Current and Ongoing Projects
Stauffer Lab members sampling the environment via small boat in Vermilion Bay
Phytoplankton Communities in Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Estuarine Ecosystems: With over two years of field observations and experimental data from local LA bays, we are beginning to better understand how phytoplankton community structure in the highly river-influenced Atchafalaya-Vermilion Bay system respond to river influence, mixing, and changes in grazing pressure. We are expanding this research to quantify cyanobacteria toxins in these very low salinity estuaries. We have also collaborated with the NSF-funded TIDE project in Plum Island Estuary, MA, to quantify nitrogen use by different size classes of phytoplankton over diurnal and spring/neap tidal cycles.
Beyond the estuaries, we also participated in the 2017 Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Carbon Cruise (GOMECC-3, PI: Dr. Leticia Barbero) through collaboration with the NOAA AOML Lab in Miami, FL. During this month-long cruise, we collected samples to characterize the plankton communities throughout regimes of the Gulf affected by hypoxia, HABs, and ocean acidification, and conducted grazing experiments to determine the relative effects of micro- and mesozooplankton grazing. This work has been supported by Louisiana Sea Grant, USGS LWRRI (cyanotoxin project), NOAA, and NSF (funding to the Plum Island TIDE group), with additional support from the Cypremort Point Yacht Club and LA Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Beyond the estuaries, we also participated in the 2017 Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Carbon Cruise (GOMECC-3, PI: Dr. Leticia Barbero) through collaboration with the NOAA AOML Lab in Miami, FL. During this month-long cruise, we collected samples to characterize the plankton communities throughout regimes of the Gulf affected by hypoxia, HABs, and ocean acidification, and conducted grazing experiments to determine the relative effects of micro- and mesozooplankton grazing. This work has been supported by Louisiana Sea Grant, USGS LWRRI (cyanotoxin project), NOAA, and NSF (funding to the Plum Island TIDE group), with additional support from the Cypremort Point Yacht Club and LA Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Rapid Plankton 3 cruise team (credit: S. Paxton)
Effects of Extreme Events on Plankton Food Webs in the Gulf of Mexico: With collaborators at UL Lafayette (Dr. Kelly Robinson), NC State University (Dr. Astrid Schnetzer), and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi (Dr. Simon Geist), we are building on our ongoing projects in the Gulf to understand how phytoplankton communities changed in the intermediate and mid-term aftermath of devastating Hurricane Harvey in 2017. In our own backyard, we are working to assess the effects of the 2019 Mississippi River flood on plankton communities throughout the Atchafalaya-Vermilion Bay system. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and Louisiana Sea Grant.
Oysters being exposed to natural communities amended with cyanobacteria
Phytoplankton-Oyster Interactions and Coastal Restoration: In collaboration with Drs. Megan and Jerome LaPeyre (LSU), we are investigating the effects of changing environmental conditions and phytoplankton community composition - as predicted to occur with large-scale river diversions and ongoing climate change - on oyster feeding on those communities. This project is supported by the Institute of Coastal and Water Research (ICaWR) at UL Lafayette and will continue in 2020 with support from Louisiana Sea Grant College Program.
Food Web Interactions Among Protists: Protists are single-celled eukaryotes which include phytoplankton and many microzooplankton (e.g. "protozoa"). As such, there are many interactions between these organisms in coastal marine food webs. Continuing work in the Stauffer Lab seeks to quantify the role protistan grazing of phytoplankton species plays, especially in the formation of HABs in coastal marine ecosystems.
GOM monitoring partners in the learning how to operate the Systea WIZ Nitrate probe
Technologies to Support Coastal and Environmental Research: As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT), we are working with colleagues to test sensors and toxin quantification methods that allow for more field-based and near-real-time detection of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Results of those tests are published as reports on the ACT website. We are also working with ACT, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) to implement a pilot network of nitrate sensors in the Gulf of Mexico. Funding for these projects is provided by the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and GCOOS.
More recently, we are working with experts in environmental, or "eDNA" from within NOAA (including MBON and others) and from the research, management, and technology communities to envision the future of eDNA sampling and sample processing. We have held two virtual workshops on this theme in June and September 2020. Preliminary workshop reports are available on the ACT website and presentations from developers of eDNA solutions can be accessed at this link.
More recently, we are working with experts in environmental, or "eDNA" from within NOAA (including MBON and others) and from the research, management, and technology communities to envision the future of eDNA sampling and sample processing. We have held two virtual workshops on this theme in June and September 2020. Preliminary workshop reports are available on the ACT website and presentations from developers of eDNA solutions can be accessed at this link.
Healthy Streams, Healthy Coasts Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program: The REU program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) provides ten students each summer the opportunity to participate in research on topics in watershed and coastal processes and resources within the southern Louisiana environments. We have completed our first two summers and look forward to hosting students in 2020 to conduct some exceptional undergraduate research! This project is supported by NSF.
Students in the 2018 Healthy Streams, Healthy Coasts REU Program
Past Projects
Technology Innovation for Cleaner Water: With partners in federal agencies, academia, and industry, we are continuing to tackle the important issue of nutrient pollution in watersheds and coastal ecosystems through a combination of open innovation tools, technology development, and investments in social and behavioral change across stakeholder communities. We are continuing our work with the Nutrient Sensor Challenge, an effort to accelerate the development and use of affordable nutrient sensors for use in water and am also engaged in projects focusing on watershed-scale monitoring and management. As a partner in the Alliance for Coastal Technologies, the Stauffer Lab will be participating in the upcoming Challenge Summit and Beta Testing at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, MD.
Phytoplankton community composition in the southeastern Bering Sea: Polar regions of our world's oceans are under significant climatic pressure as climate continues to change, resulting in increased sea surface temperatures, reduced sea ice extent, and earlier retreat of sea ice each year. The Bering Sea is home to significant fisheries for the U.S. and other countries, and changes in the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in this region have the potential for great impact on the food webs and fishery stocks. As a postdoctoral fellow, I participated in cruises and analyzed mooring-based datasets to show high degrees of interannual variability in the phytoplankton community response to climatic drivers and decoupling of primary and secondary producers from climatic and hydrographic conditions in warmer years. I also blogged from the 2012 cruise, which you can check out here!
Ecological observing in nearshore marine & estuarine ecosystems: King Harbor, the primary field site for my PhD work, experienced a massive fish kill in March 2011 at a time when I led in situ sensor and discrete sampling programs in the harbor. By augmenting those existing efforts with boat- and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-based tools, we were able to correlate the fill kill with upwelling-driven hypoxia and an influx of a large population of sardine. We were also able to show that the mortality event was not driven by a HAB event within the harbor, as was originally assumed. However, a dense bloom of Pseudonitzschia spp. offshore at the time of the mortality event and significant concentrations of domoic acid detected in fish stomachs raised questions about potentially non-lethal impacts of this neurotoxin on fish behavior.
Technology Innovation for Cleaner Water: With partners in federal agencies, academia, and industry, we are continuing to tackle the important issue of nutrient pollution in watersheds and coastal ecosystems through a combination of open innovation tools, technology development, and investments in social and behavioral change across stakeholder communities. We are continuing our work with the Nutrient Sensor Challenge, an effort to accelerate the development and use of affordable nutrient sensors for use in water and am also engaged in projects focusing on watershed-scale monitoring and management. As a partner in the Alliance for Coastal Technologies, the Stauffer Lab will be participating in the upcoming Challenge Summit and Beta Testing at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, MD.
Phytoplankton community composition in the southeastern Bering Sea: Polar regions of our world's oceans are under significant climatic pressure as climate continues to change, resulting in increased sea surface temperatures, reduced sea ice extent, and earlier retreat of sea ice each year. The Bering Sea is home to significant fisheries for the U.S. and other countries, and changes in the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in this region have the potential for great impact on the food webs and fishery stocks. As a postdoctoral fellow, I participated in cruises and analyzed mooring-based datasets to show high degrees of interannual variability in the phytoplankton community response to climatic drivers and decoupling of primary and secondary producers from climatic and hydrographic conditions in warmer years. I also blogged from the 2012 cruise, which you can check out here!
Ecological observing in nearshore marine & estuarine ecosystems: King Harbor, the primary field site for my PhD work, experienced a massive fish kill in March 2011 at a time when I led in situ sensor and discrete sampling programs in the harbor. By augmenting those existing efforts with boat- and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-based tools, we were able to correlate the fill kill with upwelling-driven hypoxia and an influx of a large population of sardine. We were also able to show that the mortality event was not driven by a HAB event within the harbor, as was originally assumed. However, a dense bloom of Pseudonitzschia spp. offshore at the time of the mortality event and significant concentrations of domoic acid detected in fish stomachs raised questions about potentially non-lethal impacts of this neurotoxin on fish behavior.