Behavioral and Physiological Ecology of Marine Invertebrates
We are a research lab in the School of Ocean Science and Engineering at The University of Southern Mississippi. Our research focuses on behavioral and physiological responses of marine organisms to environmental change and environmental stressors. This research lies at the intersection of behavior, ecology, and physiology, and integrates field- and lab-based experimental work with analyses of long-term observational datasets to better understand the functioning of the organism and interactions between the organism and its environment. In particular, our recent work has focused on (1) life history plasticity in response to environmental variability, (2) plastic and adaptable behavioral mechanisms underlying migration across environmental gradients, (3) interactions between sexual and natural selection driving morphology and behavior, and (4) abiotic and biotic modulation of behavioral tradeoffs. Our work also has a strong applied focus, addressing management and conservation questions from an organismal biology perspective.
News
November 15, 2023: We have an opening for an M.S. student to work on blue crabs and climate change, beginning in June, 2024. For more information, click here. Update: this position has been filled.
October 6, 2023: We are seeking applicants for an open Research Technician position, to begin in January 2024.. For more information, click here. Update: this position has been filled.
May 4, 2023: New paper by Helen Olmi-Graham in TAFS: Spatial and Temporal Variation in Exploitation Rates of the Louisiana Blue Crab Spawning Stock.
March 8, 2023: New paper with collaborator Jeff Levinton published in JEMBE: Superior Performance of a Trailing Edge Low-Latitude Population of an Intertidal Marine Invertebrate.
August 20, 2022: Welcome to new Craboratory Ph.D. student Hailee Nigro! Hailee joins us from the University of West Florida, where she completed her B.S. in Summer 2022.
July 21, 2022: New paper by Christian Hayes in MEPS: Regional variation in seagrass complexity drives blue crab Callinectes sapidus mortality and growth across the northern Gulf of Mexico. PDF available upon request.
July 14, 2022: New paper by Helen Olmi-Graham in TAFS: Evidence for Sperm Limitation in the Louisiana Blue Crab Spawning Stock.
Jan 3, 2022: Undergraduate REU internship opportunities available for Summer 2022. Applications due Feb. 11. Click here for more info.
October 10, 2021: Graduate fellowship opportunities available. Click here for more info and contact Zack if you’re interested in applying.