A Voyage to Discovery
The Campaign for Delaware:
Positioning the University
for the Challenges Ahead
At the College of Marine Studies, research and teaching are inextricably intertwined. Graduate degree programs in marine biology-biochemistry, marine policy, oceanography, and physical ocean science and engineering point to the breadth of the College’s activities. We teach through the conduct of research. And through that research, we strive to put science to good use, addressing problems in both marine and terrestrial environments.
For example, work is under way to improve drought and salt tolerance in agricultural crops using marine and marsh plants as models. Professor John Boyer, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is working to make terrestrial crops more resistant to drought by studying marine algae. Meanwhile, Professor Jack Gallagher and research scientist Denise Seliskar are transforming common marsh grasses into food and forage crops that will flourish in salty soil, a problem that afflicts millions of acres of agricultural land around the world.
A good deal of research at the College has focused on the nearby Delaware Bay area because, as Professor Jon Sharp explains, "The study of the Delaware River and Bay has significant implications for understanding other systems." Sharp studies aquatic microbes and plankton and how they respond to pollutants in Delaware Bay. Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies Rich Garvine and his students discovered the Delaware Coastal Current, which originates at the mouth of Delaware Bay and flows south along the coasts of Delaware and Maryland. Their work has revealed a mechanism for the transport of debris dumped offshore onto Delaware’s beaches.
. The Delaware Bay is also home to the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world. The horseshoe crabs’ eggs, laid by the millions on the beaches of the bay each spring, serve as a vital source of food for migrating shorebirds on their way to northern nesting grounds. Horseshoe crab surveys have revealed a significant population decline in recent years, in part due to the use of egg-bearing females as bait by eel and whelk fishermen. Professor Nancy Targett has been working to minimize fishing pressure on the horseshoe crab through biochemistry. By identifying the chemical stimulant in female horseshoe crabs that attracts eels and whelk, she hopes to develop an economical, artificial bait and thus help to preserve the bay’s delicate ecological balance.
Despite this emphasis on our immediate region, our faculty and students extend the College’s reach to the far corners of the globe. Professors Biliana Cicin-Sain and Robert Knecht, co-directors of the Center for the Study of Marine Policy, have organized international conferences on integrated coastal management in locations from Caracas, Venezuela, to Colombo, Sri Lanka. And Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies David Kirchman and his students have conducted research on the role marine microbes play in the ecology of seas ranging from the Gulf of Alaska to Antarctica. At the College of Marine Studies, we do indeed "sail the seven seas."
Throughout the College, there is also a strong commitment to public service. The University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service and the Marine Communications Office act as conduits between researchers and a wide variety of citizens, from marine resource managers to coastal business owners and journalists. Our service to these public constituencies includes applied research projects, workshops and training seminars, one-on-one consultations, publications, videos, and other media.
For example, in response to a series of recent fish kills in Mid-Atlantic estuaries from North Carolina to Delaware attributed to the marine microorganism Pfiesteria, Delaware Sea Grant outreach staff prepared and distributed an informational bulletin designed to alert the public to the signs and potential risks of Pfiesteria outbreaks. At a public lecture co-sponsored by the College and Delaware Sea Grant, JoAnn Burkholder, the world’s leading expert on Pfiesteria, updated listeners on the status of the fish-killing organism and research efforts aimed at better detecting it. Her talk was part of a lunchtime lecture series that brought several distinguished speakers to downtown Wilmington to discuss urgent issues in ocean science.
Another particularly visible part of our outreach to the community is Coast Day. This yearly offering brings more than 10,000 people to the Lewes campus to participate in a variety of educational and discovery-based programs. Research demonstrations, ship tours, lectures, exhibits, and marine life touch tanks are among the many activities designed to increase public awareness and understanding of marine resources.