ALL Coastal Issues Forums (CIFs) are made possible by the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, always FREE, and open to the public – NO RSVP REQUIRED! CIFs are designed to bring together diverse community interests to identify Texas Coastal Bend concerns and seek solutions as well as educate our community about programs and opportunities all in a non-biased atmosphere.
Join us Monday, March 3rd, 5:30pm-7:00PM
Networking ~ Free Food ~ Open to the Public ~ Interactive
Del Mar College Center for Economic Development
3209 S. Staples., Corpus Christi, TX 78411
5:30pm – Light snacks & Networking (Food Courtesy of HEB)
6:00pm – 7:00pm – Interactive Presentation & Questions
PLEASE JOIN US – FREE FOOD COURTESY OF HEB, NETWORKING, CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH REVEALED! Hope to see you at our free and open to the public “Third Annual Student March Madness Coastal Issues Forum” to learn about the remarkable research conducted by students attending Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Del Mar College, The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Explore the cutting-edge environmental research presented by local college students at the Coastal Bend research event! Discover how prescribed fire can control tick populations, understand the impact of pollutants on early-stage fishes in Corpus Christi Bay, learn about using machine learning to detect Texas tortoises, and delve into the isolation of bacteriophage DuneStem to combat tuberculosis. This event is not only a chance to gain invaluable insights but also an opportunity to inspire younger generations to pursue innovative scientific endeavors. Don’t miss out on this incredible showcase of groundbreaking research!
Research Students & Presentation Descriptions:
Rachel Walters: Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute
TITLE: “Effects of prescribed fire on rangeland tick densities”
DESCRIPTION: Prescribed fire is a useful tool in rangeland management, but can it be used for tick control? I will be presenting an overview of my masters thesis on the impacts of prescribed fire on rangeland tick densities. During the presentation, I will discuss the problems ticks can pose in rangelands to both human and wildlife health, as well as the use of fire as a potential tick control method.
Kathleen Roark, The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute; Port Aransas, TX (UTMSI)
TITLE: “Understanding the Impacts of Pollutants in Corpus Christi Bay on Early Life Stage Fishes”
DESCRIPTION: Corpus Christi Bay is home to several different commercial, industrial, and residential sites. As many of these facilities are directly on the coast, pollutants can make their way into the ocean. Estuaries are important sites for many biological and ecological processes, including acting as a nursery habitat for larval fishes. The Nielsen Lab at UT Austin’s Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas studies the presence of multiple pollutants in Corpus Christi Bay, their effects on early life stage fishes, and their behavior in salt water.
Jacquelyn Tleimat: Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, TX
TITLE: “Finding a Needle in a Haystack: Machine Learning to Detect Texas Tortoises in Large Datasets
DESCRIPTION: Texas tortoises are an iconic and elusive reptile native to South-Central Texas and Northern Mexico that are a challenge to monitor due to the thick vegetation they inhabit that hides them from view. Trail cameras provide an alternative that allows for near continuous surveying without a person needing to constantly combat the challenging vegetation. While cameras can generate massive datasets, machine learning provides an opportunity to streamline the identification of tortoises. Our goal was to train machine learning models in the identification of Texas tortoises and create a script that anyone can use to search their datasets for tortoises.
Maria Hernandez: Del Mar College; Corpus Christi, TX
TITLE: “The Isolation and Characterization of the Bacteriophage DuneStem”
DESCRIPTION: In this study, the isolation of a novel bacteriophage ‘DuneStem’ started with a soil enrichment procedure using its bacteria host Mycobacterium smegmatis. A high titer lysate was harvested for isolation of the genomic DNA followed by the restriction digest analysis. The phage morphology of ‘DuneStem’ was studied by transmission electron microscope imaging; utilizing uranyl acetate negative staining. A spot test was performed to isolate the lysogen from ‘DuneStem’, which was used in a Lysogen Efficiency test.
The plaques of ‘DuneStem’ indicated a lytic life cycle at the time of isolation. The TEM images show ‘DuneStem’ has a capsid with a diameter of ≈81nm, and a tail ≈217 nm in length. The restriction digest patterns suggested the ‘DuneStem’ genome contains multiple recognition sites for BamHI, ClaI, HaeIII and few sites for HindIII; none for EcoR1. Both the TEM image and restriction pattern imply that ‘DuneStem’ belongs to the cluster A. The lysogen efficiency test of ‘DuneStem’ indicated that 73.9% of the host Mycobacterium smegmatis could be destroyed by this bacteriophage, which makes ‘DuneStem’ a good model to study phage treatment for pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a close species to M. smegmatis. ‘DuneStem’ has been published to the online database: phagesdb.org/phages/DuneStem/.
This is a unique opportunity that you don’t want to miss where you will be enlightened, have a chance to ask questions and seek answers directly from the expert.
Check out some of the recorded CIF presentations on our YouTube! Click HERE!
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