Untitled Document

Kristen Delano Walter

Kathryn Shulzitski
Sean Bignami
Esther Goldstein
Jessica Watson

In 2004 I received my Master's degree in Marine Science from the School of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary. My previous work spanned a wide range of taxa (including corals, clams, crabs, lobsters, American shad, and Atlantic sturgeon) in a variety of ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay, Bahamas, and Florida Keys. My interests tend towards population and landscape ecology. I have extensive field experience piloting small boats in the Chesapeake Bay as well as the open ocean and a diverse diving resume that includes the zero visibility, tidally driven conditions in Chesapeake Bay as well as saturation diving in the Florida Keys at the Aquarius Underwater Habitat. I came to RSMAS in 2007 as a Senior Research Associate and currently am involved in a National Science Foundation project assessing linkages in recruitment of Florida Keys reef fishes. My main role in the lab is to organize, coordinate, and execute the NSF project field and labwork, but I also manage the day-to-day group and laboratory needs, oversee undergraduate interns and volunteers, maintain the databases, and collaborate on research projects, permit/grant writing, and manuscript publication.

The vast majority of benthic marine organisms exhibit a complex life cycle with pelagic larvae and relatively sedentary adults. The difficulty in directly observing dispersal events that occur during the pelagic larval phase hinders our understanding of how marine populations are demographically connected. Patterns of population connectivity are determined by biophysical transport, growth, settlement, and survival of larvae and juveniles. Larval mortality is extremely high and variable and can drive patterns of recruitment, thus, potentially influencing adult population structure. Although research programs have historically focused on either offshore or nearshore environments due to requirements in sampling methods, my thesis work is part of a larger study that integrates sampling techniques to track cohorts from the pelagic environment as early- to late-stage larvae through to benthic reef habitat as juveniles up to three weeks old. The first objective of my thesis is to characterize larval distributions and abundances in the Florida Keys and Loop Current. The second objective is to examine the influence of mesoscale eddies on larval distributions and growth rates. Finally, the third objective is to determine patterns of selective mortality in larvae and carry-over in early juveniles with respect to onshore-offshore and upstream-downstream comparisons as well as the influence of eddies. An increased understanding of the factors affecting transport, growth, and survival throughout the most vulnerable life stages will improve our understanding of marine population connectivity and our ability to manage and conserve marine populations.

The early life stages of marine fishes experience incredibly high mortality rates, yet survival and recruitment are critical to the maintenance of biodiversity the replenishment of fishery stocks. As global climate change becomes a more measurable phenomenon, it becomes increasingly important to understand how changing environmental parameters may affect the process of larval development. My proposed research will investigate the impact of predicted climate change, such as CO 2 -induced ocean acidification, increased temperature, and shifting trophic dynamics, on larval development and physiology. Impacts on larvae have the potential to influence individual fishes, the ecology of coral reef fish communities, and possibly even the population connectivity between reefs. An increased understanding of potential future climate impacts on the early life phases of tropical fishes will serve as a foundation from which further research and/or fisheries management decisions can be directed.

Evan D'Alessandro-- Visiting Assistant Professor, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida (edalessa@rsmas.miami.edu)

Tauna Rankin-- Coral Reef Conservation Program, Habitat Protection Division/Office of Habitat Conservation, NOAA/NMFS, Silver Spring, Maryland (Tauna.Rankin@noaa.gov)

Klaus Huebert-- Project Scientist, Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany (klaus.huebert@uni-hamburg.de)

Casey Gioia-- Research Technologist, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois (c-gioia@northwestern.edu)

Jennie Boulay-- Graduate Student, Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania (jnb186@psu.edu)

Lisa Havel-- Graduate Student, Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas, Port Aransas, Texas (lisie530@netscape.net)

Paige Roberts -- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland (paigem.roberts@gmail.com)

Kelly Denit -- Program Coordinator Office, National Marine Fisheries Service/NOAA, Washington, DC (Kelly.Denit@mail.nems.noaa.gov)

Kirsten Grorud-Colvert -- PISCO/COMPASS Marine Reserve Science Coordinator, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon (grorudck@science.oregonstate.edu)

Michelle Paddack -- Faculty, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, California (mjpaddack@sbcc.edu)