Architect's image of new Mathias Lab, complete with rain cistern on porch and wetlands to the left. (Credit: EwingCole)
Green science needs greener labs
Posted by KristenM on May 16th, 2011Missing Links: Deciphering How Climate Change Impacts Global Biodiversity
Posted by KristenM on April 25th, 2011
Research suggests some species in the tropics and subtropics may be more resistant to climate change than species closer to the poles. (Credit: SERC)
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$1.3 Million NASA Grant Shows Climate-Changed Forests from Space
Posted by KristenM on April 22nd, 2011
Aerial view of Mangal Cay in the western Caribbean - just one of many mangrove havens Ilka Feller has explored.
Ilka Feller, senior ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, will lead the effort to track more than 100 miles of Florida mangrove forests encroaching on their northern neighbors, the salt marshes. Feller has been studying mangroves for almost 20 years, keeping tabs on their progress in Florida, Panama, Belize and Australia. The new grant is one of 15 NASA-sponsored projects that will combine satellite data with field work to give scientists a bird’s-eye view of climate change.
New Genome Helps Crack Methylmercury Code
Posted by KristenM on April 15th, 2011
A bacterium called Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain ND132 can transform elemental mercury into methylmercury, a human neurotoxin. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A newly decoded bacterial genome brings scientists one step closer to unlocking the secret behind the production of methylmercury, the chemical notorious for contaminating tuna and other seafood.
How to Block Ship-borne Bioinvaders Before They Dock
Posted by KristenM on March 25th, 2011
SERC researcher George Smith opens an air vent on the ship Patcantrell for a ballast water experiment. (Credit: Timothy Mullady/SERC)
The global economy depends on marine transportation. But in addition to cargo, the world’s 50,000-plus commercial ships carry tiny stowaways that can cause huge problems for the environment and economy. A new model, published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, will help ships screen more accurately for dangerous species before they unload.
Discovery on the Mudflats
Posted by KristenM on February 3rd, 2011By Monaca Noble
An orange sponge made this bryolith its home.
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Slipper Limpets and Stress, A Tale of Two Interns
Posted by KristenM on December 1st, 2010By Florian von Bechtolsheim and Anne Phillip, 2010 Summer Interns
“Anybody got some heavy-duty, double-zipper, sandwich-size Ziploc bags?” We had many such questions for everyone at SERC. We were known this summer as two students, looking for random stuff and entrenching ourselves in the wet lab. There was a reason for that.
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Smithsonian Study Measures Watershed-wide Effects of Riparian Buffers on Nutrient Pollution
Posted by KristenM on October 27th, 2010
Well-developed riparian forests outline streams and help protect stream water quality.
Most of the time, nutrients are viewed as a positive and essential part of life. However, excess amounts of a nutrient, like nitrogen, can create major ecological problems for the Chesapeake Bay and other aquatic ecosystems. Too much nitrogen leads to an abundance of microscopic plant growth in the water. When the algae die and decay, they consume the oxygen that other organisms need to thrive.
Much of the Bay’s nitrogen pollution comes from farms where rainwater carries nitrate, a form of nitrogen, from fields into streams that drain into the Bay. For years, ecologists have noted that forests and wetlands growing between croplands and streams can reduce the amount of nitrate that reaches the waterways. Scientists have measured nitrate removal by these “riparian buffers,” but only in small study areas.
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Eco Trekking across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Posted by JoshF on September 2nd, 2010
Sunset on canoes in Tylerton, MD
This summer from August 7th through August 13th, 9 students went on a journey through the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This trip was organized and led by Josh Falk, an Education Specialist at SERC, and Kevin Schabow, an educator at the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. The purpose of this trip was to immerse high school age students in the complex nature of the science, culture and natural resources that the Bay’s watershed has to offer. This year, the students were assigned to report on what they learned and what they did. Here is their story.
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Tracking the Chesapeake Bay’s ‘Beautiful Swimmers’
Posted by KristenM on August 24th, 2010As summer wanes in the Chesapeake Bay, many female blue crabs are preparing for an epic journey. Come September they will walk and swim their way toward the mouth of the Chesapeake to release their eggs. Some will travel more than 150 miles. SERC scientists have studied the blue crab’s migratory patterns for more than a decade. Their findings have revealed new insight into the life history of this important species and have helped inform management policies. Tracking these invertebrates is not easy: it involves thousands of pink plastic tags, a unique collaboration with watermen and a blue crab hotline…