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Most on-campus events are scheduled for Watermen's Hall. A program with abstracts will follow as the symposium nears.

Research Symposium

Download the research symposium schedule as a pdf.

Thursday October 8, 2015

(McHugh Auditorium, Watermen’s Hall unless otherwise indicated)

• 15:00-15:45: Registration (Watermen’s Hall Visitors Center & Lobby)
  Posters may be set up in the Hargis Library, Waterman’s Hall
• 15:45-16:00: Welcome and Opening Remarks
  

  John Wells – VIMS/SMS Dean and Director
  School of Marine Science History and Current Status
  Linda Schaffner (M.A. ’80, Ph.D. ’87) – Associate Dean of Academic Studies

• 16:00-17:00: Opening Plenary
  Reflections From A (Mostly) Non-Academic Career: Looking Back and Moving Forward”
  Opening Plenary Speaker - Paul Sandifer (Ph.D.’72), former Chief Science Advisor, National Ocean Service, and Senior Science Advisor to the NOAA Administrator
• 17:00-19:00: Evening Reception (Hargis Library and Library Atrium)
  Sponsored by VIMS

Friday October 9, 2015

(McHugh Auditorium, Watermen's Hall unless otherwise indicated)

• 7:30-8:00: Registration and Light Breakfast (Watermen’s Hall Visitors Center & Lobby)
• 8:00-8:10: Welcome and Opening Remarks
  

  John Wells – VIMS/SMS Dean and Director
  Linda Schaffner (M.A. ’80, Ph.D. ’87) – Associate Dean of Academic Studies

• 8:10-8:45: “Past, Present, and Future of VIMS Research”
  Mark Luckenbach – VIMS/SMS Associate Dean of Research and Advisory Services
• 8:45-10:30: Alumni Presentations – Session 1
  (7 talks at 15 minutes each)
  • 8:45: Seven Lessons Learned at VIMS, and Back Again
    David Eggleston (M.A. 88, Ph.D. '91), Professor and Director, NC State Center for Marine Sciences and Technology
  • 9:00: Reflections on an Interdisciplinary Career in Aquatic Animal Health
    Teresa Lewis (Ph.D. '00), Center Director, USFWS Midwest Fisheries Center
  • 9:15: Snorkeling a 323myo Paleozoic Bay: Community Structure and Depositional Environment
    Eileen D. Grogan (Ph.D. '93), Professor, Saint Joseph's University
  • 9:30: Minding the Gap: The Role of Science Communication
    Paula Jasinski (M.A. '92), Senior Communication Specialist & President, Chesapeake Environmental Communications
  • 9:45: VIMS-Proud
    Sid Mitra (Ph.D. '97), Director, Coastal Resources Management Program, East Carolina University
  • 10:00: A Fish out of (Salt) Water: A Marine Scientist Swims Upstream to Decode the Migratory Strategy of the Landlocked Sea Lamprey 
    Michael C. Wagner (M.S.'97), Associate Professor, Michigan State University
  • 10:15: Ontogeny, Behavior, and Ecology of the Sea Turtle "Lost Years"
    Kate L. Mansfield (Ph.D. '06), Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida
• 10:30-11:00: Coffee Break (Watermen’s Hall Visitors Center & Lobby)
• 11:00-12:30: Alumni Presentations – Session 2
  (7 talks at 15 minutes each)
  • 11:00: From Sandbar Sharks to Sawfish: Application of the VIMS Tripartite Mission
    R. Dean Grubbs (Ph.D. '01), Associate Director of Research, Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory
  • 11:15: Dead Zones around the World
    Robert J. Diaz (Ph.D '77), Faculty Emeritus, SMS/VIMS
  • 11:30: Tidal Wetlands, Carbon, and Climate Change
    Scott Neubauer (Ph.D. '00), Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • 11:45: Detecting and Understanding Threats to Eelgrass in the Gulf of Maine: The Times, They Are A-Changin’
    Hilary A. Neckles (Ph.D. '90), Coastal Research Ecologist, US Geological Survey
  • 12:00: Coastal River Plumes: Collisions and Coalescence
    Katherine L. Farnsworth (M.S. '97, Ph.D. '03), Associate Professor, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
  • 12:15: Twelve years of Changes to the Known Cephalopod Fauna of the Western Central Atlantic Ocean

    Michael Vecchione (Ph.D. '79), Director, NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service National Systematics Laboratory

• 12:30-14:00 Lunch on your own at VIMS
  Creekside Food Truck in Watermen’s Hall Circle  (Inside Seating Available in Chesapeake Bay Hall Atrium)
  
  Student & Post-Doc Network Luncheon (Watermen’s Hall – Marine Advisory Services Education Center)
  Sponsored by Academic Studies and hosted by GSA Professional Development Committee
• 14:00-15:45: Alumni Presentations – Session 3
  (7 talks at 15 minutes each)
  • 14:00: Inspiring a Community to Participate in Restoring the Lynnhaven River’s Water Quality (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
    Laurie Carroll Sorabella (M.S. '02), Executive Director, Oyster Reef Keepers of Virginia
  • 14:15: A perspective on highly migratory species in the Gulf of Mexico 
    Brett Falterman (M.S. '99), Program Manager, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
  • 14:30: Physical Controls on Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay
    Malcolm Scully (M.S. '01, Ph.D. '05, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • 14:45: Industrial Chemical Regulation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:  VIMS Preparation for a Career in Environmental Protection and Public Health 
    E. Laurence Libelo (Ph.D. '95), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. EPA
  • 15:00: Finding Fish (& Fishermen) from Space
    Richard Holmquist (M.S. '01), Director, Sales at DigitalGlobe
  • 15:15: Wormcam, a Novel Camera to Understand Benthic Processes
    S. Kersey Sturdivant (Ph.D. '11), Principal Scientist, INSPIRE Environmental
  • 15:30: Technology and Innovation - Career Opportunities for VIMS Graduate Students from a Marine Science Entrepreneur’s View 
    Charles J. Natale, Jr. (M.A. '82), President & CEO, ESS Group, Inc.
• 15:45-16:00: Coffee Break (Watermen’s Hall Visitors Center & Lobby)
• 16:00-16:30 “The Future of VIMS”
  John Wells – VIMS/SMS Dean and Director
• 16:30-17:30: "The Coastal Ocean: My Generation Did the Diagnosis, Your Generation Must Save the Patient"
  Closing Plenary Speaker – Don Boesch (Ph.D. ’71), Professor of Marine Science and President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• 17:30-17:40: Schedule for Saturday’s Events
  Dave Malmquist – VIMS Director of Communications
• 17:45-19:00: Poster Session and Evening Reception (Hargis Library – Inside and Outside)
  Oyster Roast sponsored by VIMS

Anniversary Celebration

Download the Saturday schedule as a pdf.

Saturday October 10, 2015

You can register for the symposium and anniversary celebration online.