Proposals

Abstract

We seek Student Technology Fee funding to acquire cutting-edge field and laboratory equipment for marine environmental physiology research conducted by undergraduate and graduate students at UW Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL). Environmental physiology is the study of how organisms function in a range of environmental conditions; research in this area is of critical importance to understand the response of marine organisms to natural and man-made stressors (e.g., pollution, habitat degradation, climate change) and informs the development of mitigation strategies for effective management and conservation of marine ecosystems. Modern research in environmental physiology involves measurements in both the field (to characterize the environment encountered by organisms in nature) and the laboratory (to identify responses of organisms to environmental variables in controlled, manipulative experiments). The suite of equipment requested will provide students at FHL, for the first time, with the state-of-the-art machinery necessary to perform research that addresses a broad range of cutting-edge questions about the responses of marine plants and animals to changing coastal environments, including ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation and freshening. The equipment will be accessible to all FHL students conducting research, and will provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced research skills, design and execute replicable manipulative experiments, and acquire, publish, and share data.