CAREER: Trophic Interactions between Benthic Suspension Feeders and Marine Aggregates: An Initiative for Experiential Learning in Coastal Studies

我的职业发展计划围绕着两个主题，这两个主题结合了我在康涅狄格大学艾弗里角新海岸研究项目中的研究和教育项目。第一个主题侧重于以视觉为导向的技术作为加强学习和推进研究的工具，第二个主题侧重于以实验室为基础的学习计划，这将提高和加强本科生和研究生的经验。我的研究计划将研究聚集物质（絮凝体、海洋雪）与生活在海底的悬浮食性海洋动物之间的相互作用。我将研究底栖动物是否以颗粒聚集体为食，以及它们在正常进食过程中是否会释放粘液，从而影响底栖附近絮体的形成。我的许多研究技术可以作为教学工具来促进本科生的动手学习（例如，视频显微镜，电子粒子计数器，图像分析，视频内窥镜），并将通过为本科生提供在我的实验室进行研究的机会而立即获得回报。此外，我的教育计划侧重于实践学习，包括开发三个项目：(1)一个视频教学实验室；(2)本科生科研经历；(3)研究生研讨会，重点是为学术生活做准备。我对研究生和本科生的研究和教学计划将成为艾弗里点学院其他教职员工的榜样，在他们的支持下，我可以建立一个全面的项目。

My career-development plan is centered around two themes that serve to combine my research and educational projects within the University of Connecticut's new Coastal Studies program at Avery Point. The first theme focuses on visually-oriented techniques as tools to enhance learning and advance research, and the second theme focuses on laboratory-based learning programs that will enhance and strengthen both the undergraduate and graduate experience. My research initiatives will examine interactions between aggregated material (flocs, marine snow), and suspension-feeding, marine animals that live on the bottom. I will study whether bottom animals feed on particle aggregates and whether they release mucus during the normal feeding process that may affect how flocs form near the bottom. Many of my research techniques can be used as teaching tools to promote hands-on learning by undergraduate students (e.g., video microscopy, electronic particle counters, image analysis, video endoscopy) and will have immediate payoffs by providing opportunities for undergraduate research in my laboratory. In addition, my educational initiatives focus on hands-on learning and include developing three projects: (1) a video-ready teaching laboratory; (2) research experiences for undergraduates; and (3) a graduate student seminar that focuses on preparation for academic life. My research and teaching initiatives for graduate and undergraduate students will serve as a model for other faculty members at Avery Point and, with their support, allow me to build a comprehensive program.