Halmos Faculty Brings Marine Genomics to the Public

This spring, Halmos Biology faculty member Jose Lopez, Ph.D. conducted two outreach programs on marine genomics. Entitled, “Applying Genomics to Better Understand Marine Symbiosis: From Anglerfish to Sponges”, these lectures included a discussion of DEEPEND  consortium and symbiology results.  Essentially, a comparison and contrast was made between the two very different types of symbioses (the living together of >1 organism, typically a host and microbe). Through DEEPEND, our results characterized bioluminescent bacteria which provide light to anglerfish in the continually dark zones of the meso- and bathypelagic depths of the Gulf of Mexico. For more shallow regions such as endangered coral reefs, resident sponges filter bacteriaplankton in their habitat which can become mixed with their co-adapted microbial symbionts. The first talk took place as part of the Smithsonian Lecture Series. The talk was given at the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit at the St. Lucie County Aquarium in Ft Pierce.

The second lecture took place at New River Middle School in Fort Lauderdale. There he presented to 50 middle schoolers. His host was a former mentee, and now teacher – Ms. Reneice Robinson.  Robinson worked as an intern in an NSF sponsored Research Training for Pre-teachers (before they get their degrees), which allowed her to gain practical experience that she could bring to the classroom.