Anadromous Fish: From East to West

By Katie Russell Katie holding a sockeye salmon in the weir trap I graduated this past May of 2020 and was able to work in and do undergraduate research in Dr. de Mutsert’s lab through GMU’s OSCAR program on river herring, two species of anadromous fish present in the Potomac. Anadromous fish spend their adult …

Influence of Temperature on the Growth of Young-of-Year (YOY) River Herring – New Publication!

by Sammie Alexander In spring 2016, I completed an OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program project under the guidance of Dr. CJ Schlick (then, PhD candidate) investigating the influence of temperature on the growth of young-of-year (YOY) Alewife and Blueback Herring in Potomac River tributaries. At the time, I was a second-year undergraduate and had not …

A tale of joy and sorrow: Successful recovery and setbacks of blue catfish invasion

By Casey Pehrson I recently completed my Masters thesis work in the de Mutsert Fish lab. My research is based in Gunston Cove, a freshwater tidal tributary to the Potomac River in Virginia, USA. Estuaries are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts, due to their proximity to high human population density. Impacts at the ecosystem level …

Katie Russell Presentation: GMU Spring 2020 Research Symposium

https://youtu.be/wI7956OduLs Katie Russell presents her research on river herring spawning populations in the Potomac River tributaries at the GMU Spring 2020 Research Symposium.

From Great Lakes to Caribbean Sea by Morgan Cahill

Half Moon Caye, Belize I want to know who gave Belize the right to be as beautiful as it is. I’m from a city in the Northeast, where the closest “beach” is a freshwater lake with some sand around it. My experience with boats was mostly kayaking on my camp’s lake or the Delaware River. …

Belize Coastal Ecology Class by Sara Marriott

This January, I embarked on a study abroad class to Belize with five other students, led by Dr. Kim de Mutsert and Dr. Joris van der Ham. This trip was full of adventures of snorkeling, spotting sharks, horseback riding, visiting Mayan ruins and searching for manatees, but it was also full of science! We spent …

2020 Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Symposium – OSCAR student Katie Russell

I attended the 2020 Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Symposium on February 27 – 28 and presented a poster of my OSCAR funded research conducted under Dr. Kim de Mutsert and the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center.  Photo of Katie Russell (left) and OSCAR alum/current GMU graduate student Sammie Alexander (right) presenting research at the …

Discovering Estuarine and Coastal Ecology

by Dianna Belman I really enjoyed taking EVPP 581 and 582. I have never studied coastal systems before. Therefore, the vast majority of the material was new to me. What I enjoyed most (and also found surprising) about the class was the insight I gained into phenomena I have only heard about or observed but never …

OSCAR student Tom Hutchison: New Tools, New Techniques, New Technology

I am very excited to share what our lab has been working on for the 2019 Summer Impact Research Project: Microbial Communities as Indicators of Ecological Health.  Dhanush Banka (a student from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology) and I have been working in Dr. Salerno’s lab at the Potomac Science Center, George …

OSCAR student Grace Loonam: My Research, in a Snail Shell

This summer, I have been working on a Summer Team Impact Project at the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Virginia.  I have been studying an invasive species of snails―termed mystery snails―and by collecting samples of these invaders and their native counterparts, I aim to learn more about the mystery snails as a whole, as well …