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Nov. Seminar: Pyrodinium bahamense

Nov. Seminar: Pyrodinium bahamense

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An MRC Lunch & Learn Zoom Seminar

November 1, 2022
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Much like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Pyrodinium bahamense combines two amazing ingredients — toxicity and bioluminescence. See below for video from this event.

The Marine Resources Council is pleased to partner with Kathleen Cusick, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, to host this Lunch & Learn Seminar.

The Presentation Features

  • Examining toxin genotype and phenotype dynamics among P. bahamense
  • Sampling locations within the Indian River Lagoon

Kathleen Cusick, Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Maryland

About Our Presenter

Kathleen Cusick is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. However, she maintains her Florida residency and home address in Indian Harbour Beach, a stone’s throw from the IRL. She received her Master’s in Marine Biology from Florida Institute of Technology, conducting research on bioluminescent dinoflagellates at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute with Dr. Edie Widder. She received her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Tennessee in the lab of Dr. Gary Sayler, where her research focused on the effects of saxitoxin (the toxin produced by P. bahamense) on microbes that co-occur with toxic dinoflagellates. Her lab uses molecular tools to study the microbial ecology of coastal marine systems: this includes P. bahamense bloom ecology as well as microbial biofilms associated with copper-treated marine surfaces.

MRC’s Lunch & Learn Webinar series is a long-standing and cherished social offered to the East Central Florida coast region, and is supported by volunteers and the community’s charitable giving. If interested and able, we ask participants to donate toward our guest speaker series. All donations are tax-deductible. For more information on the Marine Resources Council, please visit SaveTheIRL.org.