Tag: Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Halmos College Research Group Announces Publication of a Special Issue of Frontiers in Marine Science

The DEEPEND Consortium is excited to announce the publication of a special issue of Frontiers in Marine Science, focusing on the results of their research over the past 5 years. The special issue will be titled: “Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in a Highly Impacted Water Column: The Gulf of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon.” It begins with a description of DEEPEND, including the overall aims, approaches, and rationale for studying the patterns and processes of the oceanic Gulf of Mexico as related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, followed by a detailed methodology paper, data from which the bulk of DEEPEND studies were derived.

Overarching topics in this 16-paper special edition include:

  • Pelagic community abundance and distribution (encompassing microbial biota, pelagic crustaceans, cephalopods, and fishes),
  • Time-series analysis (encompassing petrogenic contamination, assemblage structure, and population genetics),
  • Environmental drivers,
  • Taxonomy (new species discoveries), and
  • Trophic interactions.

These research papers also encompass cross-cutting themes of biodiversity, connectivity, behavior, diel vertical migration, carbon flux, the biological pump, anthropogenic impact, and the epipelagic zone as nursery habitat for both shallow- and deep-living taxa.

Halmos has two members on the issue’s editorial staff, Dr. Tracey Sutton (Lead Editor) and Dr. Joe Lopez (Contributing Editor). To learn more about DEEPEND’s Special Edition in Frontiers of Marine Science and to view the published articles, visit: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/10575/deep-pelagic-ecosystem-dynamics-in-a-highly-impacted-water-column-the-gulf-of-mexico-after-deepwater.

Halmos Researchers Battle Coral Disease with Human Drug

What started as a coral disease outbreak near Miami in 2014 has since spread throughout most of the Florida Reef Tract as well as to some other parts of the Caribbean. The disease has been termed “Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.” Experts are working to determine the pathogen that causes the disease, but it is known to spread through the water, and most scientists involved in the collaborative efforts suspect it is bacterial because of how it responds to antibiotics.

Research collaborations among numerous agencies and institutions are following multiple pathways. These include genetic studies to identify the pathogen and to assess how corals respond physiologically, laboratory studies on transmission and progression rates, development of pharmaceutical products for treatment, and considerations for creating healthier environments for corals to heal. “I think there’s a lot of similarities between how we should be treating coral diseases and how we should be treating human diseases,” Halmos Research Scientist Karen Neely, Ph.D. said.

In a race to save the remaining corals, researchers have been treating already-infected coral colonies with a paste combined with amoxicillin. A Spectrum News crew accompanied the group during a day of field work at Looe Key Reef, one of the most coral dense regions in the Florida Keys. The video can be viewed online at https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2020/02/27/researchers-try-to-slow-disease-destroying-atlantic-reef.

“Most of the time, scientists and marine biologists spend a lot of time documenting declines of ecosystems. We’re actually some of the few that are lucky enough to be able to get out here and try to do something about it,” Neely said.

At Looe Key Reef, the scientists have saved over 800 corals. Additional work at eight other sites has brought the team’s tally of treated corals to over 1500. Other efforts by teams in Biscayne National Park and Southeast Florida bring the total to over 2000. Neely is unsure how the reefs would have fared if not for their intervention efforts. “We were out here a couple of weeks ago, and as we looked around, we realized everything here was either dead or had been treated by us,” she said.

Halmos Faculty Explains What Are Floating Up on Our Beaches

Every so often, strange items wash up on our beaches. This one came from West Africa and landed on Palm Beach. Called “fish aggregating devices,” or FADS, the sometimes raft-like structures can get sucked into the North Equatorial Current and travel as far as the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida.

Often made from refuse such as oil jugs or bamboo sticks lashed together, the curtains of netting dangle beneath them with a reach that can be more than 300 feet deep. They attract large fish that gather for shelter or to feed on small fish and other organisms that grow in this artificially created ecosystem.

Halmos College faculty member David Kerstetter, Ph.D. discussed the situation with the Palm Beach Post. “The presence of these things around the Caribbean is starting to get more attention,” said Kerstetter, “Things like sea turtles can get entangled in them and the other concern when they break free is that all that netting and other material smashes into coral reefs.”

This recent device’s information was collected by Halmos College graduate student Erin Kimak, who is collecting information on where lost FADS are landing as part of the Caribbean FAD Tracking Project. Kerstetter said he hopes to identify which fisheries are losing the most devices to provide more ways to reduce ocean plastics and debris.

Halmos Faculty Member Presents at Health Professions Research Day


On February 21, the NSU Health Professions Division held their 7th annual research day. A consortium of eight academic colleges—Allopathic Medicine, Dental Medicine, Health Care Sciences, Medical Sciences, Nursing, Optometry, Osteopathic Medicine, and Pharmacy, banded together to offer poster displays and oral presentations of their current cutting-edge research.

Among the presenters was Halmos College faculty member Santanu De, Ph.D. His talk, entitled “Navigating Healthcare Science Student Learning and Engagement through Implementation of a Virtual Classroom” discussed his research on whether virtual classrooms can be utilized to facilitate student learning and engagement.

This study was funded by the HPD Research Grant at Nova Southeastern University.

 

CAHSS Faculty and Students Participate in NAMM Show and Student wins NAMM Presidential Innovation Award

Jessica Muñiz-Collado, M.F.A., assistant professor in the Department of Performing and Visual Arts in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) and music majors Mario Yi and Ernesto Velasquez participated in the NAMM Show held at the Anaheim Convention Center in California on January 16-19, 2020.  The NAMM Show is the world’s largest music trade show and conference.

Collado was also a presenter at the renowned music conference, and Mario Yi received the NAMM Presidential Innovation Award. This is the first time an NSU student won this prestigious award.

2020 Pi Day is Coming-Cancelled

On Monday, March 16, the Halmos College Department of Mathematics will host its annual Pi Day Celebration in conjunction with the Chemistry Club. Rounding up this year (Pi day is March 13, a Saturday), students, faculty and staff can enjoy pizza supplied by the Chemistry Club for dessert, there will be pieces of apple, cherry, peach, and other pie flavors!

This year the event will be held outside of Parker under the awnings from 12-1 p.m.! At 12:30 the event will also host a Pi Contest with Pi prizes! All are encouraged to enter!

Come learn how Pi, a mathematical constant, is so important to space exploration. Everyone also had a chance to play Pi games and learn how important Pi is in chemical equations.

Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Alumni Spotlight: CAHSS Alumnus is on Winning FSU Black Law Students Association Mock Trial Team

Christopher Ramirez, B.S

Christopher Ramirez, B.S., 2018 graduate of the Legal Studies program in the Department of History and Political Science (DHPS)  in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), was a member of the winning mock trial team for Florida State University College of Law’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA). The team won first place in the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition at the Southern Region of the Black Law Students Association’s regional convention, held in Charleston, SC.

Ramirez is a first year law student at FSU. While at NSU, he was a member of the undergraduate Mock Trial Team and was a federal work student in DHPS. Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., is the NSU Mock Trial Team coach.

Halmos Faculty Featured in New York Times Lionfish Article

Matthew Johnston, Ph.D.

On February 4, the New York Times published the article, “Open Sores, Lower Numbers Likely Not Invasive Lionfish’s End”. The article discusses a new disease which has caused open sores that can eat into the muscles of the invasive lionfish. While the disease contributed to an abrupt drop in the northern Gulf of Mexico populations, researchers quickly state that this is not the end of these showy invaders.

Halmos College biology faculty member Matthew Johnston, Ph.D. contributed to this article. Johnston, who has written scientific papers about the lionfish commented, ““We’ve always been wondering if they’re ever going to reach their limit in certain locations,” he said. “To date it seemed the populations just kept getting larger and larger and larger.”

Genetic studies have shown the invaders are descended from lionfish that were first sighted off Florida in 1985; aquarium hobbyists may well have started the invasion by dumping fish into the ocean, according to NOAA.

Halmos College Alumna and Research Scientists Find a “Core” Sponge Specific Microbiome

Sponges occur across diverse marine biomes and host internal microbial communities that can provide critical ecological functions. In this study, genetics researchers investigated the relative roles of host population genetics and biogeography in structuring the microbial communities hosted by the excavating sponge Cliona delitrix. In general sponges host many different microbial species and filter seawater as part of their lifestyle.

This resulted in a publication by former Halmos College researcher Cole Easson, Ph.D. and Halmos College alumna Andia Chaves-Fonnegra, Ph.D. for a project they worked on while in the research laboratory of Halmos biology faculty, Jose Lopez, Ph.D. The paper, published in Ecology and Evolution is entitled, “Host population genetics and biogeography structure the microbiome of the sponge Cliona delitrix”

“The bottom line”, says Lopez, “is that there appears to be a “core” sponge specific microbiome, but  they may not be the most common in the sponge, and yet they appear across the whole Caribbean.”

Citation: Easson, C. G., Chaves-Fonnegra, A., Thacker, R. W., & Lopez, J. V. Host population genetics and biogeography structure the microbiome of the sponge Cliona delitrix. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6033

Halmos Faculty Helps Create Astronomy Network in Florida

Stefan Kautsch, Ph.D.

In November 2019, Halmos associate professor Stefan Kautsch, Ph.D. travelled to Tampa Bay, Florida to meet with other astronomers and astrophysicists from almost all universities and colleges across the state. The mission of the meeting was to create a professional network that would develop a strategy how to better connect the astronomy scientists and simultaneously engage the public community to learn more about the universe.

Kautch, the winner of the 2018 NSU’s President’s Distinguished Professor in Community Engagement, said “Our goal is to promote collaboration across the research and academic institutions in order to advance astronomy and space exploration in Florida, the gateway of the nation to the cosmos”. The proposed name of the group is AstroFlorida. The first research conference is planned for spring 2020.

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