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Coastal hypoxia has detrimental effects to community ecology, degrading community structure and diminishing benthic function. Benthic function in marine systems is largely driven by infauna bioturbation, which facilitates life-supporting processes by increasing the quality of marine sediments for nearly all biota. These infauna-mediated processes can be diminished by coastal hypoxia however to what extent needs to be better quantified. Some infauna have been documented to exhibit metabolic plasticity to low oxygen allowing them to maintain some form of benthic function. Combining novel in situ observation techniques with experimental quantification of worm metabolism, this talk address two primary questions. How is infauna function limited by hypoxia? What are the metabolic adaptations at the individual level that allow for community level resilience maintain a portion of benthic function during hypoxia.

Kersey Sturdivant is a scientist, blogger, author and innovator. He is a Principal Scientist with INSPIRE Environmental in Rhode Island, a company he helped establish, and adjunct faculty at Duke University. Dr. Sturdivant's research interests broadly center around the effects of anthropogenic disturbance of the marine environment. He started Oceanography for Everyone, a digital forum for open-access ocean science hardware development (oceanographyforeveryone.com), which created OpenCTD (a scientifically accurate CTD that cost only $300). In December 2016, Cambridge University Press will publish his new book, Getting into Graduate School in the Sciences, which he co-authored with VIMS alum Noelle Relles after they did extensive research on graduate program admission processes in the US. In his spare time Dr. Sturdivant blogs at the popular science-themed site SouthernFriedScience.com, and you can follow his science exploits on twitter @Wormcam.

Contact

Cathy Cake, [[v|cake]], 804-684-7105

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