[Maryland Sea Grant - Research Experiences for Undergraduates]
Research Topics & Mentors

Prospective students: Learn about participating mentors by going to their web pages. You should also check out the current students that these and other scientists have advised. For recent years, you'll find abstracts of student research projects.

Benthic Environment. Research covers sedimentation processes and interactions with sediment-dwelling organisms and others that reside on the bottom for part or all of their life histories.
Jacqueline Grebmeier
Roger Newell
Cindy Palinkas


Contaminants. Research addresses a diverse array of pollutants and processes that occur in the Bay using chemical, genetic, and physiological assessment.
Andy Heyes
Carys Mitchelmore
Jinxia Liu
Chris Rowe
David Wright

Coastal Technologies. Research in developing new coastal sensor technologies for marine science and developing observing systems.
Mario Tamburri

Environmental Chemistry. Genetics, chemical transformations, biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in the Chesapeake underlie the high productivity of the system and are an important focus of research.
Lee Cooper
Jeff Cornwell
Rodger Harvey
Tom Fisher
Todd Kana
Sujay Kaushal
Johan Schijf

Estuarine Processes. Linkages of physical conditions, nutrient inputs, plankton production, and fish yields are under study in both observational and modeling programs.
Walter Boynton
Pat Glibert
Elizabeth North
Judy O'Neil
Jamie Pierson
Michael Roman
Diane Stoecker

Fisheries. Recruitment, habitat and stock assessment for managing important commercial fish populations are active areas of research. Other areas include aquatic species conservation.
Edward Houde
Andy Lazur
Tom Miller
David Secor
Michael Wilberg
Elizabeth North


Molecular Biology and Genetics. Research focuses on aquatic microbial ecology, microbial food webs, microbial cycling, composition and activity of natural microbial communities. Researchers use molecular and genomic approaches (rRNA, DNA, bioinformatics, etc) to study aquatic microbes and quantify genetic abundance/expression.
Byron Crump


Modeling and Analysis. Mathematical constructs and data analysis, including ecosystem models and remotely sensed data, are used to develop predictive tools on the function of Chesapeake Bay.
Victoria Coles
Raleigh Hood
Michael Kemp
Elizabeth North

Physical Oceanography. Focus is on physical structure of the Chesapeake, including sediment distribution and transport, circulation, stratification and small-scale processes.
William Boicourt
Ming Li
Larry Sanford

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation. Aquatic vascular plants represent an important part of the flora of Chesapeake Bay, comprising essential habitat for a variety of species, from research and restoration perspectives.
Bill Dennison
Lora Harris
Evamaria Koch
Michael Kemp
Laura Murray
Court Stevenson

Climate Change. Documenting and investigating changes in hurricane activity, climate variability and decadal to century-scale trends using biogeochemistry of natural systems influenced by climate and numerical modeling.
Halimeda Kilbourne