Graduate Program in Marine Biology at Grice Marine Lab

We are continuing our summer fun series with June's event: JUST DANCE! Put on your dancing shoes, eat free pizza, and just DANCE!

Save your calendar for the last Thursday of each month! Stay tuned for July's event! 👀

New moms near Grice! 🪺

2 Great Blue Herons have made their nests in a tree outside GML and SCDNR. No babies have been spotted yet (4/21/26)!

Maternity photos taken by

🚨Colloquium 2026 Announcement🚨

Write it on your calendar: Colloquium 2026 is scheduled for Friday, October 9th! This event is open to all CofC students, faculty, staff, and interested public who want to see what our current GPMB students are researching!

For more information regarding RSVPs for the BBQ and details regarding the event, please see the link to the website on our linktree in our bio!

Congratulations to our GPMB students who presented their thesis research in the College of Charleston's EXPO poster session today!

Special shout out to Jesi Gibbs and Livvie Cohn for winning awards from the Graduate School and Phi Kappa Phi!!! 🥳🥳🥳

Student Presentations:

🐚 Livvie Cohn - Co-Contamination Interactions Between Microplastics and Louisiana Sweet Crude Oil on Oxidative Stress in Juvenile Hard Clams (Mercenaria mercenaria)

🪱 Kaitlynn Stewart - From Clam to Fish: Life Cycle Ecology of Digenean Parasites Lasiotocus trachinoti and L. choannura in Coquinas Donax spp.

🦐 Jesi Gibbs - Do Shrimp Feel Pain?: Behavioral and Neurochemical Evidence for Nociceptive Integration

🐢 Heidi Hellenbrand - Genetic Diversity and Seasonal Reproduction Patterns of the Epibiotic Barnacle Chelonibia testudinaria on Two Subspecies of Sea Turtles in Costa Rica

Stay tuned for our next big GPMB presentation event... Colloquium 2026! 👀

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Peter Gibson for defending his masters thesis entitled "Salt marsh relicts serve as key alternate foraging sites for federally threatened red knots during spring breeding migration stopover in South Carolina, USA". Peter's research is important the Rufa red knot is a federally threatened shorebird that depends heavily on high-quality food resources during spring migration to fuel its journey to Arctic breeding grounds, making the identification of reliable foraging habitats critically important for its conservation.

🐚 Peter's favorite part of his project was observing flocks of red knots and other shorebirds feeding on the relicts. Starting this project with positive confirmation of red knot foraging reinforced the need for understanding why.

🐚 Peter first became interested in marine biology during his undergrad as he enjoyed the freshwater field work of his courses and wanted to extend these skills to the coastline.

🐚 After finishing the GPMB program, Peter hopes to continue working with shorebirds and coastal marshes. 

🐚 Peter, we are so proud of you! We are excited to see what your future brings! Congrats!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Bobnar for defending her masters thesis entitled "Extreme thermal events in South Carolina estuaries: Patterns and exposure of key recreational fishes". Ashley's research is important because as these climate-driven events become more frequent and intense, it will have major impacts on coastal ecosystems. By understanding how these events occur locally and if they affect fisheries, we can better equip resource managers to anticipate future extremes and support both healthy ecosystems and coastal economies.

🐟 Ashley's favorite part of her project was realizing how many new research questions that have come (and will come) from this project.

🐟 Ashley has always wanted to be a marine biologist since she was little. Her father and grandfather are both fishermen and growing up on the water with them sparked Ashley's interest and curiosity about the ocean and the life within it.

🐟 Outside of research, Ashley likes to spend time with her puppy, Maple, being in the water (fishing, snorkeling, or diving), hanging at the beach (reading, running, or shark tooth hunting), or trying a new coffee shop!

🐟 Ashley, we are so proud of you! We can't wait see what your future holds! Congrats!


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Our GPMB students participated in the graduate student poster session for Graduate Education Week at the College. Hard work is paying off!

Student Posters:
🦐 "Do shrimp feel pain?: Behavioral and neurochemical evidence for nociceptive integration" - Jesi Gibbs (Winner in Best in Sciences, Mathematics, and Business category 🏆)

🦀 "Assessing microplastic occurrence in water, sediment and three estuarine species (Brevoortia tyrannus, Mugil cephalus, Callinectes sapidus) in Charleston Harbor, SC, USA" - Maddie Townsend

🦠 "Environmental drivers of viral infection in salt marsh benthic diatoms" - Bri Glendening

🪸 "Gene expression dynamics during embryonic and larval development in the mesophotic octocoral Swiftia exserta" - Rachel Catoni

🐟 "From tire to toxic?: Assessing the lethal and developmental effects of tire wear chemicals on sheepshead minnow and spotted seatrout" - Alex Larson

🦀 "The possibilities are Limulus: Thermal limits of cardiorespiratory and reproductive systems in a living fossil, the Atlantic horseshoe crab" - Spencer Hughes

🍄 "Fungal composition and diversity in South Carolina saltmarsh sediments under varying aerobic conditions along an elevation gradient" - Lauryn Carrington

🐬 "Assessing seasonal trends, detection patterns, and co-infection of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, Cetacean Herpesvirus, and Brucella ceti in stranded bottlenose doplhin (Tursiops erebennus) lung tissues" - Jessica Trayhan

🐚 "From clam to fish: Life cycle ecology of digenean parasites Lasiotocus trachinoti and L. choanura in coquinas Donax spp." - Kaitlynn Stewart

🪸 "Automated detection of octocoral polyps using computer vision for laboratory monitoring" - Rafael Del Valle

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jesi Gibbs for defending her masters thesis entitled "Beyond reflex: Behavioral and neurochemical evidence for nociceptive integration in shrimp". Jesi's research is important for animal welfare in the sh*****ng industry. If shrimp feel pain, we should consider ways to improve the husbandry and handling of shrimp for food and research.

🦐 Jesi's favorite part of her project was the ability to create and complete a project that aligned with her passion for animal welfare.

🦐 In her mid-20s, Jesi decided she wanted to do something to make a difference. She went back to school for biology with the goal of doing research to help animals. From there, she fell in love with marine animals (cephalopods), which led her to marine biology.

🦐 Outside of research, Jesi likes to learn new cuisines and create her own recipes. She also loves spending time outdoors, exploring new places, camping, and looking for critters.

🦐 Jesi, we are so proud of you! We can not wait to see what your next chapter in life brings! Congrats!