Press Releases

October 22, 2001
Marine Science Professor Presents Research on Brown Tide at International Conference

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Christopher Gobler, Assistant Professor of Marine Science at Southampton College, was invited to give two presentations on his Brown Tide research at a prestigious week-long conference at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research in Bermuda.

Professor Gobler of Southampton was one of 40 out of 200 applicants from around the world selected to attend the symposium sponsored by the American Limnology and Oceanography Society. The symposium is organized specifically for new Ph.D.s, and all members of the Society are eligible to be invited once in their life during the two years after they receive their Ph.D.

Gobler gave two presentations at the conference during the week of October 14 one on his dissertation research on the nutrients that cause brown tide and one on his on-going research based at Southampton College aimed at understanding the factors that initiate and sustain the harmful Brown Tide blooms that have devastated the scallop populations in the bays and waterways of Eastern Long Island. Brown Tide is caused by Aureococcus anophagefferens, a microalgae which can grow to densities of over one billion cells per liter. Gobler's work seeks to identify the nutrient processes that control it's the algae's growth and removal during blooms. He often involves students in his marine science classes in his research.

Gobler, who was recently appointed Coordinator of the Marine Science Program at Southampton College, received his B.S. from the University of Delaware and his M.S. and Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook. He is also involved in a major study of hard clams in Long Island's South Shore waters, with another Southampton College Marine Science Professor, Stephen Tettelbach, that is funded by the New York Sea Grant.

Gobler lives with his wife Dianna and daughter Sarah on Flanders Bay.

The Marine Science Program at Southampton at Southampton College is internationally recognized and has produced 35 Fulbright Scholars. It emphasizes hand-on learning and field work including Tropical Marine Biology in the South Pacific and "SEAmester" on board a 130-foot schooner.