Graduation Day Arrives for Fellows Supported by Maryland Sea Grant

Seven students funded as fellows by Maryland Sea Grant received graduate degrees in marine and estuarine science at a Commencement ceremony this month.

The degrees were awarded by the Marine Estuarine Environmental Studies Graduate Program, which is jointly run by the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES).

The graduation ceremony was the second in which these two institutions in the University System of Maryland jointly awarded degrees. In 2013, the Maryland General Assembly granted UMCES the authority to award M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine and environmental sciences jointly with the College Park campus. Every year, nearly 100 graduate students in the program study and work alongside UMCES scientists and faculty members on interdisciplinary research projects.

Maryland Sea Grant funds and supports a variety of graduate fellowships for students in marine and environmental science in order to help prepare the next generation of scientists.

Below are specifics about each graduate’s degree and research. You can click on the fellows’ names to learn more about them:

Ph.D. Degrees

Jennifer A. Bosch
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Science
Project Title: Polychaetes, Hypoxia, and Nitrogen Cycling in the Mesohaline Chesapeake Bay
Advisor: Dr. Michael Kemp, UMCES Horn Point Laboratory
 
Jeanette Davis
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Microbiology
Project Title: Characterization of the Bacterial Communities Associated with Two Tropical Sacoglossan Mollusks Elysia rufescens and Elysia crispata
Advisor: Dr. Russell Hill, UMCES Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology

Chieh-Lun Liu
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Microbiology
Project Title: Changes in eIF2alpha Phosphorylation in Response to Nutrient Deficiency and Other Stressors in Fish
Advisors: Drs. Rosemary Jagus and Allen Place, UMCES Institute of Marine and
Environmental Technology

Master’s Degrees

Emily Flowers
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Environmental Microbiology
Project Title: Ecology of a Fatal Blue Crab Virus: Detection, Range, and Prevalence of Callinectes sapidus Reo-Like Virus
Advisor: Dr. Eric Schott, UMCES Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology

Jia Gao
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Oceanography
Project Title: Influences of Wave Climate and Sea Level on Shoreline Erosion Rates in the Maryland Chesapeake Bay
Advisor: Dr. Lawrence Sanford, UMCES Horn Point Laboratory
 
Miriam Johnston
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Ecology
Project Title: Field-Measured Versus Derived: What are the Most Effective Predictor Variables in Stream Biodiversity Models?
Advisor: Dr. Matthew Fitzpatrick, UMCES Appalachian Laboratory
 
Anthony Kaufman
Degree: Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences/Fisheries
Project Title: Depth Preferences of Overwintering Juvenile Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in the Maryland Waters of the Chesapeake Bay: A Local Seasonal Study and Preliminary Shallow Water Survey
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Miller, UMCES Chesapeake Biological Lab

Photographs by Cheryl Nemazie for University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science