Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida

🎉 Congratulations to Whitney Laboratory’s newly elected Whitney Graduate Student Association officers! Thank you to the past officers for their efforts in building upon strong foundations, and to the incoming officers for their willingness to serve and continue to represent, advocate for, and support graduate student life at the Whitney Lab.

Whitney Laboratory Director and Professor of Biology Dr. Veronica Hinman provided expertise for a CNN Science article about Psolus fabricii, a type of sea cucumber native to the North Atlantic Ocean, that could help researchers better understand regeneration, wound healing, tissue maintenance and aging.

https://www.whitney.ufl.edu/news--events/news/whitney-articles/2026/hinman-cnn-sea-cucumber.html

📷: Image: Psolus fabricii, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Psolus_fabricii_45753191.jpg

Studying the Effects of the Microbiome on the Life-Cycle of the Floridian Local, Upside-Down Jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana

Congratulations to the Loesgen Lab, in collaboration with the Martindale Lab for their paper "Cnidarian–algal partnerships structure bacterial communities during strobilation in Cassiopea xamachana" in the journal ISME Communications.

Their work identifies bacterial signatures that consistently distinguish strobilating polyps from non-strobilating aposymbiotic and mutant polyps, in addition to potential bacterial biomarkers associated with successful metamorphosis.

Together, these results reveal coordinated changes in algal physiology, surface glycan profiles and bacterial community structure associated with successful strobilation in C. xamachana, and support a model in which tripartite host–alga–bacteria interactions influence cnidarian life stage transitions.

https://www.whitney.ufl.edu/news--events/news/whitney-articles/2026/study-microbiome-cassiopea.html

Celebrate World Sea Turtle Day with the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR)! Hear three sea turtle experts from ACCSTR and the UF Whitney Lab share their exciting work. Enjoy 10-minute talks on turtle hitchhikers, genetic detective work, and drone technology advancing sea turtle conservation!
📅Wednesday, June 17
🕐 6:30 - 8:30 PM
📍Cypress and Grove Brewing
Click here to view speakers and learn more: https://loom.ly/9LlJ0Yg

Join us for science and art tomorrow, June 11!

Whitney Magnified - Art of Science, 5:15 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

5:15 - 6:00 p.m.
Student and Scientist Research Talks, Center for Marine Studies, Lohman Auditorium. Topics - Jellyfish cell biology, zebrafish neuroscience, biomineralization, ctenophore (comb jelly) regeneration, fish schooling, and sea turtle environmental DNA (eDNA)

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Original art and gifts from our researchers for purchase, Center for Marine Studies

📍Location - UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd. St. Augustine, FL 32080

Proceeds from art and gift sales will benefit the Whitney Graduate Student Association.

https://www.whitney.ufl.edu/news--events/whitney-magnified---art-of-science-2026/

The Whitney Marine Research Center Discovery Lobby and Gift Shop will now be open to visitors on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. beginning Wednesday, June 10!

The interactive Lastinger and Lohman Discovery and Conservation Lobby on the first floor of Whitney Laboratory’s new Marine Research Center offers visitors an immersive experience showcasing the laboratory’s research and programs. The space also includes a large-scale hanging art installation inspired by marine life and microscopic organisms.

Also in the lobby is the Laboratory Gift Shop stocked with unique ocean-themed gifts including Whitney Laboratory and Sea Turtle Hospital apparel and other marine items. Proceeds from the gift shop benefit the Whitney Laboratory, Sea Turtle Hospital, and Whitney Graduate Student Association.

📍UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
Whitney Marine Research Center
1st Floor Lobby
9505 Ocean Shore Blvd. St. Augustine, FL 32080
For questions, email [email protected]

Millions of clams have been dropped by drone into the Indian River Lagoon as part of a yearslong effort to restore one of the state’s most ecologically important estuaries. FULL STORY ⬇️

If you missed our May Evenings at Whitney, "How to Build a Spider in Just 400 Million Years” with Dr. Prashant Sharma, University of Wisconsin-Madison , the YouTube link is below. The fall season returns on September 10!

Evenings at Whitney - How to Build a Spider in Just 400 Million Years Dr. Prashant Sharma - Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Director, University of Wisconsin Zoological M...