Mon, 10/03/2022 - 12:40pm Skidaway Kelly Sutherland Biology University of Oregon Sutherland Lab Seminars Please join us on Monday October 3 at 12:40 pm for the UGA Department of Marine Sciences seminar. Dr. Kelly Sutherland, an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, will be presenting her work entitled Pelagic tunicates are picky eaters: insights from small-scale imaging, feeding studies and field observations. If anyone would like to meet with the speaker after the talk, please email me to set up a meeting (atgreer@uga.edu). Abstract: Pelagic tunicates (Phylum: Chordata, Subphylum: Tunicata) can dominate planktonic communities and have high grazing rates on micron and submicron microorganisms. Marine microorganisms comprise a striking diversity of sizes, shapes and surface properties. If and how grazers select particles from this mixed assemblage influences the ultimate fate of particles, yet there are few studies addressing selection among similarly-sized particles or the physical basis for selection. In my lab, we’ve used a combination of approaches including in situ and lab incubation experiments, high-speed video and field collections to investigate interactions of synthetic and live particles during grazing by appendicularians, pyrosomes and salps. Non-uniform selection of particles based on size, shape and surface properties has ramifications for removal and export of particles in marine systems. Grazing impacts can be magnified during population blooms or range expansions such as the recent bloom of Pyrosoma atlanticum off the west coast of North America. The Zoom link for those of you joining from your computers will be https://zoom.us/j/97461643834. For those attending in person, Marine Sciences Room 239 and the Skidaway Auditorium will have a live feed of the talk. The room will be open at 12:20 pm, and the talk will begin at 12:40 pm. Our complete schedule of talks this semester is listed on the calendar: https://bit.ly/UGA-MarSci-Sched-Share