Research Day at the MBL
More than 100 MBL scientists and staff gathered on Wednesday for the third annual “Research Day.” From news on grants and publications to science highlights to welcoming new employees, Research Day is a chance to highlight all the hard work coming out of the MBL’s Division of Research, which includes the Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering, the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution, and the Ecosystems Center.
“It's inspiring to get everyone together to share our research progress over the past year!” said Anne Sylvester, Director of Research. “Research Day provides an opportunity for our scientists and staff to hear about the creativity, breadth, and impact of all the research conducted here at the MBL.”
The agenda also included “flash talks” from six scientists and postdoctoral researchers across the MBL. The speakers had just five minutes to explain their research and take questions from the audience. The topics were as varied as the MBL itself, including a parasitic worm, RNA editing, salt marshes and climate change, cephalopod brain development, and more.
Michael Palmer, a postdoctoral scientist in the Bay Paul Center, gave a flash talk highlighting his work on little skates in the Gillis Lab. Skates are cartilaginous fish in the same family as sharks and rays and are a model for studying evolution and development.
Molly Moynihan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Ecosystems Center, gave a flash talk highlighting her work on microbial sulfur cycling in the Ruff Lab. Moynihan is studying the seasonal blooms of green sulfur bacteria that occur in Trunk River Lagoon in Falmouth, MA.
The other flash talks were: "How to build a big brain: Insights from neural development in cephalopods," by Jessica Stock, a postdoctoral fellow in the Albertin Lab; "Rapid salt marsh change: Unexpected transitions in vegetation forced by sea level rise," by Javier Lloret, research scientist in the Ecosystems Center; "The infectin biology of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni," by Kate Rawlinson, assistant scientist in the Bay Paul Center; and "Towards a mechanistic understanding of high-level mRNA recoding in cephalopods," by Josh Rosenthal, senior scientist in the Bell Center.
There were more than 150 publications by MBL authors since the last Research Day (April 2023), and this work was shared in over 400 news outlets in 34 countries.
