ecology of parasites in marine and freshwater ecosystems
A new paper out in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment describes the potential for natural history collections to serve as sources of information about parasites of the past. The paper was led by museology graduate student Alaina Harmon, who conducted an independent study in the Wood Lab in 2017. The cover art makes us wonder about all the parasites hidden away in those jars…
This week, the Wood Lab’s work on the ecology of schistosomiasis was highlighted in a video by the California Academy of Sciences’ bioGraphic. You can see the video here and read more about the project on our department’s news page or on our website.
We’re excited to announce that Whitney Preisser will join the Wood Lab in September 2019! Whitney will be working to document long-term change in the diversity of marine parasites, using preserved fish specimens from the UW Ichthyology Collection. We can’t wait to see what you find out, Whitney!
A recent article in Hakai Magazine discussed long-term change in the abundance of marine parasites, highlighting findings on anisakid nematodes currently being written up by MS students Evan Fiorenza and Catrin Wendt and on Clavinema mariae “blood worm” parasites of English sole, from an already-published manuscript led by former undergrad Ingrid Howard. The original Hakai article has been picked up by other outlets as well.
A news feature by UW College of the Environment highlights Chelsea and the Wood Lab’s work on historical ecology and schistosomiasis! Read more here.
Julieta Martinelli will join the Wood Lab to work on our new WRAC-funded project exploring the distribution of non-indigenous Polydora spp. blister-forming worms in Pacific oysters throughout the Pacific Northwest. Julieta is a conservation paleobiologist specializing in molluscs, and she has previously worked on this problem as a Fellow of the Chilean National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT). Really looking forward to diving into this project with you, Julieta!
The Wood Lab has received a grant from the Western Regional Aquaculture Center to study Polydora spp. blister-forming worms, which infect the shells of Pacific oysters. Read more about the project here.
Maureen Williams will join the Wood Lab as a post-doc in August of 2019! Maureen is currently wrapping up her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, where she has done awesome work on how parasitism and warming combine to affect host physiology and behavior. As a Wood Lab post-doc, she’ll be part of our NSF-funded project investigating diversity and disease on coral reefs. We can’t wait to welcome you to Seattle, Maureen!
Chelsea will give the Rising Star in Ecology Lecture at University of Toronto’s Atwood Colloquium in April of 2019! Check the colloquium website for details.
Rachel Welicky has been awarded a Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship and will join the Wood Lab as a WRF Fellow in January 2019! Rachel will use compound-specific stable isotope analysis of museum specimens from the UW Fish Collection to reconstruct long-term change in the trophic position of Puget Sound fishes. Her work will complement our ongoing UW Innovation Award-funded project to understand how rates of parasitism have changed over time for Puget Sound fishes. We’re looking forward to welcoming you in Seattle, Rachel!