Gorka
Sancho
My
teaching and research interests are diverse, though always influenced by my
strong
belief in the conservation of natural environments.
Through my teaching I aspire to help students
at
the
College
of
Charleston
effectively pursue careers in marine sciences.
My
research
is
focused
on
the
behavioral
ecology
of
fishes in different environments (coral reefs, open ocean, hydrothermal
vents,
etc.)
and
in
the development of field-based education programs in marine sciences. Please
contact me if you have any questions regarding my classes, undergraduate research
opportunities,
job searching or anything else. I am also interested in fishing,
ultimate
frisbee,
hiking, surfing and gardening whenever I have free time. If
you
are
willing
to
show
my
any
secret
fishing
spots around Charleston I might buy you a drink!
Callie Anderson
The first undergraduate student
of the lab in Spring 2003, she set up the lab's video
analysis system and used it to study the spawning behavior of coral reef
fishes from images recorded at Johnston Atoll. She wrote a manuscript
on the "Spawning ascent durations of pelagic spawning reef fishes" which was submitted
to Journal of Fish Biology in 2006. After graduating from College of
Charleston in 2003,
she traveled extensively through Europe and Asutralia and participated
in the SEA Semester program,
sailing around the Caribbean! She now worksas
a veterinarian technician in New Orleans, mostly handling exotic birds,
and is preparing to apply to veterinary school at Lousiana State University.
Alex Tsoi
He came to Charleston from
University of Hong Kong, working in the lab describing the behavior of
the zoarcid ventfish Thermarces
cerberus at East Pacific Rise hydrothermal vents by analyzing
video sequences recorded by the submersible ALVIN. Alex continued
his undergraduate research with Dr. Isaure DiBuron, working on fish
parasites, and graduated from CofC in
2004.
Alex is presently pursuing his PhD at the Medical
University of South
Carolina.
Chris Bradshaw
The first graduate student
of the fish lab, Chris came to the Graduate Marine Biology Program at
the
College of Charleston via Texas A&M University.
His Master's
thesis was focused on behavioral ecology of spotted seatrout (Cynoscion
nebulosus)
at spawning aggregations, and he succesfully defended it on 2006. For
this project he is using surgically implanted sonic tags and acoustic
receivers
made
by
VEMCO,
which allow
the tracking
of individual
fishes in and out of spawning sites. After marrying his fellow graduate
student Julie Vechio, they both started new jobs at the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commision.
Kelly Buck
An undergraduate student at CofC, she analyzed stomach contents
from
pelagic
fishes
caught
in aggregations
around drifting Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs) in the Indian Ocean.
Right after graduating from CofC in 2005, she presented her results
at American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology Annual Meeting
in
Tampa. After spending a year working as a technician at the Medical
University of South Carolina, Kelly is applying to veterinary school
at the Ohio State University
Jaquie Thasher
After returning from a semester abroad in Australia Jaquie joined the
lab wanting to work with sharks! Using data collected by the South
Carolina Department of Natural Resources, she studied
finetooth shark (Carcharhinus
isodon)
population dynamics in in
South
Carolina coastal
waters. Right after graduating from CofC in 2005, she presented her
results at American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology Annual
Meeting
in
Tampa. After spending a year as kid educator at Addlestone Hebrw
Academy in Charleston, she was accepted to graduate school to study
shark biology at Hofstra University and Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
(she is still deciding)
Caroline Dietz
She was the only undergraduate student in the lab not working with fishes!
Caroline worked characterizing the seasonal and interannual oceanographic
variability of continental shelf waters, based on CTD data collected
as part of the TRANSECTS program over the continental shelf of Charleston.
She presented her results at the National Undergraduate Research
Meeting and is presently writting a manuscript. After graduating
in 2005, she spent the summer doing oceanographic research in California
after receiving a Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Summer
Internship.
In the fall of 2005 carolina had a beautiful baby girl (Jocelin)
and is presently working for the Birch Aquarium on Chicago and as
a mom
at home.
She came to the lab and developed web-based education products taking advantage of rare images of spawning of coral reef fishes, presenting her results at the South Carolina Marine Educators Association 2005 Annual Meeting in Myrtle Beach.But following her true love for invertebrates, she moved across the hall to Erik Sotka's invertebarte ecology lab. After Graduating from CofC in 2006, Hannah remained working in the Sotka Lab as a technician, but is planning to apply to various graduate schools to obtain her PhD.
Dana
Hughlett
She initially analyzed stomach contents of lizardfish from the SE continental
shelf caught
in
the
TRANSECTS
program, but found that they did not eat too much at all! Therefore, along with
Lester Proctor, studying the distribution and age of juvenile flatfishes on shelf
waters. She visited the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC to confirm her specimen
identifications, and is presently preparing a manuscript to be submitted
to
Southeastern
Naturalist. Dana graduated from CofC in 2006 and is presently working at Charleston
Scuba, and plans to apply to graduate school in 2007.
Lester
Proctor
He worked along with Dana Hughlett on the Natural History of juvenile flatfishes
collected in the TRANSECTS cruises. After a visit to the Smithsonian Museum,
Lester and Dana learned at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
how to prepare, section and read otolith, in order to age juvenile tonguefishes
and whiffs. Lester graduated from CofC in 2006 and is presently in Colorado trying
to land a position with their State fisheries agency
After participating in the TRANSECTS program, ben changed directly and joined the lab in order to analyze photographic surveys of hydrothermal vent fields from the East Pacific Rise in order to estimate the distribution and abundance of ventfishes. His work was the first time that geological photographic surveys had been used to extract biological information. After graduating from CofC in 2006, Ben is presently searching for biological jobs in the lowcountry and Chicago areas.
As part of the Rising Tides Program, Dena Hodges worked with two High School teachers in order to study if bottlenose dolphins prey on spawning aggregations of spotted seatrout in Charleston Harbor. Dena presented her results in 2006 at the National Undergraduate Research Meeting. and participated on the Sea Education Association SEA semester. She will graduate from CofC in 2007, and is planning to travel the third world doing missionary work.
Meg
Malone
Still a CofC undergraduate, Meg joined the lab in 2006 to continue with Kelly
Buck's work studying the diet of predatory fishes associated with FADs in the
Indian
Ocean, as part of the FADIO project. She
is
preparing
a
manuscript
with
the
final
results
to
be
sumbitted
to
Living Aquatic Sciences. She spent the summer of 2006 at the Institute of Marine
and Coastal Sciences
of Rutgers
University as
a
REU student (Research
Experience
for
Undergraduates), doing sonic tracking of dogfish. Once she graduates from CofC,
Meg
intends
to
apply
for
PhD
programs in fish biology in 2007.
