Dr. Van Alstyne is expecting to accept one M.Sc. student for the 2009/2010 academic year, who will have full funding for at least one year though a grant-funded Research Assistantship. The research currently being conducted by her lab is focused on the ecology of ulvoid algal blooms or “green tides” and is being done in collaboration with Dr. Tim Nelson at Seattle Pacific University. These seaweed blooms are becoming increasingly problematic in the Puget Sound region and similar blooms are appearing more often worldwide. For the past four years, the lab's studies have involved surveying blooms at 6 sites throughout the spring and summer and monitoring physical, chemical and biological conditions at these sites. The blooms occur from the mid intertidal zone to about 15 feet below mean low water. The work is now moving into a more lab-based phase to learn about the physiology and chemical ecology of the individual species that comprise the blooms.
The lab's current studies involve examining the physiological ecology and natural products chemistry of the bloom-forming green algae, particularly the role of light, temperature, desiccation, herbivores, and nutrients in controlling algal growth. Another aspect of the project that is becoming increasingly important is the role of natural products produced by the algae and their effects on other organisms in the environment. These studies address questions ranging from identifying what these compounds are, determining how and why the algae produce these compounds, and assessing their effects on co-occurring species. Any of these topics could form the basis for a Master’s thesis project.
Dr. Van Alstyne's position is based entirely at the Shannon Point Marine Center, which is located in Anacortes, WA, approximately one hour from Western Washington University’s main campus in Bellingham. Dr. Van Alstyne holds adjunct positions in both the Biology and Environmental Sciences Departments and can accept graduate students through either department. During their first year, her students spend part of their time in Bellingham taking classes and part of their time in Anacortes, working at the Shannon Point. Most of the remaining time is spent at Shannon Point, doing thesis research. Because the two campuses are about an hour apart, students will spend a lot of time commuting and having a car is essential (although many of the SPMC graduate students do carpool together). Some students find it helpful to live in Anacortes or halfway in between in the Burlington/Mount Vernon area, rather than in Bellingham.
Because Dr. Van Alstyne does not hold a regular faculty position in the Biology or Environmental Sciences Departments, students who work with her will have a co-advisor from the department that they are accepted into. If the student is accepted through the Biology Department, the co-advisor will be the student’s official Graduate Committee chair, even though Dr. Van Alstyne will advise the student’s thesis project. In Environmental Science, Dr. Van Alstyne serves as a co-chair of her students’ Graduate Committee. Most students like this arrangement because it gives them a contact person when they are on the Bellingham campus.
The Shannon Point Marine Center is an exciting place to be a graduate student. The lab has been undergoing rapid growth in the past five years that includes the addition of a new wing that houses office and research space and the addition of a new research vessel to its fleet. The lab has about a half-dozen resident researchers whose expertise includes algal ecology, chemical ecology, marine conservation, plankton ecology, invertebrate biology, and larval ecology. It also has a number of faculty from the Bellingham campus and visitors from other institutions who bring additional diversity to the range of subjects being studied at the lab. Several graduate students work at the lab full-time and there are also many opportunities to interact with students who are conducting research thorough Shannon Point’s undergraduate research programs. The lab is well equipped for both field studies and studies of marine chemistry. Field sites are easily accessible and there is a flow-through seawater system with tanks for housing organisms. In the past ten years, researchers at the lab have developed an impressive Chemical Instrumentation facility that is used extensively by students for their research projects.
