups with field work, and light construction. This position will be primarily in the field, and will require strenuous physical activity and irregular hours. The position will be based on Sapelo Island, GA for ~10 weeks during May-August 2020; housing will be provided. This position is open to all undergraduate students, including graduating seniors.

GIS land use and change of Sapelo Island. Supervisors: Dr. Nik Heynen (University of Georgia) and Dr. Dean Hardy (University of South Carolina). The intern will assist with land use and land cover change analysis of Sapelo Island, Georgia and the surrounding region. Required skills are demonstrated familiarity with GIS products and processes such as creating and editing shapefiles, creating and managing geodatabases, manipulating map projections and coordinate reference systems, georectification of scanned maps, heads-up digitizing, raster analysis and basic map algebra. Preferred skills include familiarity with collecting and importing GPS data into a GIS, knowledge of open source GIS platforms, and an ability to travel to the field site on Sapelo Island two to three times for 2-3 days at a time over the summer for data collection. The position will be based in Columbia, SC at the University of South Carolina for ~8 weeks during May-August 2020, where Dr. Hardy will be the immediate supervisor. This position is limited to students who have not yet graduated.

New CreekCam Installed

The first law of Marine Science is that electronics and saltwater don’t play well together. Anyone who has owned a boat or deployed an electronic instrument near the ocean can attest to this truth.

UGAMI’s CreekCam, installed in 2016, became a victim of the corrosive effects of salt spray and died a slow death last summer. But a new camera was installed at the same location this week and is set to transmit an image every 10 minutes. As before, the latest image is always displayed on the Current Conditions page: https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/conditions.asp. Archived images can also be viewed and downloaded.

Want to see the tidal height and weather conditions at 7:15 AM on February 1, 2017? Or are you wondering when spring green-up occurs in the marsh? No problem, we got it.

New seawater system to support future growth of UGAMI

UGAMI received a National Science Foundation award through the Field Stations and Marine Labs (FSML) program to upgrade the UGAMI seawater system. Completion of the new system, which will support future growth of UGAMI, is anticipated by mid-September.