DISL Seminar (Katie): My journey as a microbial oceanographer and an introduction to silica cycling in the Arctic
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Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Katie Howe presents for the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) seminar series on September 26, 2025. Katie discusses her journey as a microbial oceanographer and shares findings from her research studying silica cycling in the Arctic. |
REU Poster Presentation (Cole): Cell Count Chaos
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REU student Cole Bartuska presented his research entitled "Cell Count Chaos" at the 2025 DISL REU Symposium. Cole placed 3rd for Grand total (all votes), REU Mentors, and REU Peers! Cole worked with Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese and Dr. Katie Howe conducting direct cell counts on Ross Sea sediment cores to determine microbial abundance, to further understanding of the role of microbes in biogeochemical cycles in those sediments. |
Boardwalk Talk: Whose poop? How DNA can be used to investigate environmental whodunits
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Coastal waters can experience contamination from many different sources, including feces from land animals. These contaminants can enter waterways as runoff or from direct contributions. DNA-based tools, such as environmental DNA (eDNA), can solve these environmental whodunits by identifying the organism(s) that are contributing contaminants to an area. PhD Candidate Penny Demetriades discusses the utility of DNA-based tools and how the Kiel Reese lab is applying these methods to detect biological sources of fecal contamination to Mobile Bay. |
2025 DISL Research Round-Up Winner - Penny Demetriades
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2025 DISL Research Round-Up presentation by Kiel Reese PhD Candidate Penny Demetriades. This is a 3 minute presentation of her dissertation research (based on a 3 Minute Thesis format). Please visit our "Research" tab to learn more about our microbial source tracking work. |
eDNA Source Tracking Toolkit Workshop - April 25, 2025
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The eDNA Source Tracking Toolkit is a resource for utilizing eDNA metagenomics as a fecal source tracking tool. The Toolkit workshop was hosted on April 25, 2025 at the University of South Alabama to guide stakeholders and community partners in implementing next generation source tracking techniques. For more information on the toolkit, please visit the eDNA source tracking toolkit website via the "eDNA Toolkit" tab. This toolkit and workshop are funded by Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Division grant MX-02D17922. More information on this research project can be found under the "Research" tab. |
Expedition Blogs: Ross Sea (2025)
Expedition Blogs: QUALIFIED Project (2024)
Boardwalk Talk: See the Science, Live from a Research Cruise in the Gulf
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Come aboard the R/V Pelican (virtually) for a peek into the scientific sampling of the northern Gulf of Mexico for the September 2024 QUALIFIED research cruise. More information on the QUALIFIED project can be found on the "Research" page under Microbial Sediment Diagenesis. |
DISL Seminar (Penny and Lydia): Prospectus presentations
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Kiel Reese PhD students Penny and Lydia present for Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) seminar on September 6, 2024. Penny Demetriades presents her research "Molecular-based Investigations of Microbial Source Tracking within Mobile Bay" and Lydia Hayes-Guastella presents her research "Microbial Carbon Cycling in Energy-Limited Subsurface Environments." |
Boardwalk Talk: Marine Deep Subsurface Fungi and How We Find Them
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Little is known about fungi in sediments deep below the seafloor because accessing the marine deep subsurface is expensive and difficult. Fungi have the unique ability to break down carbon sources that other organisms cannot, making them an important part of the carbon cycle and in interactions with other microorganisms. Lydia Hayes-Guastella talks about how deep sea fungi can survive in the deep subsurface, how they are sampled, and what scientists are learning about their ecological roles. |
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Life Undiscovered
Podcast: Absolute Gene-ius S1, E6: PCR on 'zombie' organisms in extreme environments
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Absolute Gene-ius Podcast welcomes Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese and Lydia Hayes-Guastella from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab at the University of South Alabama to talk about using digital PCR and other methods to study microbial life and survivability in extreme environments. They tell us all about their work collecting and analyzing samples from places as remote as Antarctica and the Mariana Trench. They share what working in such unique locations is like, how samples are collected and analyzed, and what they hope to glean from their studies. |
Expedition Blogs: Ross Sea (2022)
Expedition Blogs: Mariana Forearc (2022)
Boardwalk Talk: International Ocean Discovery Program
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Little is known about deep-sea microbes and the life strategies that enable them to survive in extreme environments. Geomicrobiologist Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese discusses how scientists sample these extreme organisms (through drilling vessels and programs such as the International Ocean Discovery Program), what has been discovered about deep sea microbes, and all that is still left to learn. |
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