The 2nd Ascidian Taxonomy Workshop was held at Coastal Carolina University from June 24 to 28, 2024 and was funded by NSF DEB-2122475.
Eleven ascidian taxonomist in-training  from 7 countries attended the event, including iMESA Lab members Brenna Hutchings and Jaclyn Levine!
The workshop was taught and lead by Drs. Stefaniak (CCU), Nydam (SOKA) and Lopez-Legentil (UNCW, iMESA Lab).

Today was a very special day for several iMESAns: CONGRATULATIONS to our Honor students Taryn and Grace, our DIS Paul, and our new Master Brandon!
We got to celebrate their achievements twice: This morning during the Honors College Medallion Ceremony, and this afternoon, during the Department of Biology and Marine Biology Graduation Ceremony! CONGRATULATIONS iM...SEA HAWKS!

The award recognizes all aspects of excellence in scholarship, research, and creativity including activities that involve colleagues and students.

Susanna was awarded a CSE Curriculum Development award to prepare the new course: "Marine Life in Danger" and Patrick received a Research Momentum award to help develop our next research proposal: "Microbiological Dimensions of Invasion Success: Dynamics and Functional Diversity of Introduced Ascidian Mircobiomes"

Brenna received a 2024 Graduate Student Training Stipend and Jaclyn a CMS Summer Stipend to support their professional development and research efforts, respectively! Well-deserved!

The iMESA Lab was well-represented at the UNCW Undergraduate Research Showcase on Saturday, April 27!
Meagan, Grace, and Taryn presented their research on sea-squirts: from the tinny microbial symbiont that helps them survive in marinas to the mighty invader that is taking over North Carolina shellfish farms and reefs!

Susanna had a blast talking sea-squirts with Centro Acuario members on April 23, 2024!
Visit our Outreach webpage to learn more about those incredible yet understudied animals!

Grace defended her Honors thesis on Ascidian abundance and diversity in shellfish farms of North Carolina on April 23, 2024! Congrats Grace!

The 52nd Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting was held in Charleston, South Carolina (USA) from April 10-14, 2024 at the Charleston Marriott.

• Brandon presented his results on gut microbiome diversity in whales
• Brenna presented her findings on the effect of different preservation methods on microbial composition in ascidians
• Susanna discussed sea-squirt diversity and abundance in North Carolina shellfish farms

Once more, UNCW  was well represented at the event, with numerous faculty, students and alumni present! Go Seahawks!

CONGRATULATIONS to:

• Taryn Houlihan for her honors thesis defense on sulfur oxidizing bacteria in sea-squirts (April 2, 2024), and
  
• Brandon Rose for his master thesis defense on characterizing the gut microbiome of whales (April 9, 2024)