Behavior Trophic Ecology
The Chemistry of Fear
What is scarier than a great white shark? For an oyster it is a blue crab.
Author: Jaclyn Torkelson
While I have never lived close to the ocean, it has always had a special place in my heart. I recently earned my PhD in environmental chemistry from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) studying reef and coastal biogeochemistry. I focus on the lipid and trace metal composition of settling particles and surface sediment in coastal systems, primarily studying coral reefs. Currently, I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at Trinity College. When not diving or in the lab you can find me hiking with my dogs, reading, cross stitching, or just enjoying a good cup of tea!
Plastic Pollution
One man’s trash is not the ocean’s treasure
Marine plastics couldn’t actually get into the areas we deem as pristine. Right?
Chemistry Ocean Acidification
The mineral that could help solve climate change
Could a simple mineral be part of the key to fixing ocean acidification?
Coastal Management Invasive Species
Rat infestations: how rats affect the ocean
Rats can be found almost anywhere on Earth, but what are they doing to the ocean?
Coral Ecology
Everyone poops: How fish poop impacts coral
Like all animals on earth, fish poop. But how does that affect coral?
Chemistry Paleoceanography
Where do diatoms hide their silver?
Where would you hide your silver? Diatoms like to hide their silver in their squishy insides.
deep sea Ocean Exploration
Growing Up in an Ever-Warming Sauna
The deep-sea is warming like the rest of the world. What does this mean for the fish that live there?
Coral deep sea
Striving to survive: cold water coral and warming seas
The poles are warming faster than anywhere else, possibly creating trouble for baby cold water coral.
Coral Human impacts
Are more people flocking to coral reefs?
Many want a warm place near the ocean to live or vacation. Has this changed in the last 20 years?
Ecology
What does the Amazon Rainforest and the deep ocean have in common?
Cutting down trees in the Amazon affects more than just land animals. What does it mean for the deep ocean?
Climate Change
How climate change is warming up your dinner plate
Climate change isn’t just about warming. How does climate change effect the delicate balance of nutrients in the ocean?
Pollution
Surgical masks flood the ocean: another wave of the pandemic
As covid-19 rages on the pandemic of surgical face masks in the ocean is just beginning. What will the effect…
Climate Change
Phytoplankton Fighting Against Climate Change
As the ocean becomes hotter and more acidic, phytoplankton have to change their survival tactics.