ALUMNI CORNER
MEES RESEARCH CENTER
Allison Dreiss Photo Courtesy: UMCES/CBL
Allison Dreiss (‘24, E&O) just completed her first year in the MEES doctoral program at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) under the Earth & Ocean Systems foundation. Advised by Dr. Jeremy Testa at the Chesapeake Bay Laboratory, Allison’s doctoral research focuses on how dead zones (areas with no or low oxygen) in the Chesapeake Bay will change with future warming and nutrients, and how this will impact organisms that live at the bottom of the Bay.
Penelope Dalton Photo Courtesy: Washington Sea Grant
Penelope Dalton (‘87, M.S.) was Director of the Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington in Seattle and oversaw the organization’s expansion into new research and outreach areas including social science and ocean acidification. Under the advisement of the late Dr. Joseph Mihursky at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Penelope Dalton earned her Master’s in MEES in 1987 from the University of Maryland Center of Environmental Science (UMCES). Penelope’s thesis research focused on the ecology of Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), one of the most numerous fish species found in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and are ecologically important as forage for larger fish (like the bluefish, weakfish,and striped bass) comprising 70% of the diet of these large commercially exploited species in the Chesapeake Bay and provide a major pathway for the transfer of carbon and energy to higher trophic levels.
MARINE ECOLOGY & OCEAN POLICY: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCY & MANAGEMENT
PENELOPE DALTON (M.S. ‘87)
Penelope Dalton (M.S., ‘87) Photo Courtesy: University of Washington
Penelope Dalton (‘87, M.S.) was Director of the Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington in Seattle and oversaw the organization’s expansion into new research and outreach areas including social science and ocean acidification. After taking the position in 2005, Penelope (Penny) directed a six year geoduck aquaculture research project under the direction of the Washington State Legislature. Under the advisement of the late Dr. Joseph Mihursky at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Penelope Dalton earned her Master’s in MEES in 1987 from the University of Maryland Center of Environmental Science (UMCES). Penelope’s thesis research focused on the ecology of Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), one of the most numerous fish species found in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and are ecologically important as forage for larger fish (like the bluefish, weakfish,and striped bass) comprising 70% of the diet of these large commercially exploited species in the Chesapeake Bay and provide a major pathway for the transfer of carbon and energy to higher trophic levels. The research aimed to examine the relationship between ecological factors and pre juvenile bay anchovy density, distribution and condition in an effort to examine the influence of spawning stock abundance on egg and larval density. Penelope had a very unique journey to pursue a career in science. Prior to joining the MEES program, Penny was a teacher on a U.S. Navy base in Rota, Spain and had served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya. Penelope applied and joined the MEES master’s program at UMCES. After acceptance, Penelope pursued her graduate research and received the 1985 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. In 1987, Ms. Dalton completed her MEES master's thesis and over the next decade (1987-1999) was a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation playing a pivotal role in shaping marine policy at the national level. While in the U.S. Senate, Penelope reached the senior level on the committee and spoke before Congress and other federal ocean agencies on behalf of 83 of the nation’s largest oceanographic institutions. Dalton spent two years (1999-2001) at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service as assistant administrator, managing the 2,500-member scientific and technical staff in more than two-dozen facilities across the nation. According to a April 1999 article by The Standard Times, Ms. Dalton [has] over the years has worked closely with Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and legislatively has been involved in a number of ocean and atmospheric research, fishery resource and management, marine mammal protection and marine conservation issues.
She strengthened her career in 2001 by joining the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, or CORE, in Washington, DC, as Vice President. In that position, Dalton helped give its members, which includes the University of Washington (UW) and other major oceanographic institutions, a unified voice on national and international ocean issues. In 2005, Penelope joined the University of Washington as Director of the Washington Sea Grant Program. With 20 years of experience in marine and coastal issues, she led an organization that funds research on such things as the accidental capture of endangered seabirds, introductions of harmful non-native animals and plants, shellfish farming techniques and new cancer-fighting medicines from the sea. Part of a network of 30 state programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington Sea Grant Program is one of the oldest and, with a budget of $5 million a year from federal and other funding sources, is the second largest behind California. At the UW, Washington Sea Grant is a part of the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences. Dalton said her initial goal was to better serve Sea Grant's constituents by strengthening existing partnerships with the UW, other academic institutions, federal, state and local government, tribes, and marine-related industries and associations. After serving as Director of the Washington Sea Grant for over a decade, Dr. Dalton retired in May 2018 having mentored dozens of Knauss fellows, in addition to managing four additional fellowship programs at the Washington Sea Grant, including three she helped create. The University of Washington News sat down with Dalton during her final week for an interview, which you can find here. For more information on Penelope Dalton, please click here.
Dr. Jaoquin Martinez Martinez Photo Courtesy: UMCES/HPL
Dr. joaquin martinez martinez
Marine Virus Ecology: A Biological Oceanographic study on the Environment & marine organism interactions
Dr. Joaquin Martinez Martinez is a biological oceanographer, virus ecologist, and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Dr. Martinez’s research centers on aquatic host-virus ecology and how viral infection, directly and indirectly, influences interactions between other marine organisms and the environment. A recently appointed MEES Faculty member, UMCES recently announced Dr. Martinez, in collaboration with Dr. David Talmy of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, are currently conducting a National Science Foundation (NSF) study exploring the role of viruses in marine food webs and nutrient cycling. This three-year study will investigate how viruses are removed from the ocean environment through a process known as virovory—the consumption of virus particles by microbial grazers—and how that process impacts the flow of carbon and nitrogen through marine ecosystems. Dr. Martinez’s current projects also include harmful algal bloom dynamics and determining the mechanisms and consequences of viral infection in phytoplankton across a continuum between pathogenicity and symbiosis.
Viruses are the most abundant biological agents on Earth and one of the largest reservoirs of unexplored genetic diversity, making them an important source for fundamental discoveries in environmental, molecular, and cell biology with potential applications for biotechnology and bioremediation. All forms of life are susceptible to viruses, and the impact of viral infection goes beyond host disease or mortality alone. Viruses are lubricants of healthy functioning ecosystems. The metabolic rewiring of individual infected host cells leads to significant changes in the host's physiology and chemical profile that cascade through the ecosystem, including changes in population and community dynamics, primary and secondary production, trophic transfer through planktonic food webs, biogeochemical cycling, and evolution.
Prior to joining UMCES, Dr. Martinez worked as a Senior Research Scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, an independent, nonprofit research institute located in East Boothbay, Maine. A Bigelow Laboratory research team which included Dr. Martinez, along with a former Bigelow Laboratory postdoc Ananda Bhattacharjee, and other co-authors including scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute discovered evidence in the ocean crust of “giant” viruses that may actually be infecting fungi. The results were published in Nature’s Journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) in December 2023. This breakthrough discovery would make these viruses (who are several orders of magnitude larger than the average virus) the first viruses known to infect eukaryotic life in the deep subsurface. “We have these two giant viruses in an environment where we were not even expecting to find such big viruses”, Dr. Martinez says in a Bigelow Laboratory feature, noting the possibility of a long evolutionary relationship unique to this environment.
Dr. Martinez earned his doctoral degree in Ecology at the University of Plymouth and Master’s from the University of Stirling. Dr. Martinez earned his Bachelors in Environmental Science from the University of Almeria in Spain and a Bachelor’s in Marine Sciences from the University of Cadiz.
Since joining the MEES program, Dr. Martinez looks forward to training future generations of scientists through mentorship, teaching MEES core and new graduate courses as well as training these early career researchers to become critical thinkers and problem solvers with a solid scientific background.
Dr. Martinez employs a multidisciplinary approach for research both in the laboratory and in the field, including microbiology, flow cytometry, molecular biology, and large-data bioinformatic methods. For more information on Dr. Martinez Martinez, please click here.
MEES RESEARCH CENTER
Modeling Impacts of Nutrient Reduction & Warming on Benthic Forage and Hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay
Allison dreiss (‘24, Ph.D)
Allison Dreiss Photo Courtesy: UMCES/CBL
Allison Dreiss (‘24, E&O) just completed her first year in the MEES doctoral program at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) under the Earth & Ocean Systems foundation. Advised by Dr. Jeremy Testa at the Chesapeake Bay Laboratory, Allison’s doctoral research focuses on how dead zones (areas with no or low oxygen) in the Chesapeake Bay will change with future warming and nutrients, and how this will impact organisms that live at the bottom of the Bay.
Allison had always been drawn to the water, having spent her childhood around the Magothy River in Annapolis, Maryland remembering her parents warnings to avoid going into the river due to the foul water quality. This fueled Allison’s desire to pursue ways to make a difference for the environment, noting a tenth grade AP environmental science class that sealed her STEM path to study earth science at Salisbury University in Fall 2018. Allison went on to earn her Bachelor’s in earth science and a minor in mathematics from Salisbury University in 2022, graduating with honors (magna cum laude) with a perfect 4.0 GPA. While at Salisbury University, Allison was an Honors student, on the Dean’s List for every semester in the program, and was the recipient of the Hensor Scholarship, a highly prestigious and selective award given each year to outstanding incoming freshman or rising Juniors and, depending on the amount awarded ($2,000 or $3,000) are expected to maintain semester by semester a 3.3 or 3.5 GPA respectively, display active personal and career development, and participate in community service. In the fall semester of her senior year at Salisbury, Allison presented one of her research projects which was part of an undergraduate research summer program and it looked at how water quality is impacted by land use in the Wicomico River watershed (Wicomico County, Maryland) at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Geographic Society (PGS) at York College. Allison presented her findings entitled “Land Use and Water Quality correlation in the Wicomico River Watershed: A Geographic and Sustainability Analysis” at the PGS in November, and her presentation of the findings earned second place in the Student Paper Competition. Allison first matriculated into the MEES Master’s program under the Earth & Ocean Systems Foundation in Fall 2022 at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Her thesis research initially looked at understanding how dead zones (areas with no or low oxygen) within the Chesapeake Bay will change with future warming and nutrients, and how this will impact organisms that live on the bottom of the Bay. Under the advisement of Dr. Jeremy Testa, over the next several months, Allison gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the research which has currently expanded to including how the biomass, quantity and makeup of benthic groups changes under different climate change scenarios. Due to her outstanding record, since joining the MEES graduate program, Allison was awarded a prestigious Graduate School Dean’s Fellowship (2022), At the end of 2023, after completing her first year in the Master’s program, Allison began the process of exploring continuing in the MEES program as a doctoral (Ph.D.) student and whether a doctoral career fit her current academic & professional career goals. With the full support of her advisor and committee, Allison joined the MEES doctoral program just a couple of months later in Fall 2024. The Maryland Sea Grant recently featured Allison in an article covering her decision to transition to the MEES Ph.D. doctoral program here. Allison is currently working on the first chapter of her dissertation and in the article notes the writing process as a kale salad; “you may not enjoy it, but it’s healthy and [it] helps you grow.”(link) Allison is aiming to combine technical and scientific research skills with a wider community of stakeholders invested in protecting and improving water quality in the Mid-Atlantic region. Allison hopes these research efforts help lead to a future where the next generation can enjoy swimming in a safe, healthy and clean Magothy River. After graduating from the MEES program, Allison hopes to work for a state or federal agency like the Chesapeake Bay Program or NOAA. For more on Allison, please click here.