SMITHSONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER

P.O. Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland 21037
www.serc.si.edu

Anson H. Hines, Director

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is the world’s leading research center for environmental studies of the coastal zone. These fragile regions where land and water meet form the stage upon which the 21st century’s biggest environmental challenges will be confronted, and their health is critical for the survival of both our oceans and our terrestrial environments. For 40 years, SERC has been addressing the need to understand the linkages between ecosystems in the coastal zone through critical research, professional training for young scientists, and environmental education.

A diverse and growing staff of 16 senior scientists and an interdisciplinary team of more than 180 researchers, technicians, and students conduct long-term descriptive and experimental research addressing such issues as global change, the effects of nutrients and chemicals passing through our landscapes, maintenance of productive fisheries, changes to our environment from biological invaders, and protection of fragile wetlands and woodlands. Our accomplishments range from running some of the longest continuous ecological studies, to creating new technology that expands the horizons of science.

The research center, 25 miles from the Nation’s Capital, lies along the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay and serves as a hub for studies that extend around the globe. SERC’s main campus encompasses 2,800 acres of land along the Rhode River, a subestuary of the Bay, and includes forest, cropland, pasture, freshwater wetlands, tidal marshes, and estuaries. Much of our research focuses on this subestuary and its 12-square-mile watershed as a representative model system for the enormous (64,000-square-mile) Chesapeake drainage basin. As a highly visible and fragile ecosystem on the doorstep of the nation's capital, the Chesapeake Bay is indicative of the complex environmental issues facing the world.

Like the Chesapeake watershed, the Rhode River site has been impacted by human activities such as agriculture, forestry, and extensive commercial fishing, with an influx of diffuse pollutants in the tributaries and estuarine basin. The Research Center serves as a natural laboratory and a focal point for long-term monitoring programs and research projects.

Expanding outward from the main campus, SERC researchers conduct studies at field sites around the world—from Australia to Belize and Antarctica to Alaska. Visiting scientists come from across the globe to study at our central facility which has become one of the world’s premier training facilities for the next generation of environmental scientists—786 interns and 460 post doctoral, pre-doctoral and graduate student fellows from around the world have conducted research at SERC. On average 47 interns and 33 fellows participate in SERC’s professional training program annually.

SERC is the headquarters for the National Ballast Water Clearinghouse and a leader in the field of invasive species research. SERC houses the world’s longest data record on the increase in ultraviolet (UVB) solar radiation impacting the Earth, and developed the standardized tool for measuring UVB radiation. Our Scientists conduct groundbreaking research on human health issues such as mercury contamination in water and PCB’s found in wild-caught fish.

Facilities

SERC's programs are supported by an advanced 6,500 m2 laboratory facility, including: a branch library networked with the main Smithsonian library; two research vessels and fleet of small boats for estuarine research; and an array of modern instruments for analytical chemistry. Computer facilities include ERDAS, NT server, and DOS Windows computers sharing data and peripherals over an Ethernet network with full time Internet connection. Software site license provides access to all modules of ESRI ArcGIS Geographic Information System software and Leica's Geosystems ERDAS Imagine Professional suite for Image Analysis and Remote Sensing. Available programming languages include the Absoft FORTRAN and C compliers and Microsoft's Visual Studio.net (which includes Microsofts' VisualBasic, C+, C#, and J# languages). Supported statistical and graphics software tools include the Statistical Analysis System (SAS), S-plus, DataDesk, Amos 5, SigmaPlot, and Adobe Illustrator. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) systems are available for collecting geographic coordinates in the field, and we have a Calcomp digitizing tablet for digitizing paper maps. In addition, SERC's ecological field research is supported by a wet laboratory with flowing estuarine water for maintaining live aquatic animals; culturing facilities for planktonic and other aquatic organisms; an instrumented 50-meter-tall tower for access to the canopy-atmosphere interface of a mature deciduous hardwood forest; a laboratory for control of CO2 in experimental chambers in several plant communities; a laboratory equipped with a tunable infrared laser spectrophotometer for measuring trace gasses emitted from forests and agricultural fields; an Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) for measuring trace metals and tracing metal stable isotope markers in samples; and a green house, lath house, and experimental garden for terrestrial plant experiments. SERC's Public Education Program is supported by a 900 m2 building on the Chesapeake shoreline for orientation and teaching of children, teachers, and other visitors. SERC provides limited dormitory and short-term residential housing for students and visiting scientists.

Informing Policy and Professional Training

For improved stewardship of the biosphere, SERC’s research provides data, publications and expert consultation in support of conservation, environmental policy, and management of natural resources. SERC's research findings are communicated to other scientists through publications, conferences, workshops, and through extensive networks of research sites in the U.S. and in other countries.

Connected to an international network of collaborators, SERC trains future generations of scientists to address ecological questions through well established undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral programs that attract participants from around the world. These include an ongoing internship program for currently enrolled undergraduate and beginning graduate students, and a fellowship program at the graduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral levels. Visiting scientists from many countries conduct collaborative research at SERC, fostering international cooperation in solving global environmental problems. Decision makers often consult SERC for advice in managing natural resources, and news media seek expert comment from SERC scientists on environmental issues.

Education and Public Programs

SERC's Education Department teaches K-12 students, teachers, and the general public about research conducted at SERC, historical land use, and the natural components of various ecosystems surrounding the Rhode River subestuary and Chesapeake Bay.

Through collaborations with other organizations, SERC’s message of estuarine ecology reaches a national and international audience. Last year, 100 video conferences reached schools in 50 states and four countries and electronic field trips attracted more than 20 million participants. From the regional community, nearly 10,000 students (kindergarten through college), visit SERC annually to participate in our hands-on science education programs. Our education department also runs teacher-training workshops and educational programs for adults that are open to the general public including an evening lecture series and guided canoe tours of the estuarine.

RESEARCH STAFF

BREITBURG, Denise, Marine Ecologist. B.A. (1975) Arizona State University; M.A. (1982), Ph.D. (1984) University of California, Santa Barbara. Research specialties: marine and estuarine ecology, hypoxia, fish behavior and ecology, gelatinous zooplankton.

COATS, D. Wayne, Zoologist, Environmental Biology. B.A. (1970) University of Illinois; M.S. (1974), Ph.D. (1977) University of Maryland. Research specialties: Protistan ecology, structure and function; taxonomy of Ciliophora.

DRAKE, Bert G., Plant Physiologist. B.A. (1961) University of Maine; M.S. (1967) Colorado State University; Ph.D. (1970) Utah State University. Research specialties: Effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate change on plants and ecosystems processes.

FELLER, Ilka C., Ecologist. B.A. (1969) University of North Carolina; Ph.D. (1993) Georgetown University. Research specialties: Animal-plant interactions; canopy arthropods; wood-boring insects; mangrove; insects and elephant herbivory on Acacia forests in Kenya.

GALLEGOS, Charles L., Phytoplankton Ecologist. B.A. (1973) Duke University; Ph.D. (1979) University of Virginia. Research specialties: Photosynthesis, primary production, and population dynamics of estuarine phytoplankton; optical properties of turbid waters; effects of nutrient enrichment on structure of microbial food webs; factors governing timing and magnitude of phytoplankton blooms.

GILMORE, Cynthia, Microbial Ecologist. B.A. (1980) Cornell; Ph.D. (1985) University of Maryland. Research specialties: Trace metal biogeochemistry, particularly mercury: mechanisms and control of microbial mercury methylation from the cellular to ecosystem level; microbial ecology of estuarine, lacustrine and wetland systems; response to stressors; sulfate-reducing bacteria and sulfur biogeochemistry.

JORDAN, Thomas E., Chemical Ecologist. B.S. (1974) Bucknell University; Ph.D. (1980) Boston University. Research specialties: Flows of nitrogen and phosphorus through watersheds, wetlands and estuaries; denitrification.

MEGONIGAL, J. Patrick, Research Biogeochemist. B.S.(1982)Old Dominion University; M.S.(1986) Old Dominion University; Ph.D.(1996) Duke University. Research specialties: Wetland Ecology, Microbial Ecology, Soil Ecology, Biogeochemistry, Climate Change Impacts.

NEALE, Patrick J., Photobiologist. B.A. (1976) State University of New York, Purchase; M.A. (1981) Columbia University; Ph.D. (1985) University of California, Davis. Research specialties: Damaging effects of UVB radiation on phytoplankton; chlorophyll fluorescence as an indicator of plant biomass and photosynthetic rates; spectral measurement of solar UVB.

OSMAN, Richard, Marine Ecologist. A.B. (1970) Brown University; Ph.D. (1975) University of Chicago. Research specialties: Population and community ecology of marine invertebrates; larval settlement and recruitment processes; invasive species ecology; effects of physical, chemical and biological stresses on marine and estuarine ecosystems.

PARKER, Geoffrey G., Forest Ecologist. B.Sc. (1976) McGill University; M.S. (1981) University of Virginia; Ph.D. (1985) University of Georgia. Research specialties: Energy, water and carbon balance of forests; the forest canopy; atmosphere-canopy interactions; spatial variability, pattern, and scale; community ecology of forest trees.

PARKER, John, Terrestrial Animal Ecologist. B.S. (1993) University of Virginia; M.S. (1998) College of William & Mary/VIMS; Ph.D. (2005) Georgia Institute of Technology. Research specialties: Community ecology, consumer-prey interactions, and invasion biology.

RIEDEL, Gehardt, Biogeochemist. B.S. (1974), A.B. (1974) Humboldt State University; M.S. (1978), Ph.D.(1983) Oregon State University. Research specialties: Trace metal and nutrient geochemistry and biogeochemistry.

RUIZ, Gregory M., Zoologist. B.A. (1980) University of California, Santa Barbara; Ph.D. (1987) University of California, Berkeley. Research specialties: Population and community ecology of marine and estuarine ecosystems; animal behavior; larval recruitment of marine invertebrates; ecological parasitology; life history evolution; predator-prey interactions; invasion biology and transfer.

WELLER, Donald E., Quantitative Ecologist. B.A. (1974) Wabash College; Ph.D. (1985) University of Tennessee. Research specialties: Mathematical and theoretical ecology; landscape ecology; modeling nutrient cycling within ecosystems and nutrient transport among ecosystems; geographic information systems; regional biogeochemistry; plant population biology.

WHIGHAM, Dennis F., Plant Ecologist, Deputy Director. B.A. (1966) Wabash College; Ph.D. (1971) University of North Carolina. Research specialties: Ecology in terrestrial and wetland ecosystems; orchid-mycorrhizal interactions; role of disturbance in forests; ecological life history and population ecology of woodland and wetland species, ecology of invasive, landscape ecology.

AFFILIATED RESEARCH STAFF

CALDWELL, Martyn M., Research Associate. B.S. (1963) Colorado State University; Ph.D. (1967) Duke University. Research specialties: Ecosystem research, global change responses (especially ecosystem responses to ozone layer reduction); Ecosystem implications of root system function, water relations, competition.

CLARK, Kelton, Research Associate. Ph.D. (2002) University of Maryland, College Park. Research specialties: Community ecology, predator-prey interactions, refuge habitat value, near shore estuarine systems.

DUKE, Norman C., Research Associate. M.Sc. (1982); Ph.D. (1988) James Cook University, Queensland, Australia. Research specialties: Mangrove and tidal wetland ecology, botanical systematics, global biogeography, evolution, plant-animal linkages; responses to climate change.

FRANKLIN, Linda, Research Associate. B.A.(1984) McDaniel (Western Maryland) College; Ph.D.(1992) Duke University. Research specialties: Algal ecophysiology; UV photobiology.

HINES, Anson H., Director, Zoologist. B.A. (1969) Pomona College; Ph.D. (1976) University of California, Berkeley. Research specialties: Population and community ecology of estuarine and marine invertebrates and fish; blue crab ecology; predator-prey interactions; evolution of life history strategies, particularly in crustaceans; invasion biology.

JIVOFF, Paul R., Research Associate. B.A. (1983) Hartwick College; M.S. (1986) Ohio State University; Ph.D. (1995) University of Maryland. Research specialties: Behavioral Ecology especially of decapod crustaceans particularly the mating and reproductive biology of blue crabs; invasive species especially the factors regulating range expansion.

LOVELOCK, Catherine, Research Associate. B.Sc. (1986) University of Western Australia; Ph.D. (1992) James Cook University of North Queensland. Research specialties: Plant ecophysiology, tropical; forests, ecology and physiology of mangrove forests, plant responses toglobal climate change, arbuscular mycorrhizae.

McCormick, Melissa, Ecologist. B.S. (1992) Trinity University; Ph.D. (1999) Michigan State University. Research specialties: mycorrhizae; plant-fungus interactions; orchid-fungus interactions; molecular analysis of soil fungal communities.

PRINCE, Stephen, Research Associate. B.Sc. (1963) Bristol University, UK; Ph.D. (1971) Lancaster University, UK. Research specialties: Ecological applications of remote sensing, desertification, continental-global scale carbon balance, urbanization.

RASSE, Daniel P., Research Associate. B.Sc. (1989), M.Sc. (1992) Gembloux Agricultural University (Belgium), Ph.D. (1997) Michigan State University. Research specialties: Climate change effects on terrestrial ecosystems; modeling of carbon storage in forests, savanas and wetlands; soil organic matter dynamics.

SCHMIT, John Paul, Research Associate. B.S. (1990) Grinnell College; M.S. (1996), Ph.D. (1999) University of Chicago. Research specialties: Fungal Ecology.

SEITZ, Rochelle Diane, Research Associate. B.A. (1986) Colgate University; M.A. (1991), Ph.D. (1996) College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Research specialties: Field benthic ecology with a concentration in soft-sediment estuarine and coastal benthic dynamics, effects that the benthic community has on upper trophic levels, spatial and temporal variation in benthic community structure and abundance; consumer-resource dynamics, particularly in productive marine and estuarine systems.

SENGCO, Mario R, Ecologist. B.S. (1994) Southampton College of Long Island University; Ph.D. (2001) Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Research specialties: biology and ecology of organisms responsible for harmful algal blooms, more commonly known as red tides and practicable management solutions.

SMITH, L. David, Research Associate. B.A. (1981) University of Virginia; M.S. (1985) University of South Carolina; Ph.D. (1990) University of Maryland, College Park. Research specialties: Marine ecology, marine bioinvasions, ecomorphology.

STOECKER, Diane, Research Associate. B.S. (1969) University of New Hampshire; M.S. (1970) University of Hawaii; Ph.D. (1979) University of New York, Stony Brook. Research specialties: Physiological ecology of marine Protists, especially dinoflagellates and ciliates, trophodynamics of microzooplankton, mixotrophy among the plankton, top down control in microbial food webs, harmful algal blooms; estuaries and coasts.

TANKERSLEY, Richard, Research Associate. BA (1984) Wake Forest University; MS (1987) Florida State University; PhD (1992) Wake Forest University. Research specialties: Invertebrate behavior and physiology. Larval ecology. Zooplankton transport.

WOLCOTT, Thomas, Research Associate. B.A. (1966) University of California, Riverside; PhD (1971) University of California, Berkeley. Research specialties: Physiological/behavioral ecology of marine invertebrates; development and application of biotelemetry and field instrumentation; physical/biological interactions among plankton using our robot "plankton mimic".

Introduction

Information for Applying to the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program, including the fields of research

Fellowship and Internship Opportunities

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Office of Research Training and Services Applications

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