Interested in joining the lab? We are looking for an Operations Manager and at least 2 Postdoctoral Researchers (Oyster Genetics postdoc is posted) to work on the collaborative LO-SPAT project investigating low salinity tolerance and other stressors (including changing phytoplankton communities!) in oysters. Contact Dr. Stauffer for more information.
Dr. Beth Stauffer is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Biology. Dr. Stauffer's research has generated over $27 million in extramural funding and she has been recognized with awards at UL Lafayette for her research productivity and mentoring of graduate students. Beth is currently the SLEMCO/LEQSF Regents Endowed Professor in Science II and was an Early Career Research Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program (2018-2020). She is currently Member-at-Large on the Association for the Sciences of Limnology & Oceanography (ASLO) Board (2019-present) and member of the Advisory Council for the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON, 2016-present). For more information, please see Dr. Stauffer's CV or Google Scholar profile.
Ph.D., Marine Environmental Biology, University of Southern California, 2011
B.S., Marine Science & Biology, University of Miami, 2000
Ph.D., Marine Environmental Biology, University of Southern California, 2011
B.S., Marine Science & Biology, University of Miami, 2000
Visiting Faculty & Postdocs
Dr. Nigel D'Souza is a phytoplankton ecophysiologist, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Over the last 13 years, he has conducted research on the ecophysiology of sympagic phytoplankton and bacteria in the Laurentian Great Lakes and Antarctica, the impact of oil-spills on microbial biogeography and physiology in the Gulf of Mexico, starvation and chemical stress responses of microbial grazers, the impact of multiple stressors (stemming from climate change) on marine phytoplankton, and most recently the response of planktonic microbes to multiple stressors and pollutants like heavy metals and biocides. In the Stauffer lab, Nigel brings his expertise in multiple-stressor research to develop experiments to assess how oysters and phytoplankton interact in a fast-changing world. Check out more of Nigel's research on his Google Scholar profile.
Graduate Students
Andrea Jaegge is a Ph.D. Candidate and ICaWR Doctoral Fellow at UL Lafayette with interest in studying the dynamics of Louisiana’s coastal phytoplankton communities and the related water quality issues in the ecosystem. She received her B.S. from the University of Alabama in 2013 and spent two years working on water quality issues at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC before joining the lab.
Gulce Kurtay is a Ph.D. student in the lab. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Hacettepe University in Turkey and received her Master’s degree in Marine Science from the University of Basque Country. She is interested in the hurricane impacts on phytoplankton dynamics and community composition in the Gulf of Mexico. Gulce also obtained a Master’s of Art degree from the Bilkent University in Biology Education by investigating the educational aspect of ocean biology.
Julia Sweet is a Ph.D. student and University Doctoral Fellow. She received her B.S. in Geography from the University of California in Santa Barbara. She was later hired to work as a Staff Research Associate and Laboratory Manager at the UCSB Marine Science Institute and she obtained an M.Sc degree through the Interdepartmental Program in Marine Science. She has broad research interests relating to biological oceanography and the biological carbon pump, with specific research questions on the consequences of our changing ocean conditions on the base of the marine food web and the source of half our planet’s oxygen — the mighty phytoplankton. Julia loves working at sea, sushi, yoga and dogs.
Hans Prevost is a M.Sc. student in the lab. He received his B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research focuses on the phytoplankton community responses to ocean acidification and eutrophication within the Gulf of Mexico. When he is not in the lab, he enjoys painting and cooking.
Jennifer Raabe is a Ph.D. student working on the LO-SPAT project and former Stauffer Lab Research Associate. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2009 and her Master's degree in Biology from the University of North Florida in 2018. Jen's Master's research focused on the vertical distribution of marine invertebrate larvae, and potential spatial competition between native and non-native bivalves, in a well-mixed estuary, and she'll be returning to her bivalve roots (w/ some phytoplankton in the mix!) in her Ph.D.
Lab Staff
Ann Fairly Pandelides is the LO-SPAT Project Manager. She received her Master’s in Environmental Toxicology in 2019 from the University of Mississippi and has a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her prior research focused on how climate change-related stressors affect the health and survival of oysters at varying life history stages, both in the lab and the field. She is excited about the LO-SPAT research collaborations and is interested in applying research to solutions, specifically when it comes to a sustainable oyster industry.
Maya Lombardi is a Research Lab Technician in the Stauffer Lab. She received her B.S. in Marine Science at University of Connecticut, Avery Point campus and her M.O. in Coastal Ecology at University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography. She will be leading algal cultivation for experiments on the LO-SPAT Project and is more broadly interested in learning more about how climate change is affecting the relationship between coral reefs and their symbiotic dinoflagellates.
Undergraduate Researchers
Vivian Mire is a Biology major at UL Lafayette with a concentration in pre-medicine. She hopes to go on to medical school and become a dermatologist. In her spare time she loves to exercise, read, and hang out with close friends. She is being funded in 2021 by the Louisiana Sea Grant UROP program to conduct grazing experiments with grad student Gulce Kurtay.
Beau Phillips is a Biology major at UL Lafayette. He is interested in neurology and oncology and plans to attend medical school after undergraduate. In the lab, Beau is learning many of the tools and methods in the lab and working with grad students running samples on the FlowCAM. He worked as a pathology research intern at LSUS Health in Shreveport in summer 2021, and his hobbies outside of school are chess, journaling, and exercising.
Bryce Lavergne is a Biology major at UL Lafayette. Bryce has been working with grad student Andrea Jaegge on experiments testing temperature and salinity effects on Microcystis aeruginosa.
Past Lab Members
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Graduate Researchers
Jaylyn Babitch (M.Sc.), 2016-2018. Currently Biologist with City of San Jose Mrunmayee Pathare (M.Sc.), 2016-2019. Currently Research Assistant II, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Christin Selle (M.Sc., co-advised with Dr. Kelly Robinson), 2017-2020. Currently Histotechnologist, Elephas, Madison, WI REU Students Tallie Foster, Fitchburg State University Rachel Humes, Indiana University Northwest Eliot Pell, Ball State University Claire Brovold, Adrian College, currently M.Sc. Student, UL Lafayette School of Geosciences Collin Hebner, Texas A&M University |
Undergraduate Researchers (UL Lafayette)
Alexander Adams Lauren Broussard Quinnetta Humphries Amber Lauchner, completed M.Sc., Plymouth State University April Pruitt, currently Ph.D. Student in Neuroscience, Yale University Gina Woods, currently Research Assistant, LUMCON Dalton Laroux Hans Prevost, currently M.Sc. Student, UL Lafayette Teri Lynn Lewis, currently Student Services Contractor, USGS Eric Austin Alaina Hebert |
