The iMESA Lab had a busy day! We had lunch to celebrate the end of the academic year and the successful Master defenses of Mina Surprenant and Sammy Morrison, and a belated birthday celebration for Brenna Hutchings. Then in the afternoon, both Sammy and Mina presented their research results one last time at the CMS Graduate Poster Session! Busy but accomplished Friday for our Lab! :)

Mina Surprenant's thesis entitled "Ascidian abundance and diversity in North Carolina seagrass meadows" was defended on Monday April 11, 2022.
Sammy Morrison's "Genetic and microbial community analyses in two physiological states and color morphs of the colonial ascidian Polyclinum constellatum" was defended today, Tuesday April 12, 2022.
GREAT JOB BOTH OF YOU!!!!!

Undergraduate students Caylee Lindsay (DIS) and Tabitha Ormond (FYRE) presented their research on the solitary ascidian Styela plicata at the UNCW Undergraduate Research Showcase on Saturday April 9, 2022

iMESA Lab members Mina Surprenant, Sammy Morrison, Patrick Erwin & Susanna Lopez-Legentil challenged themselves a bit differently this time... doing a Rugged Maniac! 3 miles and 25 obstacles successfully completed! April 9, 2022 ; Rockingham, NC - We missed you Brenna Hutchings!

After several years of Zoom meetings, Mina Surprenant, Brenna Hutchings and Susanna Lopez-Legentil made it to the first in-person Benthic Ecology Meeting (BEM) since 2019! The event took place in Portsmouth, NH, March 29 to April  2, 2022.
Go Seahawks!