No rest for biology
Faculty and students in the Biology Department were on the move this summer. In May, Biology Department Head and Marine Biology Professor John Zardus, along with Professor Danny Gustafson, who teaches plant molecular ecology, led a study abroad course in Belize on tropical ecology.
In the lab of Professor John Weinstein, graduate students Dana Norton and Jonathan Barr examined the impact of warming temperatures on the increased amounts of microplastic and micro tire particles ingested by shrimp. Funding for this project was provided through The Citadel’s Near Center for Climate Studies.
An article on Weinstein’s research related to microplastics and tire wear particles will be featured in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Global Environmental Health Newsletter in August. Weinstein is the 2022 recipient of the South Carolina Governor’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Research.
Luke Schmitz, a graduate student working in the lab with Zardus, is conducting research this summer on the vision in barnacle larvae, testing their wavelength sensitivity. Also conducting research under Zardus this summer, graduate student Isabela Diaz is testing sea turtles to see if environmental DNA is recorded in the barnacles that live on their shells.