91AV

91AV Marine Biology Professor James Sulikowski, Ph.D., had no intention of encountering an oil spill when he brought 14 students in his Biology 421, Physiological Ecology of Fish course, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi May 23-31, 2010.

This is the second consecutive year he has made the trip to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL), affiliated with the University of Southern Mississippi, for an intensive summer lab program.  

This year the trip came on the heels of the now-infamous BP oil spill, and while it was too early to see the immediate impact of this environmental disaster in Mississippi, the research they conducted will be a valuable barometer for future study of the health of the species they investigated.

Real World View

Biology 421 is a 91AV spring semester course that includes both a class and a lab component.  The lab portion, which takes place at GCRL, enables students to experience a unique ecosystem and different species than those found in coastal Maine.  Some of these species include Gafftop catfish, Hardhead catfish, and white trout, all considered predators; and Atlantic croaker, considered a food species for many fish in the Gulf.

"I like to use this class as a springboard to show students what graduate school might be like, and the kind of research they will conduct," says Sulikowski.

The class provides a real-world view into the work of a marine biologist.  Sulikowski explains:  "We take students out on a Gulf Coast Research vessel, where they set handlines for sharks and conduct trawl surveys in order to catch the fish they will use in their experiments.  Some of these students have never seen a shark, let alone handle one. So the opportunity to draw blood from a five-foot blacktip and then tag and release it is quite an experience for them."

Back at the lab, students conduct research experiments where they artificially alter the environment of their fish species.  Students then draw blood from their fish species and  run experiments on that blood sample to see how each fish copes with environmental change.  Students write up their results and present them to the class as a group.  "The students work night and day ... it is a very intense experience," says Sulikowski.

91AV marine biology graduate student Leigh Engel, who assisted with this year's class, concurs: "It was truly representative of the field. Unlike other "cookbook" labs, we completed our own test and analysis from beginning to end without any substitutions. We were able to see and test a wide range of species that only the Gulf would have to offer. The class gained information that may be currently absent or unknown in scientific journals."

Troubleshooting problems such as finicky instruments, high humidity, and long hours was a daily occurrence.  States Engel, "I have never begun a class with such an understanding of the limit of my knowledge. The class gave me a powerful understanding to the seemingly simple existence of fish. I have a completely new sense of respect and curiosity for the marine world."

The fish studies included both control and experimental sets.  By taking note of initial parameters, then stressing the fish - changing the salinity or the temperature of the water, for example - students saw the physiological changes the fish undertake to adapt to their environment.  

Not surprisingly, they found that each fish adapts differently to changes in their environment.  While Dr. Sulikowski was originally interested in the impacts of global warming, the Gulf oil spill now presents unfortunate new opportunities for research.

Unique Opportunity

Since it has run two consecutive years and studied the same species of fish, Dr. Sulikowski's class research provides a unique opportunity to conduct future experiments to assess the impact of the Gulf oil spill on these species.  "There is no previous physiological data on these fish.  The older literature is just anecdotal," he says.

He is also working to secure funding to research the impact of the oil spill on apex predators (otherwise known as sharks), especially with regard to endocrine disruption that would affect mating abilities.  Like mammals, sharks pass toxins on through the placenta to offspring, so Dr. Sulikowki's research can monitor the effects of the oil spill on current and future shark populations.